Testimonials

A practising musician vs. a week-end warrior...

We are fortunate in this country to have thousands of music teachers, church musicians, students and just plain amateurs who are all happy to make a bit of money during their spare time. Very often these people are good and some of them are even better, both, on arriving on time and hitting the right notes. And, of cause they are providing a useful service to the members of public. However, sometimes your occasion demands a more robust execution and guarantees, and that is where the real professionalism walks in. Firstly, all engagements are subject to a written contract and in a very unlikely event of illness the agency will provide you with another professional piano player at no extra costs. Secondly, Mr Pianoman is holding a valid Public Liability Insurance plus a full AA motoring recovery policy. And, thirdly, Mr Pianoman uses professional tools for his trade such as (clean and ironed) stage clothes, state of the art pianos and amplifiers, he does not drink alcohol while playing and his breaks are strictly scheduled. And at last, Mr Pianoman practises piano at least two hours per day and has been doing it for over 20 years now. And the most important – he LOVES doing what he is doing! Playing the Piano!!!

Not to mention his cheerful personality...

Mr Pianoman’s Philosophy

“I believe that my profession is playing piano but my business is adding value to the event, which makes me a bit of a marketer on behalf of my clients.

And this is what I mean.

When someone is organizing an event – the piano player is a musician but also a feature to highlight certain qualities of the hosts. Being the Rolls Royce of musical instruments, piano is bringing a bit of that into the room, the choice of music and the personality of the musician are as important. So, for those reasons I always make sure that for my performance:

I feel great (!)

I arrive early

my stage appearance is impeccable

my equipment is clean, the cables are all tucked away and it is all in order

the electric cables longer than 3 meters are discreetly positioned and/or reinforced with duck tape

my playlist is adopted for the specific occasion

my breaks are kept to 15 minutes and are regular

Also,

I do not know about you, but I am crazy about FREE stuff. So, I always throw something in for the client, which is not in the contract, like:

bringing in the microphone for announcements (10 out of 10 times is used ...)

CD music to be played during the breaks (creates a head turning effect every time the real musician starts playing...)

bringing in a number of Fake Books for spontaneous and “alcohol fuelled” desires to sing along or for unusual requests (works great for private occasions, there is always a cousin in the room who likes to sing...)

Well, I just want my clients to feel that from me they do get value for their money.

Yours