Interview with Brad Balfour
Photo by Giulio Graziani

Tell me about busking. Is that how you got started in the music business?

12 years of busking was an essential part of it. However, I did work at clubs, restaurants and gigs at the same time, and sometimes did them all on the same day.

That's where your music came from? Did it shape your vision?

No, I'm afraid not. I think it was insanity that shaped my vision. Seriously, I don't know where my music comes from other than the fact that I have always enjoyed listening to a variety of music.

When did you first pick up the guitar?

I always used to like it as a kid but when I reached 12, my head started to come into music rather than disco. I saw it in a different light and that it was really important to me. Music means everything to me and I am very intense about it, playing on average of about 12 hours a day.

How spontaneous is your songwriting?

Some rhymes build up over days and others take months but it all comes out as spontaneous.

What was your vision of the album?

The album was all demos and took three days to make. I sat and thought about it for a while and then I played and had fun, and recorded that. The record label seemed to like what I had done and left it that way.

What about your songs--are they a statement?

No, there is no message or statements associated with my songs. They sort of just come out of me naturally.

What other interests do you have besides music?

Well, I have a four 1/2 year old daughter, although I am not married to her mother. ·

You are now 25. Does being a father put a burden on you?

No, on the contrary. My daughter is the best thing that ever happened to me. Her mother and I are good friends, although we do not go out together. She does appear on my album. I am single and see my child all the time when I am at home in Dublin.

What songs are affected by having a child?

"Fear," is about where I live in Dublin and the world and how she will have to deal with it all. "Can't Take That Away" is all about her feelings for me. Actually all of my songs relate in some way to my child.

Your music is not light or uplifting like most pop music. Why?

Did you pick this kind of music... for a specific reason?

No. Obviously I don't have a choice because that is the kind of music that comes to me and the kind that I feel.

What type of music do you like?

I like Nina Simone, Richie Havens or any good music. I like music, period. Normally I don't talk about it at all but just play what I feel.

Tell me about your experience growing up in Dublin. Were you a loner or an outcast?

I have always been involved in music so that made me an outcast straight away--from 12 to 22 I was pretty much on my own so I never really talked too much to other people.

I want to know the person behind the music--how long did it take you to write, what is the fastest song you ever wrote?

"Whatever Gets You True" took me exactly 15 minutes to write but most of the time I try to keep my personal life out of my songs. Right now I am in a strange place in my life. I find music weird--how a person writes a little melody, sings it and everyone listens to it.

Sinead O'Connor is in town debuting a new album, Have you been hanging out with her?

No, is she here? I'd love to write a song for Sinead. I love her, she's great.

Do you find it offensive that people listen to your songs? Of course not. I would like people to be inspired to go out and write their own music and make their own album.

What kind of music do you buy?

I like the new Moby CD. And Aretha Franklin. I started playing music myself because I was jealous of the buskers and wanted to be like them.

How many songs have you written?

Well, I have over 100 songs but none of them have been written down. I remember all of them. I probably couldn't recite my sums but I can sing all the words of my songs.

Are there people you admire or would love to meet?

Not really, except for Nina Simone. She has a pure voice and I have heard her talk so she seems like a person I would like to meet.

What do you feel about the perks of having an album on a major label such as nice clothes and lovely hotels like the Paramount?

I'm not really into any of that. All I need is a bed, I'm not into any of the fancy stuff.

So you do nothing else except music?

I enjoy reading and now am reading a great book by Ernest Hemingway and enjoying it thoroughly. I am not a loner. My friends are all back in Dublin and when I go back we all hang out. I never really care or think about how people see me. I am just a man who likes to play his music which is the most important thing to me, besides my child.