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Sax player needs tips for busking Europe, Asia, Australasia :)
I am planning a trip around the world through Europe and Asia and into Australasia and I want to support myself by busking, probably with a saxophone, possibly with an amp for backing tracks (using a Boss LoopStation and microphone to create the backing tracks live on the fly by beatboxing/singing/saxing etc), but the by-laws for busking are different from city to city and on top of that it's impossible to know whether or not the police will actually take any notice of illegal buskers, for instance in the UK there are by-laws in some cities stating that you can't busk but the worst that will happen is they will move you on and in many cases they don't even bother to do that. The same goes for whether or not I need to have a work permit to busk outside the EU (I'm a UK citizen), not to mention how it would work in terms of paying tax. The final issue to address is whether or not it is possible to make realistic money in each place I'm interested in visiting - I'll be going through poorer countries like India and those in South East Asia and I don't know what the busking culture is like and if people would give me any money. So this looks to be a bit confusing.
Could anyone with experience or knowledge offer advice? I will write below a list of countries I'm thinking of visiting so if you know anything about specific places in these countries perhaps you could offer some advice...even let me know if you live there and want to host a busking musician next year and if you fancy trying out some busking together (preferably good music that will make us some dough to eat!) You could even suggest places that are not on my list if you think they are really good for busking. It will be useful to collate this information in one thread for other people who need to know, because it's difficult to find all this info in one place!
thanks guys!
here's a list of places I may be visiting:
Jersey, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, India, Nepal, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji.
Hi Emily!
You have a very interesting setup for busking! I've been busking with the saxophone too.
I don't think you have to worry about the laws on busking. In some countries there are regulations but are not practicaly aplied. As long as you don't bother anyone, you'r not gonna have any problem. Even if the police comes they'll probably just ask you to stop. Even when they accidendaly cross you they don't really give a damn about buskers.
Have in mind that small cities pay better than big ones. I'm sure you can make enough money for food and tickets in Europe but I think in poorer countries you can get money to cover even more needs! As an example, I made around 10-15 euros per hour playing in Copenhagen, the same aplied in Athens, in Larisa I make around 15-20 euros per hour and in small greek cities around 30 euros per hour! It generaly doesn't really matter how many people there are but how impressed they get.
North korea is a place I would avoid. I don't even know if it's possible to get as a tourist there so easily. I've also heard that in Austalia and New Zeeland things work well for busking.
Good luck and when you come to Greece don't hesitate to contacy me!
Hi
It's more tha 8 years that I 've been living my life busking on the street, on the metro, on the local trains and on the bus. And also on the terrace of the restaurants, bars and pubs.
I travelled a lot in Europe and it's always the same, that depend on the day, the time, the place, the weather, the own mood.
This apart I am planning to arrive in China, but from silk way. Berlin - Moscow - Astana(Uzbekistan) - China.
I was afraid to look for a road from the Arabian Countries for the wars that are over there.
But, after looking better the map, after Turkey it seems easy to arrive in India, where I would like to go.
Do You want to live together?
I am saving some money at the moment playing everyday, but the tourism has gone, and I will go to Milan or London, depends from the ryanair tickets, to earn some money and be ready to go. Train, reading, studying, playing, and mistery first of all. I will plan the cities to visit and CS request to send. Day by day.
Ok. See you. Bye bye. Antonio
it says on your profile you play violin? i will be taking a soprano sax, so if we busk together it would be a nice combination. what sort of music do you play?
I haven't decided if I'm going to China, it's goin to take a lot of time! If I do I'll probly try busking in Beijing/Shanghai and maybe try and see the great wall if i get time. I'm not sure Uzbekistan is a good country to go couchsurfing through, or busking for that matter - I saw a post from a couple of cyclists who said they had to show the customs officials receipts from official tourist hotels to account for every night they'd stayed in the country, before they could leave, and because they'd been camping they got detained for ages with no interpreter, and no food, water or toilet breaks. sounds brutal.
my plan is probably to fly from turkey to lebanon if it's safe, or israel if not, then enjoy lebanon, israel and jordan for a bit before flying to india. that seems to avoid the dangerous countries but i will check on the situation again before i go. from india i should be able to do it mostly by land and boat. getting a little behind on organising the trip i have to say!
you say you'll find couchsurfers day by day? i would have thought people will need advanced notice, that's the only thing that worries me. other than i'll be improvising as much a possible!
Emily :)
sorry, that message was for antonio just to specify.
Cheers for you advice Niko. Where is Larisa? What kind of sax do you play?
Em
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