Benjamin Stein has been making his living on the streets for a few years, playing improvisations and traditional music from Afghanistan, Iran, Macedonia, Turkey, Japan, and Greece, amongst others. He started playing with the guitar, but moved onto instruments with much better names: the bağlama (Turkish lute), the santoor (Persian hammered dulcimer), the tar (Persian lute) and the oud (Arab lute).
What do you get out of playing on the streets?
It’s nice to widen people’s horizons because I’m playing music many people wouldn’t listen to by themselves, and yet people become interested in it. Well, at least some do. Many still aren’t interested, but they can’t close their ears. And I’ve meet a lot of people who were so thankful to hear a German playing traditional music from their home countries. Some tears were running, mostly from Iranians who can’t visit their home country until things strongly change. Those have been some of the most touching moments.
I know an old man from Flensburg, the most northern German city, who recorded street musicians for 20 years. He’s really nice and interesting, having a huge archive of recordings. I’ve seen only some of it, but it shows how different street music used to be in Flensburg. Now the people who play are often quite similar.
What motivated you to become a street performer, what did you expect, and how did your first day busking compare to your expectations.
I wanted to show my music to more people, and not keep it to myself anymore. It was also a way of earning money while still doing what I like to do. I didn’t know what reactions to expect — I thought that maybe it would be hard to play to a random audience. It took some time until I felt comfortable, but the positive reactions encouraged me.
Did you see busking as a career path then, and do you now?
At that time I wasn’t sure about it. But now I know it’s possible to be a full time busker.
Is it tough to explain to possible partners that you are a street musician?
I’m used to tell it to everyone. Why shouldn’t I? Maybe it’s a problem for some people, but they’re not possible partners for me, of course. With street musicians it’s like with any other artists: No regular income. Whoever considers starting a relationship with me should be aware money is not one of my priorities.
But how long can you keep it up? What’s your retirement plan?
My wish is to make my living only with music as I’m doing it now. Busking is only a part of it, but it’s the main part. I really love busking, but to get enough of an income I need to play a lot. So, I’m looking for more jobs, like concerts, playing at exhibition openings, celebrations, readings, and whatever. Busking is good promotion for these other avenues, as you meet a lot of people. However, even if I find other jobs, I won’t stop busking.
Get in contact with Ben here:
www.myspace.com/benjaminstein
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