Had you heard about Paddy before you met him?
No. I did not know that it was Paddy. One night in probably 1995, 1996 even, I was coming back from a symphony rehearsal with a friend of mine, Gina Harvey, and we stopped into Squires and at that point - I don't remember the exact night - I remember thinking "Boy, this guy's not very good." But we stayed for about a half hour, 45 minutes. But it was more background music back then. He was playing just more background music. And we stayed for a drink and we left and that was the first time that I can recall Paddy Gibney before I met him. That's the only time.
And why did you think he was not very good? Was it inexperience?
Musicians tend to be very critical. At least - I'm sorry - violinists tend to be very critical because of the way we're raised, just from a very young age. You're trained to be competitive because when it comes to violin, only the very few make it to the top. And that's the way I was to all musicians, although I enjoyed bands and everything else. But if a musician has the guts to go out one on one, or one against the audience, he has to deal with all types of criticism, and I wouldn't have the guts to do it. Not by myself.
So when you met him and you were introduced and you thought about getting together with him, what qualities did you think you could bring to his music that would change it? Or he to your music?
When we first met, what I saw was that he was already doing very well. He had a great feel for the audience. But I thought I could add musicality to it, and thought I could open up which is, I think, what we have done over the last couple of years. We've opened up the music, opened up his range of what to play, adding a little bit. Because, what I do on the violin is try to add percussion when I need to. A good example is this morning I was watching the Ovation Network where 3 cellists - a group called Rasputina - and a drummer have completely integrated the cellos. They were playing Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and it was an incredible version of it. It was sung by a female playing the cello but the other cellist was playing the cello like a bass, and had a bass melody too, giving it a lot of rhythm. The other one was playing the leads on the cello. That's the type of stuff that I was hoping to add, because what Paddy basically plays - and he'll tell you himself - is rhythm guitar, and what he was lacking in some ways was the leads. Like the first song we played was "Hotel California" and I did all the leads to it. Things that he wasn't used to doing. He was used to playing all the rhythm.
So basically you brought the other instruments into it?
Exactly.
How did you make the transition from classical violinist to pub fiddler? Is there a giant leap?
It depends on the musician. I was trained classically but I loved rock and roll and the gift that I think was given to me by I don't know whom, was that at a young age I could play whatever I heard - although I was trained to read. I could read it and play it but if I was messing around.... and that's the thing with some musicians... I was talking to a couple of guys that the same thing happened to. We don't understand being able to hear something and not being able to play it. Because if you know your instrument you are able to play it. If I hear a note, I can duplicate it on the violin. If you hear a tune, you can play it.
So if you're classically trained it basically gives you a good ground for playing any kind of music?
I'm not sure that it's the classical training, because I know a lot of classical violinists that aren't comfortable or can't do that. It's all improvisation. It's all about loving music and being in touch with music. I think that some people are very open in a musical sense, so that they can hear something and immediately play it. Probably the thing that amazed my father was the way I was able to harmonise with anything. You know, a lot of people, even that I have worked with, have to work out harmonies - "You're doing a third, you're doing a fifth, you're doing a seventh"... I don't think in terms of music. I think, okay, that line is occupied and I immediately go to the next one. If it's a five part harmony, two part harmony, six part harmony, I can find the open space for the most part and without any trouble. And that's what makes me fairly easy to play with, in a band setting or otherwise. I'll find an open space to fit myself in. Sometimes it doesn't always work but... But the jump to that wasn't difficult at all because I loved rock music. I loved alternative. I loved U2. And anything I heard that I liked I would immediately try to play
So you think it's more instinctive than trained into you?
Absolutely. A lot of it is inborn. You can build a technique, as I say to my students. You can build a technique but you cannot build musicianship.
So you could teach me to play the violin but if I haven't got it in my soul I'm not going to progress any further?
Exactly. If you have not listened to music seriously for a good ten years and not felt it then you’re not going to feel that naturalness to the notes, to a rhythm, to a specific tone.
And is that what makes you produce your own music? Because you then have the instinct and the skills that will produce music rather than be taught music?
Yes.
How different is it playing in an orchestra and playing in a pub or club? Obviously there’s a lot more alcohol in the pub audience. So what’s the difference in the response?
(Laughing) Nobody knows what happens backstage in an orchestra!
Okay. So there’s lots of alcohol there too?
No. I like to have at least a beer or two, or a shot, before I go onto an orchestral stage. But that started at age 17 when I played at the Belgian Music Festival in front of the King of Belgium. I was so nervous that I had a “Sezoens” beer. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, it’s a Belgian beer, comes in a big stein and it’s extremely strong. We were playing Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” at the time and it turns out that I get onstage and played my heart out. And alcohol, to a specific degree... if you have a beer or two, you’re fine.
Inhibitions go away?
Exactly. But if you have 3 or 4 of a powerful beer, you’re screwed. Especially violinists, because you just cannot control the digits. And there have been probably about 5 or 6 times in the 5 years that I have been playing with Paddy that I could not play, that I’ve actually walked... well, not walked out of a gig, but been too intoxicated to play. When I play, normally I close my eyes because that gives me... I can hear what he’s doing a little better without any visual stimulation, but every once in a while if I close my eyes my head starts spinning. And that’s when I look at him and say “Okay, I’m done”. It’s usually about 1.30 to 1.45am.
But at the other side of that though, what about the people who’ve consumed the alcohol in the pubs as opposed to the people who come out to watch a symphony. Obviously there is more alcohol in the people who are watching you. How do you think that affects people’s response to what you are playing?
Oh it affects it greatly. But that’s why our gigs are much lighter than a symphony. At the symphonies, they know what to expect. They know that they are going to have to sit there for 2 hours. It’s very rare that you are going to get somebody that’ll come out and say “I’m getting tanked and I’m going to the Symphony Concert.” They’re gonna say “I’m getting tanked and I’m gonna go see Paddy and Bill” because they’re gonna get more tanked!
But just because it’s much lighter. They know that if they walk into a Symphony Hall – and you have an age range from 8 to 80 and everybody is behaving themselves. I’ve had, especially last year, I had a group of people when I did my first solo with the Fayetteville Symphony, who said “As soon as you’re done we’re gonna be going ‘whoo whoo’ and cheering and everything.” And I said “I don’t think you’re gonna do that.” Same thing happened this year when I did it. They end up getting caught up in the whole politeness of it all and they behave themselves. Just like I do, you know, I can’t do anything. I might be much different on a pop stage than on a classical stage, but I’m going to do my job in either case.
Describe your feelings after your first recital.
I can’t even remember my first recital. I’ll give you the one that I remember. Okay, let’s say I was 8 years old. I’m guessing here. It was a talent competition and I think I got first place, maybe second place, because again, I was 8 but I know that back then my knees used to literally shake. I was wearing, my father had bought me a Pierre Cardin suit and it was grey, I remember that. I still have it as a matter of fact. But everyone would look and would constantly tell me after shows, or after recitals, that I looked relaxed on stage, I was a natural. Nobody would ever pay attention to my knees! And when I first got onstage my knees would shake so badly to the point where my father actually wanted to give me valium to calm me down. And I would shake and the first couple of notes that I ever played in each recital were always very shaky. And it would take me about a minute to warm up to the point where I could play. But even to this day, if I play a Symphony Recital or a Symphony Concert and I have a solo... well, the knees don’t shake anymore and I think I’m fine until that first note hits. And right now it’s more like 10 to 15 seconds to a point where I feel comfortable. But I still don’t completely let loose. Every musician looks for that perfect performance and it’s never happened for me.
Do you get nervous when you play with Paddy?
No, because you know, he’s the difference. When I’m playing with Paddy people are drunk, people are expecting what I have done or what we have done for the last five years. They’re expecting to hear the same things. Whereas at a Symphony Concert they’re waiting for you to make a mistake and yes, they wanna hear it. Some of them think it’s beautiful music and a great concert, but a lot of them are very critical so you’re conscious of that as a performer – that you have to please yourself as well as pleasing all the critics that are in the audience.
Do you think that people who are fans of classical music are more into music. Appreciate it more?
I think that in order to go to a classical concert they need to be dedicated to the support of music, especially in a community like this. In New York, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, it’s a status symbol in a way to go to a Symphony Concert. Here in Fayetteville it’s not a status symbol. It’s, for most, a love of music that puts them out there. They look for it, they look for the concert. They look for different events that are going to be cultural. So I think it’s just a more cultural audience. Not necessarily as high society as the New York market would be or the others that I mentioned. But there is a genuine love for it. And, you know, there’s always a bus load of people from the old folks’ home that go out and that I always see. There are a lot of little kids that come out with their parents. My violin students and their friends come out. There’s just a host of people from all over the area that come out.
How do your students and their parents feel about your live music with Paddy? Do the parents of the kids you teach know about the other side – the “dark” side? What do they think?
(Laughs) It depends on the parent. I think that they all suspect that there’s a dark side, especially when it comes to Christmas gifts because you have the parents that give you a bottle of Crown Royale, and the parents that give you an extra 50 or 100 dollars, and the ones that give you a candle set and things like that. But the ones that give you the alcohol definitely know! But I have not broadcast it to my students because we live in the Bible Belt, and singing about a Pussy Cat or “Roll You Leg Over” or things like that definitely don’t click as a supposedly good violinist or whatever. And certainly not a Concert Master of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra.
Most of the people that I invite out to gigs I have a good relationship with. I forewarn them and I know that they’ll accept it. The people that I know are very much Christians and would not excuse the profanity or things like that, I don’t let them know anything about it. And recently, what Paddy says is “If you don’t like it, fuck off.” I can’t do that because my livelihood depends on people respecting me for what I do, as a teacher and as a performer. But they don’t necessarily have to go out to the gigs. My conductor came out to a gig last week...
I was going to say, what if someone just happened by a bar where you were playing?
I have tried on a couple of occasions to tell Paddy to please watch it, I have a student here, can we go with something nice at the beginning of the night? There have been a couple of times when people I know have been offended. And they have approached me later and said “I can’t believe you’re part of this.”, and I’m like, you know, it’s in a bar, it’s after hours. And anyone that asks where I am playing, if I know them well enough – and I’m a very good judge of character, or a judge of people in general – I tell them this may not be the show to go for because there’s a lot of young people, a lot of drunks.
A lot of nudity!
Nudity is a bonus sometimes! But I definitely warn them and I have been lucky enough to keep the two separate.
What’s your ideal future situation?
I have always told Paddy that my life would be perfect if I could continue on with classical music, be able to play with the New York Philharmonic Monday night and on Tuesday night play a sold out show at Madison Square Garden. That is my ultimate dream. That may be out of reach and of course may be too much to ask. But to be respected.. my biggest thing... not to be world famous. I want to be respected on both sides of the coin. As a pop violinist and as a classical violinist.
So you definitely want to carry on with both sides?
If possible. If it comes to a choice, and I’m forced into that corner, nobody can ever take classical music away from me. There’s no way that I would ever give it up. I’m gonna still keep practising and there may be a lull of 4 or 5 months where I can call up a Symphony, even a community regional orchestra and say I’d like to get into your concert series, I want to play such and such. And more than likely, if I have any kind of notoriety at the time, they’ll jump at the chance. I’d love to use – and I know that’s a bad word for it but everyone uses everything – I want to use the success that we have at our gigs to propel me further into the classical venue and so on. It’s been helping both ways. A lot of people that come to see me classically have gone to the pub shows and are avid fans now. So we want to hit as many different fan bases as possible. And you might get 50 people who come out from a Symphony concert to go see a pop gig and ten might like it, but those ten are ten more than we had another night. So everything works hand in hand.
So if you did choose, you’d choose classical music.
No, I can’t say. If I had to, I could never make the choice. And nobody would ever demand it of me because pop music has been in my blood since I was born. My favourite band when I was growing up was The Cure. The Cure and U2 were tops when I really started listening to music. My father started me on classical but The Cure, New Order, U2. A lot of the alternative bands in the early to mid 80s were really vital to my development as a musician. Some people say that they are not influenced but everybody’s influenced by something.
Who have been your biggest influences musically?
No violinists. It’s all pop music. No, I’m sorry, there’s one violinist – Heifetz. Although I’ve net Yehudi Menuhin who is still alive and I’ve talked with him backstage at Carnegie Hall. I’ve met Itzhak Perlman and Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg. I met her in Southern Pines after she played a show there. But they didn’t really influence me. Heifetz was the only one who influenced me because my father influenced me and he told me that Heifetz was the best violinist that he had ever seen, and after seeing the video tapes... I have some video tapes that I show my students that were recorded in the mid 50s – early 60s, and the man was phenomenal on his instrument, absolutely phenomenal! And there are those out there today that I would only aspire to become as great as. But I don’t need to be the best and that’s what I have to come to terms with. A long time ago I wanted to be the best, but I know that I can never have the technical expertise on the instrument. I couldn’t have the dedication to practise 8 to 10 hours a day to do it. That’s why I do what I do. Yes I can play classical and I love it. I have to work much harder at it than I have to with the pop stuff! But I love pop music. I can put all my heart and soul into the pop stuff whereas... I can also do that with the classical stuff, but the pop stuff is all mine, or I can make it mine more easily than I can the classical stuff because all the critics are looking at you.
Have you ever written any classical stuff?
Not on paper, no. There’s probably a little bit of hesitation there. I have done a lot of free playing where I just play whatever comes into mind and just explored notes and things like that. But I’ve never felt the urge or the need to write. Because I was a classically trained violinist, everybody writes the stuff and you perform it. So I’ve never felt the need to compose. Now, over the last year, it’s been digging at me and I think I need to compose more, need to start writing. I pick up my guitar and I start writing on my guitar but it’s much harder for me to do that, just from a lyrical standpoint, and that’s where Paddy’s strength is. He’s the poet, he’s the lyricist, and I try to be the musician as best I can.
Where do you see your partnership with Paddy going? Do you want to be permanently involved with him?
Absolutely. When we first established the partnership, the reason that we did so was that we knew we had the same goals. We have the same ideals, the same influences. We don’t always see eye to eye about where our future is going, but the goal is the same. It’s just that I want to be more direct about it. I think we can do more to establish ourselves.
Do you have lots of disagreements with him?
No, not many. We’re the very best of friends and if we do have disagreements every once in a while – and they’re not disagreements, not fights – it’s never ugly between us. And the fortunate and unfortunate thing is that we play so often that we have to... we have never gone onstage upset at each other, so things have to be worked out before and I can’t say that we’ve ever had a fight as most people would look at it. I might have some disagreements or I might tell him on the mike in the middle of a gig, you know, that was fucked up! But it’s all in joke format and if there’s anything that’s a little bit more serious we talk about it afterwards. But we don’t have any problems.
If you could play anywhere in the world, or for anyone, where would it be and for whom?
The first thing that pops into my mind is Sports Illustrated... under a waterfall in Tonga Tonga where Paddy’s gonna get married someday, with all the girls from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.... No but in all seriousness, with a perfect product I would love to be able to play at the Grammies in LA, just because there may not be people who have heard of us... but the Grammies has sparked even on a level of unknowns. I’m thinking back to Ricky Martin. Or it might have been the MTV Video Music Awards. But to me... where people don’t necessarily know who you are but you can impress them with a product that is great music. And that would involve having a full band where we were tight and we knew that this was gonna tear the house down. And that would be in front of everybody – musicians, critics, record producers, things like that.
Basically you want to play to as big an audience as possible?
Exactly. And we want to be able to impress.
So do you get frustrated with what you’re doing now – in the pubs – and why?
Every once in a while, I think. Although we meet the best people doing what we do and we’re very fortunate to have such a great job, I think sometimes we both yearn for more respect in a way as musicians. I’m someone, and Paddy will be the first to understand – I’ve spent my life dedicating myself to the violin. I started playing when I was three, and every once in a while in the middle of a show when we’re playing the pub songs, the dirty songs, I think to myself “What would my first violin teacher think of me? What would the people in the symphony think of me?” Sometimes I hear people saying “You’re selling yourself short” and this and that. Now, what I am is a patient person and patience means I see a light at the end of the tunnel. And I think we’re destined for much more than what we’re doing now. And I constantly try to push Paddy in that vein. We’ve been together for so long, we’ve both been through rough spots. I’ve been through my divorce, Paddy’s had his issues, but ultimately we have to go back to the music and create more that is uniquely us.
So you definitely think it’s moving forward?
We’ve hit a couple of roadblocks along the way, and we’re not working as much as we should. But hopefully that’s about to change and once we go full force again, which should be in the next month or two, a lot of things could happen in the New Year.
Does this have to do with rumored plans for Australia and/or California?
I think that California could definitely be. I was thinking of Australia and I told Paddy this last summer that I wanted to do something. We were stagnating, we had to hit a different audience and I told him that I wanted to look for – for financial security – a good classical gig where I could do the same things we were doing here except on a bigger level so I could make sure my family is taken care of. Now, an opportunity has presented itself. Without going into detail it involves contact with a guy who plays with Carlos Santana and we’ll see if it works out. If it does, then wonderful. Paddy would be, I think, more than willing to follow me out there and then at least I would have my financial security under control and then we could go along and pursue what we want to do as well.
But as a musician all you want to do in general is to affect people’s lives but you also have to make a living. But teaching is a tough thing. Five hours of teaching, or four hours of teaching I believe would be the equivalent of an eight hour job because you get no break. It’s constant concentration with a student and you feel mentally drained by the time you’re done. That’s if you are really concentrating. I’ve heard of some other teachers just saying, “Okay, play” and they sit there and they don’t really put in their two cents.
Where do you see the violin’s place in rock? In Paddy’s songs? Isn’t it an unusual instrument to be introduced to rock music?
It’s no more unusual than the electric guitar was when it was invented. The electric violin has the same... the frequencies may be a little different but the same effects are possible on the violin as on the guitar. Now, granted, it looks a little bit different, but that’s because people have been used to, for 45 years, seeing rock and roll music played with, you know, hands hanging down, strap around the shoulders, that kind of thing. That’s what they’re used to, that’s what rock and roll was built on. Now, what I saw today from Rasputina, as with a lot of violinists around the world doing the same, was completely disintegrating that concept, and I want to do that to a new parallel. And I don’t think we’ve really had the shot yet to do that. There were a lot of things with the album that I had problems with.
Were there things that didn’t work on Live Love Now?
It’s not that they didn’t work I think, even from Paddy’s perspective. Paddy was used to... Paddy loves U2. I love U2. We are not U2 and I think in a way, part of the mistake that was made was that we were trying to be too much like a rock band. And what I feel is going to give us the distinctiveness of a new band is to incorporate more violin, to add that distinctive sound. We were far too guitar heavy on Live Love Now. And a lot of the stuff that I did was – and this was no one’s fault, it’s what they’re used to hearing. Nobody’s used to hearing, especially round here, the violin on a lead, or a violin giving rhythm back up to a lick. They are used to guitars doing that. And the whole distinctiveness of Paddy Gibney and Bill Ayerbe is the use of that violin and I don’t think it was given a fair shake.
I’ve heard from a lot of people, musicians as well, that they didn’t hear what they were looking to hear from the violin, especially given the fact that we’d been doing gigs for three years and it was such an important part. The comments were why did they go so guitar heavy on the mix? My response is that I didn’t have a lot to do with mixing it, and they told me to narrow my effects. When I used a grungier sound from the violin they were like “You’re trying to make it sound too much like a guitar.” I’m using the exact same processors that guitars are using. If you take a classical guitar and put it into that song, it doesn’t sound the same. If I take a classical violin, it doesn’t sound the same. But if I hook it up to an electrical unit or any kind of effects processor – exactly what the guitars use – then they try to say you’re sounding too much like a guitar. It’s an electric violin, it’s an electric guitar. It’s an electric based instrument. So that’s my whole disagreement with that.
So will the next album be different?
I think that we definitely learned a lot. I think we’ll correct a lot of those things.
What other instruments would you like to play and why? You’re getting more into the guitar now.
My favourite instrument is the drums. They give you such a feeling of power and control over any musical entity. They are the base.
They’re at the heart of everything?
Exactly. And I love the guitar. I first had a guitar when I was 16 or 17. But I was so focussed on the violin that the most I would do with the guitar was play Cure licks and U2 licks and things like that. And my father finally got so sick of it he make me sell it. I just haven’t been able to dedicate myself because of so much work on the violin. But now I’m trying to get more space where have more time, and put in a good half hour, 45 minutes on the guitar and be able to learn 2 or 3 songs a week.
To be more versatile?
Exactly. And I think also with Paddy, every once in a while, it’s great for me to be able to pick up the guitar and do something other than guitar and violin. This time it’s going to be guitar and guitar, next time guitar and tambourine, or guitar and harmonica, or...
Or guitar and drums.
We’ve done that before.
What do you think of Paddy as a person and as a musician?
Is this a trick question?
You don’t have to answer it.
No, no, I can answer it. I think Paddy – he’s gonna read this, right? Paddy is a very unique soul. I think that he is confused on a lot of levels and just like anyone else he has his dark side and he has his public side. I think he sometimes gets them confused. But I know what he wants. And Paddy wants to succeed. He wants what every musician wants. He wants to be understood and he wants to be accepted and respected on all levels. Personally, he has his battles just like everyone else would have theirs. I don’t honestly know a lot about them. I don’t know them in detail. Of course I know a lot more than most people – I would hope that. But he’s a very private person and I respect that. But I think he is trying to come to terms with a lot of issues that he’s had from Day 1 on, especially culturally. He’s had his life turned upside down. He’s been fortunate in a lot of ways and he’s been unfortunate in other ways. I think right now he’s definitely more fortunate than unfortunate.
But as a musician, a lot of the same things hold true. We all have our ups and downs and we have been able to make a living ultimately, that’s the big thing. We’ve been able to make a living and we’ve been happy doing what we’re doing.
Do you regret not taking the Julliard classical scholarship?
I was accepted to Julliard in 1985 and my girlfriend at the time suggested that I did not have what it took in terms of dedication to do the 8 hours a day plus studies etc. And I was spoiled as a kid and everybody told me I was wonderful and everything. Well, I was shot down a couple of notches when I lost a violin competition in New Jersey. And then I saw the competitors that made the finals and they absolutely blew me away. These kids looked like they hadn’t left the practise room and that’s not exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t want to go ahead and say I was going to practise and practise and practise in the hopes that I am going to get to be the best. I’m a Gemini so I have twin personalities. And also because of all the criticism a violinist gets, especially a male violinist.
It wasn’t cool?
It was definitely not cool.
So the girls were not impressed?
Oh, I wouldn’t say that the girls weren’t impressed. The guys weren’t so impressed. So in high school I had to prove myself as an athlete. So it was football, soccer, baseball and tennis.
Was that to compensate?
No, I really loved it. I really enjoyed it and to this day I’m a huge sports fan. Most Sundays you’ll catch me.... I like college football more than pro football, but I am an absolutely huge sports fanatic and I get no greater joy than to have a couple of friends come over on a Sunday afternoon and play football or soccer. But I’m 35 years old! It’s kinda hard to get these guys to come over.
But I don’t regret not going to Julliard. I have in the past.
What does Julliard mean, for the benefit of those of us who don’t know?
Julliard is probably one of the best music schools in the world.
Where would you be now if you had gone?
If I had graduated Julliard, my hopes would be that I would have been a professional soloist on violin. A lot of people who come out of Julliard end up going into the New York Philharmonic, things like that. They make decent lives but they’re on the road 300 days a year. And play the same thing year after year. I have affected more lives, I think, doing what I’m doing.
You couldn’t have pursued rock music.
Exactly. You couldn’t do it. And that’s the whole thing with an orchestral job now. I don’t think I’d have the time to do all the pop playing.
What’s the strangest place you’ve been spotted?
I think that’s a gay bar on the west side of New York.
What? Playing the violin?
No. Are you talking playing the violin?
No. I was just wondering what you were doing there.
Oh, it could be anywhere. I’ve been spotted all over the place. This was a long, long time ago and we didn’t know it was a gay bar. No, wait a second, I wasn’t even spotted there, so change that. I’ll have to think about that one.
Okay. Who would you most like to sit and have a beer with and why?
Oh, it’s got to be Jascha Heifetz. I’ve had dreams about him sitting down and talking to me and telling me what he did and how he did it. If there is anyone, violinist or musically, that I would want to emulate, it’s him. And I would definitely want to sit down and have a beer with him.
Just to get inside his head?
Exactly. In every way. This is purely from a violin standpoint. I mean, there’s probably a ton of people that I would want to sit down and have a beer with, but for what I do and from my perspective on everything, he would have the most insight. Not so much on the pop side, but the classical side. To let me know, to say “Hey, you’re doing this wrong, you’re doing this right, this is what I had to do.” Pick the mind of the master, that’s what I would want to do.
What was it like meeting Michael Stipe?
He was a strange guy. He was definitely your rock musician type. If you know Michael Stipe at all you know he’s kinda strange. You could look at a television screen and tell the guys who are going to be kind of out there. They’re very introspective. Michael Stipe is one of those people. He’s very into his music, he’s very deep. He doesn’t really know how to talk to people on a normal level. I’ll do my Michael Stipe impression here – he would kinda be shifting the whole time “Hey, how’re you doing?”. That kind of thing. Constantly moving. And I remember Paddy saying that we sang a couple of his songs and he asked who sang it and Paddy said “I do”, and Michael looked at me, and I think he kinda liked Paddy – he put his arm around him on that picture. And we all know about Michael Stipe!
What I like about Michael Stipe is that he’s not afraid to be weird.
No, not at all. And he was very gracious. A wonderful man, especially to deal with us.
Onto the nasty questions. What’s your most memorable sexual experience?
Oh Jesus Christ! Most memorable sexual experience. It was actually about 2 hours ago! There have been quite a few over the last 15 or 20 years. Jesus, how long has it been? But the most current ones are the most memorable, and we’ll leave it at that.
When and how was your first blow job?
Oh damn, wait a second, this might be good! Guys never remember anything. Oh my God, yeah, I remember it. It was with braces! Yeah that hurt. It was early on, I was probably 19. I’m not going to give you a name because she’ll probably sue me, but a very young – she’ll know if she ever reads this – a young oriental girl in New Jersey. It was quite scary. I can’t say it was wonderful because she had braces and I was thinking she was gonna rip it off!
How big is your pecker?
Can I lie? It is, as I said last night at the gig, more than adequate size.
So all this shit about Ecuadorian penises is a lie?
It doesn’t drop to the floor but it’s adequate.
More serious stuff. You have kids. What, if any, musical aspirations do you have for your kids?
I think my kids are definitely going to follow in my footsteps. I’m not forcing it down their throats but I think that they understand and respect what I do, especially as they see it on a daily basis. They see me teaching on a daily basis. My son, Guillermo, constantly says “Dad, you are the best violinist I have ever seen”, and he’s seen a lot of them. And for him to say that, and he’s a very talented 8 year old boy. He plays and he is a natural. And when I hear him say things like that I understand what it means to a child to be able to hear their parents and to really respect their parents. He’s so used to seeing me onstage that it’s the norm for him, whereas my father was a High School teacher and a college professor and I never remember once saying “Dad, I think you’re the best teacher I’ve ever seen”. Because it was very rare that I ever saw him teach. I went to my mother’s school and watched her teach and she was a wonderful teacher.
What did they teach?
They both taught Spanish. My father taught Spanish and Latin and my mother taught Spanish and French. It was really amazing to watch my mother teach because she had such a bond with those students, much more so than any teacher I ever had. She has such a rapport with them, she could make them laugh. And they could take her seriously, she wasn’t strict but they respected her. And that’s the type of relationship that I think anybody would want to have with their co-workers, or friends, or students, which is what I try to do with my violin students. They respect me. They get nervous playing in front of me, but I try to make them feel as easy as possible.
How is your family life?
Which family life? I’m divorced now and I’m very happy about it.
Are you in love?
I am very much in love. Of course, any relationship, especially doing what we do, has a lot of doubts on both ends. But I give credit to anyone who would get into a relationship with me, knowing what I do. I don’t believe that I am the greatest looking guy, or I don’t believe I am a spectacular catch. I’m used to people dating me or wanting to date me because I play the violin and I’m supposed to be a sensitive man and this and that. A lot of that is true, but it’s really hard because you have to pick and choose very carefully and I’ve made some bad choices and I’ve made some great choices. And I am trying to concentrate on the great choices I have made. My girlfriend and I have just.... we’re trying to get onto that level where there is absolute trust, when I know I’m coming home every night. And I have. But I know that she knows that. And our job is very hard sometimes in terms of women approaching us.
Temptation?
Sure. But you know where your heart is and you know where your home is and you try to do that always.
What is the number one thing that annoys you?
Rap music. I don’t think it’s music. They consider it music, but it’s not.
How do you feel in retrospect about the live CDs and Live Love Now?
In retrospect I think... the live CDs, I love them. Live Love Now I love, even though I think it could have been done much, much better. But the live CDs are like a part of history for us. Each one is different. If you listen to Shanakee and listen to One Drunken Night, you are listening to two different people and you can really see how the shows have – not necessarily progressed – but really changed over the last couple of years. So, in retrospect, I am pleased.
Should you play more original songs?
Absolutely. It depends on the night and on the crowd. Sometimes you get sucked in as musicians. Paddy and I were talking about that the other night. Sometimes you get sucked in to what the audience request, and a lot of the people that come out are drunk or really want to hear the party songs. And if it’s a choice between a party song and an original, melancholy song, they’re going to choose a party song. That’s why we’re thinking about special shows where we’re playing just original stuff or just our cover music.
Does your success as a duo surprise you and what can you achieve as a duo?
I don’t think it really surprises me. I think I thought people would like it. I didn’t know what the crowd was like in Fayetteville. Overall I’m happy. I’m not necessarily surprised but I feel very fortunate that people responded the way they did over the past few years.
Do duos tend to be successful?
What springs to mind is a band called Tears For Fears, which is basically a duo. I would never consider myself a front man, but I am an integral link to the front. And you don’t normally see one without the other. And when you look at Tears For Fears, or The Thompson Twins, or The Proclaimers, you see one and you expect the other. That’s just the way it is. Even currently when you see The Dave Matthews Band, you know there’s gonna be a violinist somewhere in that video! He may not be front and centre but what makes the Van Halens of the world is there was David Lee Roth and there was Eddie Van Halen right next to him the whole way. And that’s what makes the foundation for a band. And I think that if we take that to a different level it could be just as successful.
What’s your favourite piece of music to play? And your favourite piece you can’t play?
Classically, the Paganini Caprices are the ultimate in violin playing. I can play a couple of them but I’ve never really studied them, and they are the heart and soul, they are the premier exercise book, the ultimate exercise book for violinists. I can play the 24th, but I have not dedicated myself to do it. The only other piece that I would like to perform is Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy” which is all themes of the opera Carmen, done for violin and it’s extremely technical. Probably not one of the toughest pieces out there but it has some runs in there that I would have to work for months on. I’ll play it some day when I have the dedication to do it.
How do you handle fans and adulation?
I love every minute of it. I try to be as nice as possible. I’m not as nice as Paddy, but I try to be as gracious as possible.
And finally. What CD is in your CD player at the moment?
Nathan Davis. I’m listening to it right now. It was David Gray “A New Day At Midnight”, but then Nathan Davis, a friend of mine, was put in. So that is in my CD player right now.
Bill. That’s it! Thank you very much.
Thank you.