Interview – Paul Davis

08Jun09

Paul Davis, a pianist based in the south of France, has long been a friend of Chelsea Pianos. He was in London for the week so I took the chance to ask him some questions about life in music and pianos.

Jennie: Thanks for taking the time to sit down and let me probe you for information! Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself, what you do and where you live?

Paul: Well I’ve played piano for as long as I can remember, mostly for pleasure, and along the way I’ve worked in music as a pianist, but I would still call myself a piano player rather than a real “pianist.” I just love playing (or plonking, as I like to call it) so I’ve worked as an accompanist, as a dance accompanist and a vocal accompanist. I also occasionally perform two piano concerts with friends of mine. I’ve lived several places in my life, Australia, NZ, South Asia, but I found myself in France for a holiday a few years ago, and then never left! I’m a Londoner by birth so it’s nice to find myself back in London today.

J: And we like having you in London! Of everywhere you have lived where would you say is your favourite place?

P: I would say my best memories were in Sydney, Australia, but of course that’s very subjective because there I was doing a lot of boating and sailing and swimming! In fact I was playing background music in a hotel at the time so it really was a nice, easy life, but I don’t know how long it would have continued had I stayed longer.

J: When did you really think “hey, this is what I want to do with my life” or decide you wanted to work in music for a living?

P: Well at no moment really, in fact I still wouldn’t say I’ve ever decided to be a musician, I think I’ve actually tried quite hard not to be a musician! In a way, because I just like plonking for pleasure, and I’ve done all sorts of other jobs while also working around music, travelling and teaching English. So I wouldn’t say there was a moment where I decided to try to be a musician, and in fact I would say I am still not deciding to be a musician.

J: So in those years of not trying to be a musician, what has been one of your favourite musical experiences?

P: Straightaway I think of summer musical festivals, because there’s a magic to the quality of the music making, being surrounded by other sounds – not always the sounds that you want sometimes – whether it’s crickets or swallows or frogs, but I find that actually increases the quality of concentration of listening. For example I remember hearing the Schubert String Quintet in C twice in my life. I’ve been lucky enough to hear that in the summer in open air, and they both stay in my memory. Once was in New Zealand and another time was in Dartington, the summer school in Devonshire.

J: And as a performer, what’s one of the most memorable concerts or performances you’ve given?

P: That’s a tough one! Oh well there was the time I went to prison actually – apparently I played that badly! I was in Bournemouth, in the summer when I worked on the beach. One evening I found a church hall with a fantastic piano, it was a Broadwood concert grand. And I asked all the people concerned if I could play on the piano and they all said yes and gave me access to the hall. So I would go and play for my own enjoyment, and people started to bring deck chairs out on to the church green and drink wine and tea and coffee and shout requests through the windows of the church where I was playing inside. This carried on for weeks, until one evening I sat down to play and felt a large, heavy hand on my shoulder, which belonged to a police person who said “you need to come with me” and there we were, I was flung into a dank, dark, dungeon – someone had seen me going into the hall and thought I was an intruder! So that’s probably one of my weirdest memories in how it ended, but a good one as well from the weeks I would be playing the piano with people shouting requests in this fantastic interaction where I was inside and playing without seeing anyone but hearing their voices, and them hearing me play. It became sort of a feature of Bournemouth life that summer. After the arrest there was even a court case because I totally refused to pay a fine, and then it was paid mysteriously for me, probably by someone who had not heard all my wrong notes!

J: Hmm, I’ve heard you play and I doubt that, much more likely it was a fan of the impromptu concerts! What in your opinion makes a good piano?

P: A singing sound, for me, a good singing tone is very important. A treble that is very long-singing and not aggressive or too bright, I like all registers of the piano and do enjoy the bass, but if a piano has a mediocre bass but a very fine middle and treble, this is more important to me for musical quality. It’s hard to say though, because every piano you come to is different and proposes different ideas to you. If you have a piano which has a certain feel, you may suddenly get an inspiration to play something really snappy or brilliant just because of the feel of it; the sound feedback is instant. Very often the way the piano responds or sounds or feels will suggest to you what it wants to have played on it. So it’s very hard to say, but I do like a piano with a warmer colour rather than a neutral colour, that’s a question of taste though, certainly for romantic playing I need a piano with colour, something not too dry, not too bright.

J: So we’re sitting here in our shop on Kings Road in Chelsea, in London, and since this interview is going on our website and we do offer our own brand of pianos, I have to ask your opinion of the Chelsea pianos and what type of purpose or playing they suggest to you?

P: Well, of the ones I’ve played in the shop here, I would think there are three models I have played that are related but slightly different, the blue and pink baby grands and the larger black one. The larger black grand has a very easy feel to it, easy sound, a singing to it so it would be my choice for easy style playing, someone who likes to improvise. For classical playing, the smaller models are clearer and slightly drier sound. They have a precise action and good overall sound for your general playing requirements, practice, technique, etc, for good classical discipline, jazz, modern…….

J: Thanks – I won’t make you do any more “selling” for us today, so for a closing question, “What is your favourite part of working in pianos?”

P: I think it’s really meeting people, other musicians, and the opportunity for the unexpected, like when someone comes in and sits down to play something, and other people join in to play with them. I can remember being in a piano shop and by sheer chance a girl came in and asked if she could play on one of the pianos and started Chopin’s Fourth Ballade. Then the girl who was working in the shop sat down and joined in. Then a third chap who was browsing in the shop sat down and he joined in. And then a friend of mine walked in and he started to play along as well! So we had four people playing along with the fourth ballade, and the original girl was just amazed at what was happening. I’m not saying it was great music making, but definitely it was great fun! So it’s these types of serendipitous moments that make it so enjoyable and stimulating, along with the great musical moments, and the various types of people that you meet from the snobs to the die-hards to the novices and passionate amateurs.

I have to agree with Paul even though I’m relatively new to the piano business world. I find the people and experiences I come across to be the highlight of my days. This in itself has been one of those experiences, so many thanks to Paul for his time. You can see Paul playing a light classical piece on the pink Chelsea page here, and I’ve put a video of him playing some improv-style easy listening music on the black grand piano below.

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