Nick Thompson Interview

INTERVIEW WITH NICK THOMPSON FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) Do you still study guitar?

NT) I haven't had formal lessons since I studied with Seth Austin. Of course, I still study in the sense that I try to pick things up from other musicians.

DM) And what are you studying at Stanford right now?

NT) I graduated in 1997; I did different degrees in Economics, Political Science and Environmental Science.

DM) What career are you hoping to pursue?

NT) I hope to get a Ph.D. in Economics and afterwards work with an environmental NGO, working on international development issues.

DM) Why did you choose to cover "Eleanor Rigby" instead of some other Beatle song?

NT) "Eleanor Rigby" is a beautiful but anguished song that, oddly, people usually cover as an upbeat, almost happy tune. So I decided to take part of the melody and just drive it into the ground with my 12-string. I'm interpreting the meaning of the song more than the notes. My ear isn't good enough to figure out all the notes, anyway.

DM) Were the Beatles a big influence for you?

NT) For sure. They were the first band I ever listened to. My father made me listen to classical music from dawn until dusk when I was a little kid, but when I was about 10, an older friend of mine named Rick introduced me to "Beatles 62-66." It was magic!

DM) How long do you play it when you're doing it live?

NT) It varies. If I fall into it, I play for 20-30 minutes. If I am in a subway and no one is listening, I want to go fishing; trains are coming left and right, it might only last two minutes.

DM) You play in the subways? Where?

NT) In New York where I am now living. I like to play in Times Square, 14th St and 23rd St..

DM) Have you made many sales there?

NT) For sure. I sell far more in the subways than anywhere else; of course, that may be because I rarely play for other people anywhere else.

DM) Do you ever feel embarrassed about playing in the subway?

NT) No. It's quite exciting forming five-minute relationships with thousands of different people, and watching all the different types of New Yorkers: businessmen in power suits, transvestites, drug addicts and other frantic, but normal, people.

DM) Do you prefer the subways?

NT) Well, the advantages are as I mentioned above. The disadvantages are that it starts to smell, you never really have a chance to get into a groove because a train is always coming--and sometimes you are just irritating people, which isn't a fun feeling for anybody.

DM) What's the oddest experience you've had as a subway performer?

NT) I sell my CDs for $5, and so it isn't uncommon for someone to put a $10 bill in my case and take out a $5 bill and a disc. One day, an old wobbling man came up, showed me a ten in a little blue plastic wad and took out a five. I nodded as if to say, "Sure, make change, buy a CD."

However, he didn't take a CD, he just lumbered off drunkenly down a nearby stairway. Surprised, I looked at his ten-dollar bill and realized that it was only half of a ten-dollar bill, folded in the blue plastic wad in such a way that it appeared to be real. So, I yelled, "Stop thief," and, since I couldn't very well run after him with my case, amplifier, guitar and all, I stood by, totally frustrated. Almost immediately, though, another drunken man came up and said he would track down the thief for a dollar. I agreed and within five minutes, both men were in front of me--except, like a dog that has finally cornered a squirrel, I had no idea what to do. I had no desire to fight and so I simply asked for my money back. With that, I was berated as a "drug-dealing, crack-smoking crook," and the conversation descended from there. I ended up out six dollars--five to the crook, one to the helper--and very confused.