Busking in Skopje

We have tried to busk on the main square of Skopje.

The first day John played alone. People gave about 300 denars, and 2 big great peace’s of cheese. So we made a nice pizza using the mini grill stove at the hostel.

The next day we played together behind the bridge close to the Bazaar. It was very warm because of the sun. So we could play easily. Mostly popular French and Russian and English songs. We were gifted with 80 denars. Then a woman came, and offered us to play at the local bar. 3 hours for 1500 denars.

I was pretty excited to try. John was unsure instead. Cause it is too stressful when people judge you and expect something. While on the street no one cares. So we went to their bar and talked little bit over a glass of rake. We could come and play the same day at 6 or the next day. And probably some other days. John was negative on that. I was positive. But later that day I started to feel tired and unsure that it is actually a good idea. Cause I never played in bars. For me sometimes it is better to pass. If I don’t feel good and confident enough. Not a good place to start from. So I became negative on this too. And we dropped the opportunity at the end of the day.

The same day later we played at the square. A young guy came and was inspecting how we play. He had a very serious face. When I made a few nice chords with picking he bent over and looked at my hand with the pick. As if he was trying to see exactly. But then I screwed out with the picking. So he just continued his serious observation. At the same moment a couple of guys came to us with the light and the camera. They made an improvised interview. There was no real theme in it. They just asked something like “How is it?” And we answered something like “pretty interesting”. It was fun, cause neither we were good nor the interview made any sense. It just seems like if you try to do something you can meet somebody who also tries to do something. The young guy inspected the whole thing. After that he quietly left.

The next day we were just playing at the balcony of the hostel. Trying to learn new songs. Cause after a while you become bored of the same songs that you play on the street. It should be a continuous process of learning and performing. Hence it is good to have a comfortable place to learn too. If it’s cold outside, even playing might be difficult. As the hands harden. So it is something to work on. But then I’ve heard a story from John about a Turkish guy who used to play the same playlist on the street over and over again. For 3 years. Quite successfully. So there are no particular rules to do things. And I suspect it is always like that in any kind of arts. Just have to find your way.

The next day we tried to play new songs. But forgot all the lyrics. So we felt pretty bad and fucked up everything. But we did not give up. Just started again to play songs that we knew. It gave us a necessary attitude to try a couple of new ones. So it was good after all. And I think we made something like 600 denars. It may depend on the day of the week and time. There are more people on Friday evening, weekends and holidays.

The next day I was doing some job online. And John went alone. Got those 600. But most importantly he met some interesting people. Someone brought him a burger from the BurgerKing. Another guy decided to share mini donuts. A DJ guy, who used to play in the local bar during the week invited him to visit a party. So he was quite happy. Cause after all this is not about money, but an experience and people.

At this point John got hoarse. And I got pain in the shoulder. So we decided to step back little bit.