The five o’clock rush is a tough audience for London’s tube stop buskers. WORDS: Trevor Paddenburg
It ain’t easy making a buck as a busker — just ask songwriter Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy. The Mercury Prize-winning strummer earned just £1.60 in 90 minutes of busking outside Waterloo Station, not enough to pay for a pint at the pub to drown his sorrows.
Luckily Gough had an ulterior motive. Hidden cameras were recording the performance for the film clip of his 2003 single, All Possibilities.
But if one of the UK’s well- known musicians can’t earn a decent crust, can London’s lesser known buskers manage to sing for their supper? And what’s it like when you’ve got just a few fleeting seconds to make an impact on the five o’clock rush?
What the buskers say
With his big toothy grin and smile-inducing acoustic ‘happy songs’, Cameroon-born singer and guitarist Stanisious Mengain-Sidjo reckons he makes about £20 in a two-hour stint. “That’s on a good day, maybe a Thursday or Friday when people are more happy because it’s almost the weekend,” he says.
He was once handed £20 and, on another occasion, a bottle of Baileys by impressed passers-by. “But it’s not about the money. Playing music relaxes me, I forget about my troubles. It’s a reason to get out of bed because for me the greatest thing is when people love what I’m playing.”
While he makes a ‘comfortable’ living from busking, Mark Campbell also says there’s more to it than the money — but for very different reasons. Blind from birth, Campbell discovered he had a talent for whistling, and he’s been using it to earn a crust — and stay in touch with society instead of letting his disability beat him — for more than 14 years. “There’s a flow of people on the tube that’s perfect for busking. It makes you feel you’re part of the pulse of London life,” he says.
And there are other motivations too. Italian saxophonist Marco Ferrando, 28, says his neighbours start complaining if he practices at home.
“The underground is my studio,” he says, mid-way through a session at South Kensington tube.
And for Jonny Corvette (main picture), 29, whose soul-filled electric guitar blues melodies can be heard echoing down through subways at Green Park tube, it’s simply a way of making a living in between gigs with his band, The X Corvettes.
“It’s my job,” he says. “I love the freedom down here, I get lost in my own world. Relentless gigging can be really hard, whereas I find busking a much easier way to make a living.”
My musical tour of the tube is rounded off with a toe-tapping listen to Tashomi Balfour, a 19-year-old devout Christian who plays the sax. The melodic music he makes contrasts sharply with his hoody and baseball cap pulled down low, but his passion for his profession is evident.
“I make enough to get by and it’s a good way for me to practice. Sometimes I play so much my lips start bleeding,” he says.
Balfour has been abused by drunks and had run-ins with mentally unstable people, but it’s given him a philosophical approach to busking.
“Some people couldn’t care less,” he says. “But others really appreciate it. They’re the ones who make it worthwhile, even if it’s just a smile or a few pence.”
What the punters say
“I find it a bit annoying. If I wanted to listen to bad music I’d download it onto my iPod.”
— Mark Simonds, 29, advertising executive
“Some of them are really good musicians and they definitely brighten up
the underground. That’s got to be worth a few coins, I reckon.”
— Ben Bowdell, 24, Department of Health officer
How to become a busker on the Tube
- Play an instrument ... well.
Transport For London auditions buskers before they are given a pitch at a tube stop, so keep practising if you’re not tip top
- Sign up
Go to Transport for London - becoming a busker to download an application form
- Audition
Impress the bureaucrats and you’ll get a license. The emphasis is on meeting a wide range of musical tastes
- Find a venue
Ring the buskers’ hotline and put your hand up for available pitches at particular time slots
- Sing for your supper
Right, you’re all set. Grab your instrument and see if you can wow the five o’clock rush
- Other options
The cops are quick to move you on if you’re street busking, and you risk being fined after several warnings. Check with your local council for info on street busking permits
Facts about performing on the Tube
» Licensed busking was launched as a trial in London in 2003, with 25 ‘pitches’ across 12 key tube stations. The scheme was a hit and became permanent. Now there are pitches in more than 22 tube stations.
» Today nearly 400 buskers, relying solely on donations, provide more than 3000 hours of live music on the underground every week.
» Piccadilly Circus, always busy and packed with tourists, is the busking cash cow. Buskers must phone up a hotline each week to book a pitch, and it’s first in, best dressed.
» Buskers are auditioned to ensure quality and are vetted for police convictions to ensure the safety of the public.
Did you know?
The Libertines, Julian Lloyd-Webber and Badly Drawn Boy have all busked at tube stops
Track your favourite busker
Log onto Buskear for audio clips, profiles and a full tube map and timetable of underground buskers