The Weekly Recap

This was it! Our first time out hunting for interviews, strolling through Melbourne’s CBD strapped with a camera, pen, paper and recording equipment, ready to capture street performers in their natural environment. It was a beautiful day, one of the first sunny days we had been blessed with this spring. The group searched for stories from buskers, like an ill-footed new born fawn.

The wind rifled through the streets but the glimmer of the sun left it unnoticed. Our group walk down Swanston Street and passed Melbourne’s State Library, it was peak hour and the bustling crowd went about their business while the buskers accompanied them with a tune, a dance or perhaps a magic show. Commuter’s, students and workers alike enjoyed their day playing chess, eating and basking in the ambience of the music. We found our targets quickly; we spotted two buskers in close proximity of each other and decided to listen to their songs. It was at this point we became keenly aware of how well this project could do. The people watching on held up their phones to capture the music while others lazed about on the greens, simply listening; for the busker the steady clattering of coins into a hat or guitar case brings a smile to their face.

First on Swanston Street we encountered Amadou Suso from The Senegambian Jazz Band (you can find the interview here) playing a beautiful instrument called a Kora. The fascination of his instrument and immersion of Amadou in his music made our team buzz with excitement. The amount of interest Amadou would spark with his presence would be the reassurance the team needed to see the value of their work. Much like your first love the interview was intense short and over quick as a flash but also opened up the possibilities of further story hunting. Laced with a rush of enthusiasm from our first interview the morale couldn’t have been higher.

With our zeal ramped up we advanced towards Bourke Street, a bustling consumer market and one of the busiest streets in Melbourne, not surprisingly it is also the most premium of busking locations. In the midst of trams and department store shoppers this place was a haven for the people involved in the subculture of busking in Melbourne, a merry-go-round of buskers swapped every four hours. It is here we ran into The Elliotts (interview here), they were our second interview and everything seemed to go a lot smoother this time round. Speaking to this band showed us just how far a subculture can span, from personality types to music to success; after all it was this very street that the Pierce Brothers used to perform on.


Robbie Elliot gave us a quick run down on how exactly the busking process in Bourke Street works and the process behind the selection of buskers for the crème de la crème of busking spots. Bourke Street runs by the traditional method of first in best dressed, once on Bourke each busker rotates every four hours so they can all have their time in the spotlight of the busiest parts of the thoroughfare. We learned a lot from the fellas and their three piece band, the fun they provided was infectious.

On a roll we decided to hunt buskers some more, enjoying the sun and music, soaking up the ambience. It was then that we spotted a women plucking at her guitar and singing in a soulful raspy voice. Demi Louise (interview here) perfected our first day with her candid approach to music, warm smile and friendly attitude; seamlessly finishing off our first week into the journey of understanding how busking really does affect us as human beings.

The calm melodies played by these artists often go by unnoticeably as the music briefly encapsulates us. We never really get time to question its effect, we just warm to it for the briefest moment - maybe capture some footage or maybe buy a CD, but never truly engage it in the same manner as we do with other musical platforms. Buskers are often misunderstood as lower musicians, or less professional for one reason or another, though this week has proved the opposite to our team at least. The professionalism, love for music and dedication that Amadou, The Elliot’s and Demi bring is as strong as any musicians and we look forward to interviewing many more like them.

Written by Aleksandar Naumovski

Edited by Kimberly Grima
Photography by Kate Katrina

Bourke Street Boys

Buskers - What do we really know about them? What are their stories?
Our team hit the streets of Melbourne to talk to those who fill them with music. We hope to find out what it means to be a busker in one of the world's most competitive cities.

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Robbie Elliott, James Howlett, and Max Missingham

The band The Elliots have been together for around five years now. They started busking after deciding that they were sick of rehearsing at various locations where they would earn little to no money. They realised if they practiced out on the street they would be given money creating a win-win situation for all; this is how it started for them, they have now been playing on Burke Street for six months.

They discovered that Bourke Street in Melbourne was the “Crown jewel” of busking, classing it as one of the best, if not the best, in the world. It is here where meetings held every week to keep all the buskers organized which is run by the council.

All buskers have to comply with a roster, playing for 4 hours each session with half an hour on than half an hour off. There are never more than four acts at once on Burke Street though The Elliotts tend to try and stick to their favourite spot. The Elliotts have played on Bourke Street with the likes of the Pierce brothers and Demi Louise.

The money the band accumulates from busking goes towards funding their travels to places overseas such as Europe so they can promote their music to others, they do this hoping people will enjoy what they hear and the band can get their names out there.

“It’s much better playing on the street as a lot of venues I think are exploiting and I guess you can’t really get the exposure and that’s why we love coming out here” Says Robbie.

“You might go to a venue and pay $10 to get in and then you might not even like the bands”. The Elliot’s play for the people on the street and say that from experience patrons will generally have no expectations “if they really like what they hear then the people will buy a CD.”

The band feels that busking is the ultimate way to put your music out there “It’s much better practice then in the lounge room”.

When asked about the future of busking, Robbie says he feels that it “really rests with the generosity of the people”. He likes to think the future for busking is bright, but is aware that a lot of businesses are making it difficult for individuals, even remarking that a lot of places in Europe have made busking extinct. The music flows within them and is a part of their lives, as musicians he says "it’s really sad as people should have an appreciation for the music out there."

“The future is hopefully solid and this is one of the best spots in Australia, there is more competition, if you are good it’s easy to stand out.”

For more information on The Elliot’s, please check out their Instagram and Facebook.

To receive updates or see unreleased photos and other behind the scene action check out our Facebook page! And as always leave a comment telling us what you think, we'd love to hear what you think of our site!

Written by Katherine Allen

Edited by Kimberly Grima
Photography by Kate Katrina