Delving deeper into a recent response from The Busker Project: "What was the hardest technical aspect of busking?"
In one of my latest sessions for The Busker Project, I had the pleasure of going over one response that left me in stitches and made for a memorable conversation. During the session, I asked a former busker, whom we will call Cooper, the following question, "What was the hardest technical aspect of busking?"
To that, he paused, laughed, and responded, "Staying focused on my guitar chords and singing while crazy things happened around me." with a playful expression. Curiously, I wanted to know more. What crazy things, dish! The following is a transcript from that session shared with Cooper's permission.
What was the hardest technical aspect of busking?
Cooper: (Laughs) Staying focused on my guitar chords and singing while crazy things happened around me (laughs again).
Freya: Crazy things? Crazy like what? No, why are you laughing so? Tell me more. This sounds hilarious.
Cooper: It is. No. It really is.
Freya: Give me an example, please.
Cooper: Ok, for context, I need to explain that, for some reason, the places I chose to busk in were riddled with really colorful people. With that comes some strange behaviors, shocking things, and just straight craziness, sometimes. Now, so this one time, I was busking by a fountain.
Freya: Wait, why a fountain? That's actually one of my things to explore, places and why they're chosen.
Cooper: (Leans forward excitedly) So I learned over time that fountains are a magnet for busy streets full of people who have nothing better to do. They've either just finished a pressing task or they're just out there, enjoying the day. They like to come up to the fountain and throw in change. Buuuutttt, if you're out there busking for your life, they'll throw the change into your case instead.
Freya: Sly! (I said, laughing while tapping Cooper on the shoulder).
Cooper: Yeah (nodding and smiling), so there was this one day. I was out there, playing some covers, and this guy was absolutely going nuts. But, like, silently.
Freya: Silently?
Cooper: Yeah. So when you're busking, even though you're focusing on your own thing, you're in an incredible position to be able to notice everything and everyone around you. They're all just walking around minding their own business. So I'm like a fly on the wall.
Guy Going Nuts, But Silently
Cooper: So this man is running back and forth, up and down, speed walking, scanning the floor. He's looking at everyone in the different crowds, and he came toward me a few times. It kind of freaked me out. I didn't know if he was going to do some crazy thing, you know. But the more I watched him, the more it looked like he was just looking for something.
I kept my eye on him. Sang a couple of songs, and then I saw him on the phone. Maybe like thirty minutes later, a woman came, and she was, like, consoling him, or calming him down. Then they both started looking around.
They came over to the side of the fountain, and he lets out this massive shriek. It startled the f**** out of me; but I'm used to, now, just being able to play through most things. He slams his arm into the fountain and pulls out this thing and starts doing a whirl dance with his friend.
Freya: What was it?
Cooper: Just wait. It gets better. So about an hour passed and I saw him set up at this public table; there were tables set up in the open space around this fountain. This girl comes by, snatches a chair at his table, and sits in it. This girl looked irate, red in the face, just pissed.
I'm playing a new fast-paced song at this moment, and trying my hardest to stay focused. But I'm really interested in this guy's story. I keep doing this side glance thing to see what's going on.
I saw him lean over the table and try to grab her hands, and she swatted him away. Then he got up and pulled something out of his pocket, and got on one knee.
Freya: Oh No! It was a ring? That's what he was looking for? I bet. (I said, holding my hands to my mouth.)
Cooper: Yeah (nodding and laughing). This girl is just so angry at this point. She started yelling at him. I'm trying, now, to lower my pitch so I can hear. At this point, I almost said, screw the song. Anyway, she grabbed the ring, marched over to the fountain, and threw it in there. Right near the spot it was in before. And I'm just like, wow, with my mouth open; I skipped a strum and everything.
Now that they were closer, I could hear what the whole mess was about. She said he cheated on her with a red-headed b*****. He kept denying it and denying it, and finally, she left. And who came running over from a cafe across the street? The red-headed woman I saw helping him look for the ring earlier.
Freya: No way! Was it her, though, the red-headed b*****? I mean, damn, that's just wrong. How did you keep your composure, because, I swear, I would have lost it right there?
If it had been, maybe, three years earlier, I wouldn't have been able to play through it. I'm assuming it was her. They were kissing, so. I don't know. Maybe he really liked redheads and she was one of many.
Freya: See this. This is what I'm looking for in this project, those nuances and details you only get from someone in that position. I'm just (I pause in thought) wondering, like, how did the ring get in there in the first place. Now I'm imagining this train of proposals that all end in this fountain for this guy.
Cooper: I'm glad I could help. I thought of that, too. I think he was just wandering for a bit before he set up his proposal thing. I always thought that he had it in his pocket, because he had no box for it from what I saw, and he, maybe, threw in some change and accidentally threw it in there too.
Freya: This whole session, so far, has been a joy, and I don't think I've laughed this hard during Story Times before. Tell me another?
Cooper: (Chuckles, and has a sip of his drink with a great big smile on his face and nods, obligingly.) Let's see. There's the time I fought with a homeless man over a dollar, the burglary that happened in the shop I was getting my electric juice from, and the couple that was swapping couples and didn't know it. Pick your poison.
Freya: What! Definitely, number three. Like, what the actual f****?
Cooper: That is exactly what I said. So this happened over the course of, like, a few months....
End of Transcript: Session Part 1 (Cooper)
A link to Part 2 of this session will be posted here when it goes live. Follow and read all published sessions from The Busker Project here.
About The Busker Project
The Busker Project is a character development initiative designed to gather the deepest nuances surrounding the drastic changes a musician endures on the journey from a busker to a signed artist.
It also explores how those changes affect their interpersonal relationships, the people around them, and their own expectations of what success means, even when it comes with a decrease in artistic license and freedom to do what brings them joy.
The Busker Project is an integral part of the novel-writing process for the book I'm currently working on, which is based on a fictional musician. The exact details of the book are only shared with selected participants.
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