Ooh, Gary Davies!

Gary chats to Gary Davies about his stage personas, why music 'contains the entire universe' and why making pain au chocolat from scratch is not worth the bother...

- ROB FIDDAMAN

ROB FIDDAMAN chats to Gary Davies about his stage personas, why music 'contains the entire universe' and why making pain au chocolat from scratch is not worth the bother...

Hi Gary, thanks for chatting to me. Where are you from originally? The centre of the observable universe, the glorious and beautiful land of Stoke-on-Trent.

What's the first song you remember singing along to - if it's cringe we still want to know!

I can remember very enthusiastically dancing around my mum's living-room to Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. I must have been around two or three. Although, I'm worried that answer isn't 'cringe' enough, so let's say Think Twice by Celine Dion.

At what age did you start getting into music?

When I was eight or nine. I saw my dad at the weekends and he used to play a lot of music in the car that I hadn't heard anywhere else - Primal Scream, Radiohead, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello. All sorts of interesting stuff which really caught my ear from a young age. I was obsessed with that stuff! I couldn't get it out if my head.

I understand you play a few instruments, what was the first you learned, and how old were you?

I think I was about 11 when I first took up the guitar. My dad played too, the first things I learned were from him.

How many instruments can you actually play?

I mainly play guitar and piano but I tinker around with all sorts of stuff. Bass, trumpet, harmonica - whatever I can get hold of, particularly when I am recording.

Do you sing as well?

I do. I'm more of a singer than anything else these days, I think. I like to explore the different sounds and textures of my voice and the different characters that inhabit it. I was always drawn to singers who lean into the unique characteristics of their voice. Jeff Buckley, John Martyn and Prince are good examples I think. All unique and idiosyncratic singers.