Buskers: How street performers are forced to change their tune
A cashless society, COVID-19 and changing shopping habits are conspired to make busking a tougher gig than ever, but they’re keeping their dream alive.
SA Weekend
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As the chill winds cut through Rundle Mall late on a cool spring afternoon, the rush of Christmas and the Fringe are too far away and the live musical soundtrack that accompanies our busiest shopping precinct is a muffled memory.
In a normal year, the music wouldn’t be quite as vibrant in the off-season but it would still be there and passers-by would stop for a listen, sometimes give words of encouragement, and throw a few coins. In the year of COVID, it’s a whole different story. The music is no longer amplified, missing shoppers don’t provide a windbreak, those who are shopping don’t want to get too close and cash is something from the past. The number of buskers in the Mall has dropped alarmingly and those who are braving the conditions are working harder than ever for their money.
If social distancing and a distinct lack of cash wasn’t hard enough, the Rundle Mall Management Authority (RMMA) and Adelaide City Council this year banned amplified music in the Mall, forcing many long-time Mall buskers to seek out other locations to perform at a volume they can be heard above the foot traffic. The restrictions were eased in mid-October, to allow amplification near James Place and Rundle Place but it remains off-limits for most of the popular shopping strip.
So, while Rundle Mall was delivering elevator music to shoppers, Barbarella Accordato and Jai Lee were giving Gouger Street diners a little taste of Bourbon Street. Barbarella was belting out a blues adaptation of a pop classic while multi-instrumentalist Jai was switching between accordion, trumpet and flute.
“I’ve been singing for ages but only busking for a year or so,” Accordato says between songs. “We weren’t allowed to do anything when COVID hit, but, since we were flat mates, it gave us plenty of time to collaborate and learn some songs. Now we’re not allowed into Rundle Mall with any form of amplification so we have to think of other ways to perform.
“If I was to sing in the Mall, I’d have to really shout, bearing in mind it’s a busy place and can be noisy. We also notice, for obvious reasons, that people don’t want to get too close so that affects how much money we can make.” Like many other buskers, Accordato and Lee have more than one string to their bows. She is a visual artist, costume designer and promoter when she’s not singing on the streets; he was a street instrumentalist and circus performer before injury forced him to modify his act and has travelled to Europe, Canada and Africa as a musician.
“My Dad was a busker called Mr Spin and I’ve been busking since the age of five,” Lee says. “I did a circus career for a while but fell from six metres and broke my shoulder so I concentrated on my music. I travelled to a lot of European locations with Dad, performing in places like Prague and parts of Italy and Germany.
“The move towards a cashless society has had a big affect on earnings in the past two to three years. I was earning about three times as much a couple of years ago and every year, it gets less.
“It’s tough enough trying to earn money performing in a year of social distancing and with cash not carried as much as it used to be, but it gets even more difficult when a local government authority makes a ruling that amplifying music will make people stand closer together.”
Days after playing in Gouger Street, Lee cut a lonely figure as a solo performer in the Mall. It was a fine, warm day that would have provided an eclectic mix of world, classical and popular musical styles just a year earlier. This time, he was the only performer in the entire Mall, switching between trombone, trumpet and flute – a hefty load to carry and set up for the small amount of cash he was able to earn.
Samantha Edge stopped busking recently after 10 years for a range of reasons and, while she hasn’t ruled out making a return, believes it has never been harder to make a few dollars performing.
The singer, songwriter and pianist, who has released an album of original music and two cover albums, still performs live at private functions but found the need for a “day job” in bookkeeping to make ends meet.
“I started busking because I was a couple of years out of school, wanted to perform and busking created those opportunities,” she recalls. “It eventually led to many more performances in venues and at markets and functions. The decline of cash among shoppers was one of the factors in my decision to stop busking and find other ways to perform. Although I have an eftpos machine to receive donations, most people won’t give that way and the amount of money coming in from busking has drastically reduced.
“It’s a tough way to earn money and not always a safe way. The police provide a good presence and are very responsive if I feel the need to call them about a brawl happening nearby or someone that doesn’t want to leave me alone but I still feel much safer during daylight.”
The RMMA says it works closely with the City of Adelaide, SA Police and SA Health, and regularly reviews amplification restrictions. It says restrictions are needed to ensure pedestrian flow to help with social distancing.
Buskers who require amplification can also busk in Gouger, Hindley and Leigh streets as well as thoroughfares like Topham Mall and outside the Railway Station. Fair to say, the potential for earnings are greatly reduced in these precincts. As a result, buskers are opting to seek out private functions and head to country areas. Venues such as the Palmer Hotel, Mount Barker Farmers Market and the Mannum Markets are among those calling for interest from buskers to enhance their atmosphere. They’re all opportunities of various magnitude for performers to earn some portion of a living and those who make it work are less likely to return to the Mall.
Like an increasing number of buskers, Andy Salvanos has focused much of his recent efforts on performing online and seeking private gigs. Swedish-born Salvanos has been wowing Adelaide audiences for almost 20 years playing the Chapman Stick, a rare 10-string variation of the guitar that resembles an oversized fret board and gives a unique sound blending guitar and tuned percussion.
“I’ve had some success in different areas and felt I was as prepared as possible for this year but I still felt the impact,” Salvanos says. “I received a sustainability grant from APRA (the Australian Performing Right Association) and I have my live streaming and recorded music, so I’m not destitute, but when I look at some of the buskers who don’t have anything to fall back on, it’s pretty heartbreaking.
“I look at busking as a microcosm of society. Everyone’s working longer and harder to make ends meet. Whatever’s happening in the world tends to be reflected on the street. When people are performing on the street under a range of new difficulties, it’s not just the lack of money that’s an issue, it becomes a mental issue.”
Salvanos says the busking situation has become increasingly more difficult over the past decade but most buskers were dealing with it until they encountered this year’s multitude of issues.
“About four or five years ago, it started to get difficult to make money busking but 2020 has made it even harder still,” he says. “The demise of cash, COVID and the amplification issue has been a triple whammy for Adelaide buskers.
“I think there are inherent differences between sticking your hand in your pocket and clearing out the change and having to make the effort to say ‘I like this busker, I’d better get the credit card out’. Not many people are going to do that.
“Like so many things in society, I think we’re at a crossroads at the moment. I think people are very receptive to anything live at the moment but the financial side of things is the issue. With the downturn in cash in recent years, I’ve found my act more of a shopfront where I can hand out my card, tell people I’m on Spotify and hope someone books me for a private function.
“A lot of performers really depend on the cash in hand and this past year couldn’t have been more difficult for them. People may think it’s as easy as just turning up and performing but there’s a lot of work involved, including working on new material and setting up and packing up your equipment again, sometimes for not very much money. There’s a lot of schlepping gear around, dealing sometimes with people on drugs, people abusing you. It can be quite full on.”
Salvanos says buskers and street performers have little option other than to continue doing what they do because in many cases, as accomplished as they may be, it’s all they know. He believes they will have to adapt and hopes audiences respect the difficulties they’re experiencing.
“Perhaps the one positive change that may occur through COVID is that people are feeling more comfortable using their credit cards for smaller purchases,” he says. “Maybe that will flow on and they will feel more inclined to reward a busker that way. We can only hope.”
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