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This is the path of the fame.
It's difficult and hard
but it's the only one we know.
We started as busker
but a busker is a busker.
A busker is someone who play in the streets
to work, to earn some money
and we started like this.
It started as a game
then when we began to earn a million of dollars
everything changed.
I'm a street artist
i haven't done anything else for 21 years.
Only one time someone said to me: "will you make me a window?"
We went to Patagonia, and done a tour there.
We stopped in a corner of a street and played.
Then when we finished the tour,
we started with 5 cds
and ended selling 300!
After that we said: "Ok...
this works...i like it more than deliver pizzas"
I've become a street artist by chance.
I dind't woke up one day and said: " i wanna do a show"
It was important for me to get a card to work in theater.
In Englang it is called equity card.
To have this equity card you have to work in theater.
But you can't work in theater if don't have this card.
Then i thought to try on the street.
It was good and i liked it
so i kept on doing it.
Places where i've been?
Everywhere in Europe: France, Germany, Norway
Switzerland, Italy obviously, Uk, Ireland...
It should be a fantastic life
but my mom disagree with that.
She always says: "When will you have a regular job?"
We do this everyday.
Our normal life is creating music, playing,
doing everything you need for contracts, improving
as human and as a group trying to be always better.
We survived many quarrels, we never separated
we grew up as human beings
all of this thanks to our "normal life".
I wanted to move people.
Find a way to amaze...
with my traveling show.
We presented it for the first time here in Ferrara
then we brought it all over europe.
We won at the Carnival of Venice, first prize in 1998
then we've been in many places.
Now it's five years that we are together and we have done 10 tours.
It means that we are away from home for 6 months in a year.
The first time is hard because you are young
because you are discovering the world by yourself and you feel the absence of your relatives.
When is possible to call home we call.
We try to stay in touch with our girlfriends because we love them.
Your mom knows that you love her even if you can't call often
the same goes with your dad.
We love being in the streets but we also hate it
because there could happen good things as well as bad things.
Sometimes i arrive in a place and i start immediatly.
While often you have to wait because there is a row to follow.
One time I've waited even 5 hours with other artists
then finally you can have your show.
It would be better if i'm the only artist on a square
I'm happy when it's just me.
When we begin to play on the street
our first problems were when we made mistakes
or when you were wrong and you won't admit.
The worst quarrels were about mistakes during the performance.
This was happening mainly because we were young,
we couldn't stand that one of us could be wrong
or that any of us would acknowledge his mistakes.
My job is insecure,
sure it is.
But right know who does have a secure job?
I'm earning money as a busker
but you have to make sacrifices
and be strong.
I don't know if it's harder because we play on the street
or it's hard being an indipendent
but you have to be responsible for everything
without letting people see that you are tired to move your instruments around
or have driven for 1000 miles.
You can't have a driver or someone that sends email for you.
You don't have one who can get for you cds at the embassy.
It's everything up to you and after you have to play good.
I have to work when there are many people.
This means that i'm always out during the weekends.
On summer when people go on vacation i'm working.
I always work on fridays, saturdays and sundays.
During the weekend i'm not ever at home with my kids
I'm home during the week but they are at school.
I see my kids for a very little time
and i'm really sorry.
Sometimes city administrations fear us
because they don't know who we are
and we're not in their control.
So they fear we make a mess around or we camp in the streets.
But it's not true!
Other problems that we can't analyze with a great level of depth...
It's when police came and take your instruments, pay fines,
things that already happended to us.
Or when the owner of the pub in front of you says: "you can't play here".
Or that an other band starts playing right next to you
with a really high volume.
Never cry for love
this is a wasted night
never cry for love
a new love will come tomorrow
In every places what you have to do is always the same:
look out for cops so you won't have to be moved out
be careful to not bother the neightborhood.
It's all a game because you have to go around
and check out the place where you're gonna play.
The other way to play is with an authorization.
We have done that a lot in Barcellona, you don't need it at Buenos Aires.
In this way everything is different, you have a license,
you play when you are supposed to, you sell your cds and that's all.
Twenty years ago there were often problems with the police
They came and said: "you can't stay here, go away".
Then some years later everything got more free and open minded
but now they are shifting back to twenty years ago.
Samething everywhere, Venice, Rome, Amsterdam, London...
I've never had personal problems with police.
They are quite always nice, not everyone but many are.
One time a Policeman that wasn't on duty come to me and gave me 10 euros.
But it was the first and last time that happened
When you play on street you could have issues with police,
or with people...
When you are in a festival that's hosting you
you play more relaxed. You don't have fear to
sell your cds or that the neighbor comes out
and launch you buckets of water.
That really happended to us.
You need just a glance.
A smile..."Hi there".
So you two stop two people there, four here...
In a bunch of minutes, three or four...
you still haven't done anything
but you have a small audience.
From that moment on, the show starts with some gags.
We got our charisma thanks to hundreds of hundreds of shows.
You know where to look, where to find answer
you know when someone is playing wrong and how to follow him when he does
because he played wrong some many times
that you learned to follow him even in that.
The street gave unity to our group.
If i can live my entire life as a Busker? Yes.
Absolutely.
You just have to be phisically good.
With the show i'm doing now i can't go on forever
if i change it i can go on till i have 60-70 years.
I know artists of this age.
What we like the most
is to tell what we do freely
so that people who are interested in indipendents
receive a message that says that 5 guys that are no one
are going around the world, playing music, solving problems,
and overcoming difficulties
What we got from the streets, aside from contacts and experience
how to play, how to do a show,
how to talk with people
is to prove that we can achieve what we desire
live in the way we want,
without relying on other people's help
that could ask something in return.
In Argentina is very diffult to get help that you can really rely on.
We have many friends that really helped us
but not as much.
Playing on the streets, everywhere in the world,
gives you the chance to earn money you can reuse.
In this way you can do what you want to
and play which music you like.
Everyone is a "world" and do things easier than others
and there are thing in which is good and other in which is bad.
I think that a good group of work should
be able to sum the best features of everyone
and mix them in the best way.
When you hear our music you perceive this work.
You understand that in that moment it's him who talks and says this
while in an other moment he's talking and so on.
Music is food for the soul...
It's what we decided to do as people.
and it's what we like to do.
I don't think there are other things that fulfill our soul more than following
what you believe in.
It's five years that we are playing on the streets
the physical effort has been always greater than the musical or artistic effort.
Our dreams will be over is we feel that we achieved all.
We have 27, 28, 24 years and if today we are already at the end of our desires
we have failed.
No we want more...more music, more life, more voyages
and meet more people.
If you have faith in what you do and you like it
you have two options:
stay at home jerking off waiting for someone to knock at your door
or going out showing what you can do and seeing what happen next...
We choosed this way and it's going well.
We are normal people, we are not so strange.
When we are working we can be wearing crazy clothes
or do strange things.
At home we are normal people.
Whare has brought us this life as a Busker?
In some way we learned to improve what we were doing.
It got us a place to show our ideas.
At the same time it has been an opportunity to
to meet many people
and thanks to this we started to play in theaters
and other festivals.
And we met so many people
musicians, producers and others "non artists" people.
It gaves us all of this.
For the audience is wonderful to be in a square
and watch a show "live" because they can
take part in it, clap, smile...
This is the connection TV won't ever have. �