Inside the world of a piano man
He’s one of Queenstown’s most recognisable street performers – the dreadlocked fellow playing a piano he rescued from the dump.
You can often find him parked up in the Queenstown Mall.
He’s AJ Hickling, classical pianist.
Growing up in Christchurch, Hickling, 40, learnt to play the piano from age two, by ear, until he reached his teens and took lessons.
He had a scholarship offer to study classical music at the University of Otago and he’s played in front of hundreds of suit-clad dignitaries. But he gave it up, he says, to be free from the restraints of modern conformity and do music his way, for the pure enjoyment.
‘‘Nobody was having any fun. It wasn’t really my scene.’’
From Marahau, in the Tasman District, Hickling plays Queenstown through the winter months, preferring it to the busker-soaked streets of a Queenstown summer. The rest of the year he treks around in his van, playing at different spots around the country.
The resort town is one of the best spots for buskers to ply their trade, Hickling says.
‘‘Queenstown is regarded as one of the top-10 spots in the world for busking.
‘‘I really do love it down here. That whole Central Otago buzz is pretty much in my blood.
‘‘Hopefully it creates a memorable moment on [a person’s] holiday in Queenstown.’’
He won’t say what he makes in a day busking, but what he will say is that it’s considerably more lucrative than any other job he’s done.
He’s able to adequately support his 7-year-old daughter and live a comfortable life through his music.
‘‘It just makes sense to put more energy where it’s affirmed and rewarded. As soon as you’ve got something a little bit more interesting, you do a lot better.’’
Hickling’s been coming to Queenstown for the past 20 years, but only started busking with the piano about five or six years ago when he saw it at a dump near Marahau, rain-soaked, hammerless and with most of the strings broken.
‘‘Mostly I didn’t want to have it left in the rain. I measured it up and it was going to fit in my van.
‘‘I worked on it for a year just to get it playable again [and] this piano has just got better and better and better with the playing. Now it’s got to the point where I get piano tuners coming and saying ‘wow, how did you get it going so good?’’’
Before that Hickling mainly played percussion instruments, including a West African assortment and even a didgeridoo.
It was important for a busker to remain a ‘‘bit of a novelty’’ and there were endless numbers of guitar players, while percussion became too ‘‘heavy’’ for him after a while, hence the piano.
All his music is original and he produces and records when he can, but busking is his love and, as he likes to put it, ‘‘the bread-winner’’.
‘‘I just love the psychology of busking. You can’t really rest on your laurels at all. I pretty much need to get myself into a zone where I can hardly believe it myself and that builds a crowd. You know that if you win over the crowd, it’s totally authentic.’’