GIRL NEXT DOOR

Capetonian Alice Phoebe Lou is fighting off major record labels to produce her own solo album, but she’s not giving up her day job as a busker in Berlin

WHEN street musician Alice Phoebe Lou’s acoustic performance at Tedx Berlin in October was posted online, it went viral, prompting the public to call for more of the tiny blonde’s ethereal melodies and major record labels to woo her with big contracts. The daughter of journalists, 21year-old Lou was raised in Hout Bay, Cape Town, and studied performance art at the Waterfront Theatre School. She travelled around Europe in 2012 and settled in Berlin, where she taught herself guitar to pay the bills.

“It was the scariest thing ever,” she says of her first performance in a subway station. “It took at least 10 performances before I could say, ‘F**k everyone. I actually don’t care what you think of me. This is making me the 10 euros I need every day’.” A batterypowered microphone and amplifier refined her act, and then came the Tedx invitation that changed everything. In December, Lou opened for US folk band The Lumineers in Joburg. She has remained in South Africa to record her debut album.

I started treating busking as a profession last year. I promoted my Berlin performances on Facebook as official, one-hour concerts rather than just performing to whomever would listen for a couple of hours. People started appreciating my work more. Two hundred people would arrive at a time and stand in a quiet semicircle while I performed.

I got offers to play in bars, but I was like, why would I want to play a rowdy bar if I could make more money on the street?

Since my Tedx performance was posted online, I have turned down offers from most major record labels. Labels tend to exert an incredible amount of control that damages a musician’s artistic integrity.

Thanks to social media, it is a lot easier to get your music out there today than it was 10 years ago, so why not stay independent without having others take control of your musical direction? My debut album will be self-released.

Some people call me naïve, but naïveté is important. It means you can still be in awe of the world, and find beauty in the little things.

I’ve had about 300 encounters with police in Berlin. They politely ask you to stop playing and then they move on, because they have real crime to deal with.

Laws against street music are stupid. You obviously don’t want things to get out of control, but why would you want to stop something that is creating culture on the streets and helping the urban environment to be less mundane?

It’s been overwhelming returning to South Africa. After my Tedx performance, I’m being recognised wherever I go. I’m extremely grateful that my music is resonating with local audiences.

I don’t perform on South Africa’s streets, because it’s not something that is accepted culturally. I’m hoping to change that just by telling people how special street music is. When people hear what I have to say, they’re like, “Oh, okay. So it’s not just something that someone is doing to annoy me?”

A lot of people say: “Don’t mix music and politics.” But everything is political, so a big part of my music is about spreading a political and social message. Lives are intensely influenced by the decisions made by people in power. Girl on an Island, the single I performed at Tedx Berlin, is about being overwhelmed by the city, society and rules, and wanting to float above it to see it from a different perspective.

It’s a hard life, but I want to keep working as a street musician in Berlin. Especially since I have managed to develop my confidence and expertise, as well as my understanding of crowd dynamics. These days, I’m never playing without a crowd.

I think I’m bringing music to where it’s needed most. People get so caught up in the machine of modern life that they forget about the profound impact music has on our wellbeing. I’m bringing music to people who might very well need a cathartic moment. LS — Tiara Walters