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Featuring the Buskers who I consider have advanced the cause.

If you would like to appear here, just ask me for a questionaire - and send some pictures. I'll do the rest.
This month's Busker of The Month is Brian Pearce.
Who lives in Yorkshire
Last Month it was Pete Murphy, who is now hiding at the bottom right of this page.



                                                Brian and the Labyrinth 
                                           The Truth Will Set You Free

I first recall meeting Brian in Kate Whelan's Irish Pub, Antwerp around 1995 (his Green Busker period).

We drove, in my now famous blue Commer van to Basel, Switzerland, busking Luxembourg and Metz en route. We busked the trams and terraces there for a few days (I think it was September or October - I'm no diarist, that's Brian's job). Then headed to Zurich where, unluckily, I got nicked playing the trams (by a rookie on his first day), fined 100SFR, and by threatening legal action, avoided having my savings confiscated!

Shitting bricks and severely traumatized, Brian and I legged it back to Basel, then Bern and finally Geneva, where I stayed in my van and set The Brian up in the attic of 'La Tour' (a squat). Brian soon split for Bern, to search for some friends; while I was destined to remain (in GE), barring side trips to Basel, for the next three years (the van had steering problems, but could still be slept in and driven very slowly and carefully. I was captured and deported from Basel in '98. My van confiscated and crushed. God bless the Swiss Police - no faffing about with any Human Rights malarkey. "F**k off back where you came from, dirty foreigner, we're not part of the EU, so you're going to be locked up, looked up and turfed out. That'll teach you to loose your passport and driving license". Heading straight to Antwerp, I eventually met up with The Brian again.

Although not up to Superstar standard in his music (a late starter, see his Journal), all the time I'd known him, Brian was constantly writing - songs, his diary etc. He has finally started to put it all together in his Labyrinthine Busker's Journal on the Web.

How to describe it! Think 'Adrian Mole, writing Mein Kampf, while pining for his estranged daughter; being a bit of a Babe Magnet on the side and trying to make a living as a Troubadour', and you'd be coming close.
Brian hides nothing; it all hangs out for the world to see. This guy is not afraid of baring his inner soul to the world. Most of it is lost on me - though I know 10% of the people he's talking about (names have been changed to protect ...).

Anyway, read the following e-interview I conducted with Brian, The links lead to his Journal. Judge for yourself! Good luck Brian. Live long and prosper.
Jim Druid

 

WHAT YEAR DID YOU START BUSKING?
First tried anonymously with a mate down in Brixham, Devon (while on holiday) as a fun try-out.It was in the eighties.We earnt GBP6... enough to buy a meal each in a cheap restaurant. There was a serious busker named Pete (ex-army and from the North East) staying at the same place as us. He could earn GBP30 in that time it took us to make GBP6. It left us a shade embarrassed and in awe of Pete, who also held down a regular gig with his duo partner at a local pub. His set was fantastic and inspirational. He was a strong influence on my following musical direction. But I didn't start serious busking until 1994.
WHY DID YOU START SERIOUS BUSKING?
For details, see The Green Busker . I had lost everything except my belief in my musical creativity. I believed my duo with Mike (BRIM  listen to Back home in Derry by Brim) was potentially special. I was totally ill-equipped to take on the task of serious busker, but I learnt because I had to. I had an idea that, sooner or later, someone would hear one of my songs and offer to make it commercially successful. It was a mistaken idea.
WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST PITCH?
My first pitch as a serious busker was with Mike in Bruges... see The Green Busker 2.
HOW MUCH DID YOU MAKE?
Close to zero.
HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
Close to zero.
WHAT'S THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU THROUGH BUSKING?
I got a life. I saw life. I discovered that you have to need people to truly experience life.
WHAT'S THE WORST?
There is no worst. There is only another experience.
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF THE PUNTERS?
There is such things as the hysterical mood of the moment (or day). My sort of busking relied heavily on soul connection. So I could often see the soul behind the person. I think the biggest joy is the excitement on the faces of children who take to your show. The saddest is the pinch-faced, soul shriven people who glare suspiciously at you as they pass by, or the children who sorrowfully restrain their excitement as they face the conflict between this and their anti-busker parents.
WHAT, DO YOU FEEL, IS THEIR OPINION OF YOU?
That is the curious thing about buskers. We tend to think punters spend eons of time forming an opinion of us. Most will see and hear us and think, "Yes," or "No," - and that is an end to it. Unless they regularly pass you by they will have little extension on that original thought. But there are some who will experience a moment that will empower them to remember you with fondness for the rest of their lives. In this way, a busker can make a significant difference to other people's lives, even though they are oblivious to the occasion's significance themselves.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE PITCH, ANYWHERE, EVER? AND WHY?
The Cathedral pitch at Antwerp, late night on a Friday or Saturday. On the right days and mood it can be exhilerating. My guitar playing speed would accelerate and my fingers would work overtime to maintain sharpness. My voice could stretch itself as much as able.Groups of people would respond in extremely positive, buoyant ways - and sometimes they would collectively sing with me. I would often end a pitch buzzing with energy. Once the money side seems to have sorted itself I would feel as free as a bird to play and sing what I want. This could also apply to mellow evenings (like Sunday), when couples are promenading after romantic meals in restaurants. I am well suited to melancholic, romantic pitches. I can change my mood according to my perception of audience taste.
WORST EXPERIENCE WITH THE COPS?
During the anti-busking purge in Antwerp...see Things we must do 9. I desperately needed money, but I was stopped at the Meir, Cathedral, Hoogstraat and the subway during a month long period. It made for a tricky period.
BEST EXPERIENCE WITH THE COPS?
I was busking the Cathedral late night (during the anti-busking purge mentioned above). A police van pulled up. Instantly, I stopped playing and began to put my guitar away (expecting the usual). But the cop said, "No! We want you to play us a song!" So I played them a song. They thanked me... and drove off.
BEST BUSKER YOU EVER SAW OR MET?
Stormy Norman.
WORST BUSKER?
A poor wino beggar, who had been encouraged to play a guitar and 'busk'. He sat against a wall, mumbling something while playing a guitar missing a couple of strings. It was in the afternoon in Antwerp. Vera Llyn was due to sing in the Grote Markt that evening as a celebration of the liberation of Antwerp 50 years on (or something). Jake, another beggar, was purportedly 'bottling' for the act, but instead he equally sat against the wall and thoroughly amused me by saying, "Come on, folks! Vera doesn't start until nine. So why not come and listen to this crap.!" Oblivious to it all, the wino droned on.
IF YOU LOST EVERYTHING TOMORROW, WHERE WOULD YOU HEAD FOR? AND WHY?
Antwerp, because it is my adopted home town. I have friends there who would pro-actively aid me. It is the only place in the world where I could patrol my haunts and meet many friends incidentally. Second choice would be Bern, because patience can built wonderful experience there.
IF YOU WON ,000,000 TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Explore my creativity in full and help the creative talent of all those I know (or come across) who need money to get the tools to realise their talent. I would be attracted to the idea of seeking special people by posing as a relatively penniless busker. When I discover a 'worthy' I would arrange, anonymously, their funding through an 'organisation' or 'business' I have set up. That way I can continue the busker pose. In between, of course, I would experience the rich life a bit. I would also buy properties where artistic communes can flourish.
IF THE UN APPOINTED YOU COMMISSIONER FOR BUSKING, WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST LAW YOU'D ENACT?
I wouldn't enact any laws.
WHAT BUSKING ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? AND WHY?
That 70% (approx) of the songs I perform while busking are self-penned is one thing - and the building of the Tightrope Play project with Ken Post is the other thing, because it was a play about buskers and their freedom to be buskers. But the most towering achievements within the soul must stand above all else. There is also the writing of my journal..  I'm proud of the people I met who grew special to me. I'm proud of Antwerp and Bern, where I could feel I was 'home'.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON BEGGARS?
Don't like them, personally. I've been penniless in around twenty different cities and towns in Europe, but I never even considered resorting to begging. My only thoughts were on how to busk my way out of trouble. Of course, people who care for you would offer aid, but that is entirely different from sitting pathetically on a street saying, "I have got nothing to offer. I can't help myself. So just give me money". People who may genuinely need the aid begging would bring are brushed aside by yuppies with blankets round their shoulders, who sit close by ATMs, or gypsies who 'pass the baby' etc... Yes, I've seen them all...and where beggars proliferate, buskers suffer... because their pitches are often taken by this ilk, or their proximity destroys ambience and the take of the busker. Buskers generally have a limited ammount of energy to perform at their best. An hour or two at a time. A beggar can sit there all day... and they usually earn more through this. Busking and begging are two entirely different things.
USE OF BACKING TRACKS/KARIOKE, IN BUSKING?
Hate it.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BUSKER?
Someone who can create an ambience that fits with the mood of the souls around him.
LABYRINTH BUSKER JOURNAL - BRIAN ROBERT PEARCE