I really can’t believe it’s took me this long to even
attempt to write a chapter like this.
Writing has only been a small part of these last five months
really. I think my last entry was still
about busking enough to get Niz here. Well... we did it and we have had the
most incredible last five months becoming a really brilliant and as close as
can be duo in Love, Art, Music and everything else. We have been playing lots of gigs, busking,
writing and learning lots of songs.
Spring is awakening, and the daffodils signal a fresh new year has
begun, life returns to everything and everyone.
Those first breaths of Spring - a sunny, yet chilly early Spring day
puts such a big smile on my face and in my heart and mind. Perhaps that’s what has given me the urge
to get writing this and turn the winter into a chapter of memories.
The busking was going great in Liverpool. For the first few months there it was still
summer season and what a good summer it was.
Endless weeks of Sunshine and blue skies, I was still on such a high
from Argentina. I was in a great frame
of mind and so focused on getting Nizha here.
The goal was to raise £1000 and get her ticket as soon as possible. I was busking hard and saving hard and doing
my best, even when it felt so hard to busk.
Whenever you do a lot of something you can get tired of
it. And one of the main elements of
busking is enjoying it. If you are,
other people will. It was also hard to
go back to playing on my own after having such a great set with Niz. I did it though, the only thing that got me
through was the thought that she would be here soon. That was enough to get me out nearly every
day of the week and make the most of the weekends. I will write a buskers survival guide on my
Liverpool adventurers as a busker soon.
Liverpool is a very generous city to buskers, it is woven into the
culture of the city and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.
I had saved over 400 quid, and Niz had managed to get about
the same amount and we were getting ready to get the ticket! It was all in the bank and we were so close
to reaching what we had been working so hard for and wanting so much. Once we got it, then the wheels were in
motion. It’s still another month until
she takes the flight, but it’s happening!
I still busked, but I took it a little easier after that. I needed a little break from too much day
busking, but still made sure I got out at the weekends. The weekend busks were the best.
I would buy 4 bottles of real ales (Speckled Hen/Bishops
Finger/Abbots/HobGoblin) and enjoy the night.
Things would get noisy and buskers would be battling but the banter on
the streets is the best. Liverpool just
has such a good energy and people. A
very vibrant city and I never had one bit of trouble or scuffle or harshly bad
interactions. They love buskers in
Liverpool and the buskers love Liverpool.
I did and do, don’t I though.
Even if you hate the song ‘Wonderwall’ when you are playing
it and the whole street is singing it with you, murdering it with all their
love for it it can be quite touching.
After the second ale I am usually nice and warmed up, volume and energy
has cranked a little higher as more and more buskers emerge into the night to
earn a hat of gold coins. The Romanians
are the problem, no speak English and no care playing ten feet away from
you. When you can’t turn up the volume
any higher to drown out the brass you start to sing so loud and with everything
you have. How much energy can you put
into the song? It would sometimes feel
like a battle, I would put everything I had in and really crackle my voice and
scream the songs, and mostly I would ‘win’.
There was a few nights when I just couldn’t or didn’t want to compete
and banked what I had and left a little early.
By the the 3rd and 4th ale you are in
a good flow with the songs. You bounce
off the energy from the people you interact with. It was these experiences that would shape the
night. You could always feel it turn,
sometimes you get calm quiet spells and you really enjoy your set and give the
city your heart in music. Then it turns,
and late night in town can be like a jungle full of wild animals. But it’s a rich jungle and the drops are big
if you have the endurance and strength for
it. I loved it. Going home with a full bag of gold coins, a
belly full of good ales, and a heart full of good experiences of interactions
with people as you play music in the streets is a great feeling.
The day before Niz was due to arrive I had been busking a
bit in the day and was finding it hard.
I had nothing to eat, I was shaking a bit, I was so zapped of
energy. Trying to find the energy to
sing in the streets was proving too much.
But I set up on Bold street and just about managed a version of wish you
were here and made 7 quid, enough for something to eat and a few beers to do
the night shift. I ate some chips but
still wasn't feeling much better.
I set up to play at
the bottom of Church street and already had competition from the black guy who
just pretends to play guitar over a CD of songs, with a very loud P.A. But I had to carry on, I needed to make some
money to take down to London to meet Niz with.
I was playing and just not having much energy, but the more and more I
played the more energy I got! It is the
energy from the people you interact with as you play (as well as a few beers
perhaps) that puts you on a high. I
ended up having a great night and making over a hundred quid to take to London
and see my girl after nearly 4 months apart!
I climb the escalator to the airport lobby and there she
is!!! I run and grab her and lift her up
and pulling her close we kiss and hold eachother feeling so happy that we did
it. We had a little walk around London,
said hello to the Queen and sat and watched the Autumn leaves drip and drop
around us. We had missed the summer
months, but an Indian Summer was waiting just for us. We took the bus to Liverpool and GOD did it
feel good to be back with her.
It was a couple of days until we went busking for the first
time, we had a little practise in the greenhouse before we set out. It was still quite warm but a cold wind was
creepin’, we looked and found our spot close to St Johns Precinct. The sound wasn’t that great, the e.qs and
levels were muffled as there was a lot going through the amp, but people all
around were stopping and gathering, people were throwing in lots of paper money
and giving us wonderful compliments. We
made 85 quid in just over an hour, got 2 gigs from it and it felt great to be
back!
One of the gigs was at a birthday party in Maghul, they
wanted us to play some Liverpool Irish tunes for it. We had a few under our belt and started to
listen to and learn lots more. We had
planned a little trip to Ireland once Niz had got here, but Liverpool really
seemed to want us here and it felt right to stay for a bit longer. But Ireland has been a part of our time
here. We have been finding some great
songs to play by listening to lot of The Pogues/Dubliners/Christy/Orthadox
Celts and watching all of the Father Teds and many films about the Republic and
the music. It was our own little dose of
Ireland before we go there. And there
are also so many Irish in Liverpool, some say it is another city of Ireland.
It was nice to be making a nice little bit of money with
Niz, to be playing and sounding great.
England had saved some sunshine for us, it was the warmest October and
November ever. We were having some great
experiences from busking in the city. We
had saved a bit of money and we started to buy some stuff we had always wanted
- A very decent camera for Niz, with good quality video and photo because Niz
is a great photographer and we can make some music videos and document our
journey together in a creative way. I
got a portable studio ZOOM recorder.
This thing is incredible, 2 built in condenser mics, 2 extra XLR inputs,
multi tracking and also acts as an audio interface! All in the palm of your hand and battery
operated, so now we have a studio and good photo and film wherever we go. We can record all the street music of the
world.
It was approaching December and it was turning a little
icy. We had been saying that we really
need a booking agency, someone who will get the gigs and already knows the
people and the bars. After a slow and
cold busk in Chester we went round every pub and cafe in the city asking for
gigs. The last one we went to took a
chance on us and gave us a gig. A few
days later we were busking and enjoying the set when a guy came up and put a
card in our hat and said ‘If you are after any work, then give us a call’. It was a booking agency! Once again what we had visualised had come
true.
We meet Michael back in November when we needed to get Nizha’s
violin fixed, we instantly loved the man.
The way he spoke with such love and knowledge about violins was inspirational;
we knew we had met someone special. He
is full of positivity and generosity and makes a perfect cuppa tea. Whenever we felt down and cold it would only
take a cuppa tea with Mike to fill us with inspiration. He believed in us and our music and got us
regular slots playing on Radio Merseyside, he fixed my guitar, gave me a big
bag of clothes, fed us when we were hungry, filled our hearts with warmth and
became a very special friend to us, and was a true angel in our life and
journey.
January and February passed and we started to get excited
for Spring. We had been doing lots of
gigs and getting by nicely. We booked a
ticket to Amsterdam for the 5th April and started to see Spring
awaken with daffodils and Spring Blossom trees.
The busking was going really good and the last 5 months of playing
together were showing its rewards, we were feeling and sounding great!
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