Saturday with Gavin Friday: I often mull over stuff — I think people answer emails too quickly
Gavin Friday is currently playing Ecce Homo Live, his first tour in 13 years
I usually get up at 8am because I go shopping at 9am. I’m quite regimental in that regard. My taxi man Victor pulls up at 9am and myself and Stan the dog go to Dunnes Stores. I can’t stand queues so I like to get there early. The rest of the time I shop local — I love the Hopsack health food store, Dowling’s butchers, and Connolly’s Fish Company in Rathmines. I started looking at my health a lot more late last year in the knowledge that I was going out on the road again for the first time in 13 years. I think you have to be more conscious about what you’re putting into your body as you get older.
My other half is usually working on Saturdays so when I have got home, done the unpacking, and recycled all the packaging, I will bring Stan to Belmont Park for a walk.
I’ll have a soup or a sandwich, something like that.
I try not to do too much work on a Saturday, but I’ll delete all my old emails to clear the deck, think about the week coming and what needs to be done. I often mull over stuff — I think people answer emails too quickly. I like swimming and I’ll go to the gym occasionally but not enough. I don’t really like team sports, I prefer to do activities like that on my own.
I like listening to music without lyrics really, really loud on a Saturday. One of my favourites is Mahler’s 5th Symphony conducted by Leonard Bernstein. You can feel everything — it’s the whole A to Z of emotions. I’ll listen to jazz, something like Miles Davis’ Another Kind of Blue or Sketches of Spain. I like a classical or jazz hug in the afternoon. I really sound like a quirky, 60-something-year-old aul’ lad now, but I love looking after my plants. I’ll prune them back and water them all while the music is blaring.
I’ll also be planning what to cook that evening. I usually have RTÉ Radio 1 on in the background and I noticed lately that I’ve been leaving it on, even when the sports commentary is on. There’s something about it that reminds me of my dad — it’s all very Freudian, I’m not into sport at all.
I’ll have a little coffee and a cigarette — my vices. I try not to have any more espressos after about 4pm or 5pm.
I find restaurants on a Saturday night a bit too busy and noisy so I prefer to cook for my friends at home. I’ll start prepping at around 6pm.
People will arrive around 8pm. The meal will be Sunday roast-ish: roast beef, two veg, a crispy roast potato... I have a recipe for stuffing that my mother taught me and I love a trifle — it’s all very old school. The following week someone else in the gang will cook — the only proviso is that Stan has to come with us because, since his little brother died, he has separation anxiety. He’s nearly 15 so we don’t like to leave him on his own. He’s treated like a prince; my friends often say if they’re going to be reincarnated they’d like to come back as Stan.
If I’m on tour, it’s quite different. There will be much anticipation and nerves. There’s nothing glamorous about it really, you’re in the airport at 8am, when you get in you’re straight to your hotel and then you’re straight over to sound check.
You’ll have something to eat then you’ll go on stage at 8pm or 9pm. Afterwards you pack up, go back to the hotel, and move on the next morning.
I tend to work with eclectic musicians who are classically trained but who understand pop and rock and who often play two or three instruments. I have multi-instrumentalist Renaud Pion on this tour, he’s worked with me since 1991. He plays seven or eight instruments — incredibly talented. Kevin Corcoran is working with me too — he also works with Villagers — and Carly Carlsbad, who is an incredible singer and guitarist, and the eloquent cellist Kate Ellis.
If I’m socialing I’ll stay up until 1am or 2am. During the week I’ll be in bed at around 10pm. If I’m rehearsing for a tour I’ll be in the studio 12 hours a day. Long days but that’s what it takes.
I find that I’m reading poetry more because it stretches my brain but I don’t feel that I have to read another two chapters before it gets interesting. I’m still obsessed with Shakespeare’s sonnets. I’m currently reading Love in Exile by trans writer Shon Faye and I’m really enjoying it.
- Gavin Friday is currently playing Ecce Homo Live, his first tour in 13 years. It showcases his new album but also includes material from his past. It will end with gigs in Spirit Store Dundalk on April 8 and Vicar Street on April 10, coinciding with the release of his single The Church of Love. For more, gavinfriday.com
