BUSK 2016: Character

BUSK Singer-Songwriter Festival is back in Bolzano Bozen: on May 20th and 21st 2016 once again we’re bringing buskers and their music out to the streets of the city. VOTE this profile and YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICIANS by clicking the facebook like button at the end of the article (the result will be added to a selection made by an expert group). Spread music!

Name:
‘Character’, Izzi Cope & Alvaro Benito Cerezo

Genre:
Guitar & Vocals singer songwriter style

Hometown:
I come from England, Alvaro comes from Spain but we live in Innsbruck, Austria

Age:
I’m 30 Alvaro is 27

First contact with music:
both of my parents are music teachers/ choir conductors so I was put at the front of choir/orchestra rehearsals basically as soon as I was born!

What do like about playing on street:
I like that everything changes so quickly. One moment no-one’s there then next minute and old man is dancing around a tree! I also like that the audience is free to move around and enjoy the music, not to be stuck in a chair in a concert venue.

Which artist or concert impressed you particularly and why?
I recently went to a gig of a friend who was playing post rock. I haven’t been to a post rock gig before and I loved how long and slow the builds are and feels like an epic meditative journey when you come out the other end! layers and layers of music all working together.

The soundtrack of your current life?
At the moment I’m running a Sing-a-long sessions project in Innsbruck. Basically we get a small group of musicians together, project lyrics and chords on the wall and invite people to come and sing with us. Like an open karaoke /choir project with no stage, no microphones and no judging anyone for their singing. This means as a result the soundtrack to my life at the moment is a lot of old classics!

What does it mean to be a musician?
What it means to be a musician for me is like what it means to breath or to exist. It’s always been there for me and I couldn’t exist without music. Basically all my friendships and relationships involve music in someway. It’s a part of every bit of my life.

What does your family think of your choice to be a musician?
My family are also musicians.: )
So they understand!

Dream concert – impossible concert: who would you like to hear?
The Mills Brothers!
Ella Fitzgerald
Sarah Vaughan
Louis Armstrong
The list could go on forever!

Best or worse experience of your musical career?
Once when I was extremely new at university I was playing the bagpipes (Dudelsack) at a big event but what I didn’t know is that my friend had been playing around with the bagpipes before the event and had knocked one of the reeds from the pipe into the bag….this means you will never get a sound out of the bagpipes. I stood infront of hundreds of people trying to play the song and all I got was farting noises!

Contact:
www.facebook.com/charactersound/
soundcloud.com/characterdj
www.youtube.com/channel/UCjwpG0seC0Jrg0qc-f5Z8JQ

For more information, the guidelines and the call click here.

Foto: Character