modern warriors of our time

busking is their job, their profession… meet 4 buskers from the streets of Melbourne   

If I was about to write a post about buskers in Croatia I’m sure it would be a heart breaking story… first of all there are not so many and those few that perform on streets they do it for pleasure of doing it as they can’t earn living out of it, not in a country where unemployment is so high that it became normal to see people digging the trash in search for plastic bottles hoping that on Sunday they’ll be able to take their granddaughter for an ice-cream…

But in Australia, situation is much different. I spoke with few of them and they all agreed that, on the streets of Melbourne, a busker can actually earn modest living… at first for me that was mind blowing but then I realised that on some level it is a mirror of society; here people have relaxed lifestyle, they are years away from that hard surviving existence in which my economically doomed country is so emerged into.

I admire street performers so much, they said NO to “rat race” and YES to their dreams, in my eyes they are modern warriors who in this money driven world stand up from the crowd reminding all of us that it is ok to chase your dreams, that it is ok to do what you actually love doing and that you have a right to do it on the streets.

I wonder what goes in their heads, how much courage, humbleness and self-awareness takes to perform in public because it can’t be that easy to drag your heavy equipment for couple of blocks, to put your costume and make up on the street or in public toilets, and then while still sweating, to wear performing smile giving your best to the audience in exchange for a smile and donation…

I would like to thank Justin, Sky, Matt and George for sharing their insight on the oldest profession in the world… This is what they said:

Justin McGinley=Justin Sane 

“I’m a circus performer and these days I work mainly on Fed Square… I’ve been doing it for 13 years now and I still enjoy it plus i can support my family by doing it… I feel lucky as this is a great job and when I do a nice show it just feels great to create a show from nothing, basically it’s just an empty space at the start and then if it goes well you have a big crowd. I used to improvise most of the show but now as I’m supporting a family and it’s just too much of rocky road if you improvise too much, so I improvise much less now, still a little bit but not nearly as much as I use to… But when first I started it took me lot’s of courage, a lot of mental preparation just to go out there in front of all these people. Sometimes it can be hard as people can say bad things like treating you or saying that you are basically nothing, that you are horrible and hopeless but now I don’t hear that… I’ve done enough, I proved myself to myself…

My advice for a new born busker is just go out there and learn, make mistakes and learn, and remember: you have to have some structure in your act otherwise people will leave, they need to know that you are heading somewhere, so basically even from the start I let them know that there will be something happening at the end that they want to see, it’s all building up for that one moment and then just before doing it , I ask for money, that’s kind of a process that we do …without structure its pretty hard to do this kind of show , you do need that formal structure that ends somewhere.”

Sky and his violin

Facebook: Yukimine Ishino

“I started to play violin in China since I was seven but I’m busking since I came to Australia. I do it because I can’t become a professional as my little finger on right hand is shorter… That was heart breaking for me but nevertheless i never gave up on violin, even when I had to do another type of job I use to practice at night, practice a lot… Now, this is my only job because here many people like my music so now I have six cd’s  and people are already asking me when will I do another one… When I first came to Australia I had only small sound speakers, no costumes, no cd’s but audience gave me very warmly welcome so little by little I did it… my dream is to perform in auditorium, to have a big concert, and busking really helps me to feel one step closer to my dream, I ended up giving concerts every day even if I don’t have a roof on top of my head and that is why, for me, busking is everything… People like my music from all over the world, so I just stand here and make people happy, and then I’m happy too……I think that every musician should start from busking because here on the street you have very honest audience who helps you to check your performing level on a very simple way: if they give you money, you know that you are good…”

 Matt Katsis 

www.mattkatsis.com

"I’ve been playing music pretty much full time for the last five years and I’ve been playing guitar for about last 15 years… In those early stages I tried to play around as much as possible and I’m still doing plenty of venue stuff but as soon as sun is out I come and play on street… mainly because in Melbourne there are so many venue events which is good, but for a performers it’s easy to get overlooked, while when you are out on the street you get to attract people with your own music and there is something special about it… I wouldn’t say I’m a full time busker, but plenty of people who do it here on a Bourke Street are doing it as a full time job, six, maybe seven times a week for last ten years or something like that… Busking here is booming, it’s just getting bigger and bigger and I had couple of gigs come out of it, mainly from fellow buskers who invited me to festivals… I personally didn’t have extreme bad experience myself, but sometimes, not so well of people come and ask you for a change…  I know some of the guys who have been robbed, it hasn’t happen to me but its something always at the back of our mind, but nevertheless this is a great platform to try stuff, to push your limits out of your comfort zone… I play my usual set but I also try something new so often, it keeps fresh for me and for listeners hopefully… There are around 30 buskers who perform on Bourke Street; they all went through audition and waited for six months to get their licence but they are here because they love what they are doing, whether it comes to playing music, painting or circus acts, it’s their choice to come out here and do it… you got to be driven and want to connect, I suppose, and nicest thing is when you get a feedback from your audience, when crowd sort of gets around and you can feel their energy and how they respond to what you are playing. That is priceless!” 

George Kamikawa

www.georgekamikawa.com.au

“I came from Japan 10 years ago and since then I’ve been busking.  Before that, in Japan, I worked as a normal businessman but when I came here I needed to earn money so I started doing what i do best… I like to show people what I do and I can see that people are enjoying my music. I’m full time musician and busking I do couple of times a week plus I have gigs as well. Performing on the street did help me to get gigs, not from producers more from pub owners and festivals… Busking in Melbourne is very organised, we have meetings every week to book the spot and if you are thinking of doing it just go out there, enjoy yourself  and do it, it helped me to become much more confident about my performing skills.” 

So, if you like what street performers are doing you should know that you can’t  never pay them enough as you can’t put a price on your smile or joy that busker makes you experience, but by giving them as much as you can, you are helping to solve the problem which Pablo Picasso well described:

“Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”

Busking is their solution, their profession and their passion and I wish that, not only in Croatia, but in other developing countries all over the world, street performers are recognised by society they live in for love and art they unselfishly put in front of us…

What a nice mirror of this world it would be….