A Busker’s Life for Wali They’re sometimes looked upon by some people as ‘down and outs’ who ought to get a ‘proper job’. In many cases that’s far from the truth and many of them prove to be well educated and very interesting to talk to. I took one look at the weather today and said, “my interviewee won’t be happy. The sun is not shining, the levanter is thick and it’s windy. Not the best scenario to attract passers by to drop a shilling into his hat!” “You know, this busking business is really funny. I’ve made much more today than I’ve done on many days when the sun is shining and the world’s supposedly alive and happy. You can never tell how things are going to work out, there’s no formula for a good lucrative busking day.” William Bickley is from Philadelphia. He’s been on the Rock for about nine months now and loves it here. ‘Wali,’ as he is known, is a jazz musician who reads music, has been in groups and done the clubs. He’s also a trained addiction counsellor after having been a cocaine addict himself. Luckily he kicked the habit, helped others for about six years and then decided to cross the pond to seek out the jazz scene in Europe. “I was on my way down from Madrid, made it to Algeciras and nearly ended up in Morocco with no money but I was advised by a fellow traveller not to do that and come to Gibraltar instead. He was right. It was a great move.” Wali, who had never busked before, says every day is different and some days can be quite hard when nothing is happening and he’s asked to move on by the police because someone has complained about him playing next to their home or by their shop. “And to make matters worse, there’s nothing in my cap, so that can get you down sometimes. But that doesn’t happen very often thank God and I’m just amazed at how generous people are here. I get people coming up to talk to me who have now become friends. Others will give me an extra something because they say that makes up for the days when they haven’t. In fact one lady gave me quite a bit extra because she said she ‘owed me.’ I love performing for the children also.” Busking or busquer, from the French ‘to seek’, is only one form of ‘seeking out’ and earning the odd pound here and there. These days we have a variety of street entertainers who come and go and adorn our streets. Most of them put in a hard day’s work. The guy who sits on a bench with guitar and mouth organ and the other tall chap with hat and stooped posture standing outside the Cathedral come to mind. But we also have our regular statues of all shapes and sizes, the motionless, brief-cased man in a suit on a windy day with tie flapping away not seen recently — jugglers, puppeteers and lots of other music makers. “And they can all make enough to live on and feed themselves etc.” Wali says and he doesn’t go to the Soup Kitchen. “I only eat raw food. Vegetables, fruit and nuts and I only drink water, but even those things cost a lot these days, but I manage.” Where do buskers stay? Do they all cram in to the Toc H, round the back of Ince’s Hall? “I rent a place in San Roque which is great. I get up very early, get into my routine and then get stuck in, playing my flute. All in all, I can play for anything up to 16 hours a day at home and in the street.” From what I hear Wali does alright, but which street entertainers do best? “I think we all do well. It’s important to be good at what you do and then you’ll be alright.” As far as relationships go, Wali doesn’t have a problem with any of his fellow street performers and gets on quite well with a couple of them. “Some of them are quite bright and interesting people. When I first came there was a little issue with one of them who thought I would be encroaching on his territory but that was sorted out and we’re okay with each other now.” Wali quite enjoys playing at the end of the wide tunnel at Casemates. He likes the acoustics there and it’s also a good place for business. “It’s many locals’ daily route and there’s not the hustle and bustle of Main Street with so many people milling around, but Main Street can be very good too.” Despite the hordes of tourists coming through the frontier and off the cruise ships, business doesn’t reflect the numbers of visitors in town. “Gibraltarians are very generous and most of my income comes mainly from them. I’ve even been allowed to do a spot a couple of times a week on the balcony of the ICC, which is great.” Being a musician myself I wondered, doesn’t he get fed up with playing the streets and not being able to perform on a stage or to an invited or paying audience? “It’s true that on the street you’re performing at ‘the show no one has come to see!’ But I do get the chance to play with bands at Café Solo and Eliott Hotel and other places. You know, I’m also going through a research and development mode and my playing is improving all the time. It’s much better now than when I left the States.” That’s what happens when you play for 16 hours a day I guess! Well today, the levanter cloud must have affected the mood of some of the entertainers because there weren’t any on Main Street. I don’t think Wali was too bothered about that, judging by the bulk of coins in his cap — a case of ‘the less the merrier’? “No, I don’t think so. It’s good to see the streets alive with music and fun and I don’t think there are too many of us buskers and entertainers on the streets.” I’ve always wondered if it was better to have an almost empty cap or box to show you’ve not done too well and perhaps passers by will show some compassion and fill it or, have a bulky container of coins to show musical prowess and make potential ‘givers’ give, because they assume you must be very good and therefore worthy of their donation? Wali? “I feel it’s better for your cap not to be full or anywhere near it, because if it is, you’ll get people saying to themselves ‘hey, look at this guy, he has more than I have.’ So I just keep a few coins in there. Today, it just happened too fast and it soon filled up.” Wali is having a great time so far. He’s taken to this community and has even played a part in the local production of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and is planning to record a CD. So when will it be time to move on? “At the moment I’m loving it here. As far as trying different places around this area, I don’t think there’s much in La Linea but I might try Estepona. I have no serious plans as yet to move away. I’ll be going over to the States to see family and friends soon but I plan to come back.” In the mean time the man from Philadelphia will continue to bring music to our streets. The call of his jazzy flute and his pleasant manner will inevitably charm you in the tunnel or on the street and you will yield to the inevitable… the surrendering of a helpful coin!

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