(Audio only) Warning: Fabio’s talent may cause mild envy.

Later this year, the wonderfully talented up-and-coming guitarist, Fabio Fernandes will be releasing an album made up entirely of music written especially for him by Richard! So,naturally, we just had to invite him to become a guest on 'A Jolly Good Natter' to talk about the project and to give a demonstration of his remarkable musical skill.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:06

Hello, good morning. Robot Strachen is here. Cyprian is here. Uh, we are now live, live on TikTok. Oh, there we are. Um for those of you who don't know, my name is Richard Story, and I am joined as ever by my erstwhile friend and uh co-presenter who always remembers his name. Now this is I know, I know, I know you're sitting there on the edge of your seat wondering whether this will be the time when he forgets. Let's find out. Go on, tell him your name.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Mark Cameron.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Mark Cameron. Yes. I knew you'd remember. Fortunately, I'd written it down myself on the back of my hand in case he forgot. Okay, now we had such a good response from the last episode of this that we did uh with Tate from the Big Brother House, where we were uh very, very cleverly trying to combine the um live TikTok, hello to all of you, and the video on YouTube, hello to all of you. So we decided we'd do it again with our next episode. Hi Ben, hi, hi, oh, I can't read that one. Hi, the mingle pringle, nice to see you. Um yes, anyway, so what we're gonna do is we've got a very special treat for you today. Have we got a special treat for this? We do, we've got a treat and a half for you. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna um dip into the questions here on the screen. Hi, Melanie, hi big up. Oh, sorry, hi too, thing big up, Richard, good to see you. Um and we're gonna be looking at the uh screen over there for the uh YouTube recording. That's what we're gonna try and do. Okay, but just before we do any of that, I've got to introduce you to our special guest. Because as many of you now know, um one of the things I do in this peculiar life that I lead is I write music. And as a composer, one of the most satisfying things, not just writing the music itself, but it's when another musician picks up the music and plays it. And when that uh musician is someone of incredible talent and musical uh aptitude, um it just makes the whole thing worthwhile. And I am delighted to tell you, uh, those of you who've been following me will know for a while I've been singing the praises uh of a certain up-and-coming guitarist who is going to be recording an album later this year made up entirely of music that I have written, especially for him. So, ladies and gentlemen, here he is, in the flesh. This is the one and only, the utterly indefatigable, Mr. Fabio Fernandez. Hello, everyone. Hello, Fabio. Thanks for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Right. Now, people are going to be putting questions here on the screen, uh, and I'll be dipping into those, uh, and some of them will be will be quite insightful, I'm sure. Um, anyway, so uh let's get underway uh by asking you straight away, because I know you've done um a great many performances in many different parts of the world. Um, is there any one in particular that particularly stands out in your mind as a uh a memory that uh you carry with you?

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Um yeah, maybe three. So my first um the first one that is special is my first public recital that I've done. It was uh 2014, and it was just before I came to London and I was trying to um raise some funds to to study um at a guild hall. And um and I remember you know just preparing a full recital is the first time you have to play for such a long time for a public um, you know, a recital is not organized by your music academy, but have a real venue and you perform and people pay tickets. Um and I remember that the the audience was so so so so full that they had lots of people having to stand all the way on the sides of the venue all the way to the back of the room. And um and I remember just walking on stage and seeing lots of my friends from school, they're you know, just people I didn't expect to necessarily come to a classical music concert and just see all the support. It was really touching, and so I I will forever remember that that concert.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

So you could kind of just about get away with saying that you had a standing ovation before you'd even started. Yeah, yeah, I could yeah, I and um uh uh conversely, is there any performance that you've ever done that uh you're remembering for the wrong reason? You know, where where the roof fell in or a birthed pipe or a police car went passed by by in a very delicate moment, anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Just some terrible performances, you know, it's just uh not quite well prepared, everything nothing went as planned, couldn't focus at all. Even though you had just you know, you have months and months and months of preparation, and I think it would just put so much pressure on you for maybe the wrong reasons, you just try to reach this perfection of like pleasing other people. And um, I think that was a turning point for me of really starting to focus more of enjoying the music and really you know explore the what the music has to say rather than look for the perfection of getting the right notes, getting the right memory. Um, yeah, that was definitely a uh turning point there for me.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Brilliant. But just just so um, because you just jumped straight into a question there, but just just so some people don't actually know who you are, just give them a little bit of insight of who you are as a person and what you do on a daily basis, obviously apart from playing music, fantastic music as well. So I uh this question, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Yeah, yeah. So I'm I'm Fabio Fernandez and I'm um Portuguese. I was born in the north uh west coast of the Portugal, and I came uh I started studying guitar at 11 year olds, and I really like it. And uh that's I mean, even before I started, I I used to say I want to be a guitarist. I think I kind of wanted to be an electric guitarist, you know, I wanted to play rock bands and stuff like that. Uh but then my dad was very wise in telling me you gotta learn the proper guitar first, and then you don't whatever you want. Yeah, good man, good man. Yeah, eventually I did get my electric guitar many years later and uh didn't care about it. Just too much, too much hassle to have to plug everything in. So um, yeah, I fell in love with the with the instrument and I kept kept playing it, kept practicing it, and eventually I came to London uh 18 years old to do my um undergrad studies, uh, where I did at uh the guilhole. Uh I stayed as well for my master's and I've really enjoyed uh being in in London. I think London is um is a place that has so many opportunities for everyone and is very inclusive. I felt it was very inclusive, and lots of people that actually do uh listen to classical music is not like kind of going to listen for a favor or because it's someone you know. It's just people have the the habit of getting out of their houses and going to concerts. I was very surprised, for instance, that lunchtime uh recitals is such a popular thing here. And they are so well attended, people that you've never met, you've never seen, and suddenly you play and they come, and maybe you play there again uh a year later, and they come again, and you start building this relationship of people that just love classical music. Um, so I decided to to stay here and I've been here for maybe yeah, 11 years now, I think. That's the thing. Yeah, yeah, getting used to this. This one is really nice. So we're lucky. We're very lucky. Yeah, and um and uh after that I I did uh six-month uh course in in Alicante that was you know kind of life-changing in terms of my guitar playing and just focusing on guitar. And now I'm back. And besides performing and learning Richard's species, yeah, yeah. I also teach teach guitar, teach um at several schools and some privately and just try to enjoy my life here. Hey, my friends.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

Well, I mean, the um the the whole reason why we're we're doing this this podcast and live TikTok. Hello to everybody who's just joined.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Uh, we're up to up to Just Chris. I mean, just Chris has just mentioned, he said, hello all, your music was great.

SPEAKER_04 8:07

So he was there at the concert. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Chris. Yes, thanks to everyone who uh who listened into that. Um and yes, this is the fellow I've been talking about all this time. And um the reason why um Fabio and I have uh started to pull resources and got together on this occasion is because uh quite some time ago um I I'd written a particular guitar piece called The Guitarist's Prayer. And I thought this piece really needs a good player to uh to deliver it and bring it to the world. And um so I I found uh Fabio's website and contacted him and uh and he he premiered it. He was the first person to to give the uh the the the first performance of the piece at the the door at the Dorchester Cathedral. Yeah Dorchester Cathedral in the English music festival, that's right. And um it was very well received, it was, wasn't it? I remember it well, I'll never forget that. The first time it was uh it was brought to the world. Um and how appropriate. I never thought of this. A piece called The Guitarist Prayer played in a cathedral. I never thought of that. There you go. There you go, you see. Anyway, and then after that, you remember you said, right, you need to write me something else now. And that, as I've said to you before, kind of it like it turned a valve in my in my imagination. Uh a stopcock was was opened and the the the juices began to to flow. And and so we've ended up with uh um quite a number of pieces now, um, which later this year you're gonna perform, which is is is is so exciting. But the um the thing is that the way when you look back over the course of your life and the the the way various um elements and and and things kind of slot together, and I remember we were speaking one time and we realized that at the time that I was composing the guitarist prayer, which is the piece that eventually brought us together musically, um you were only about I don't know, 12 years old or something at the time that I was writing it.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Is that right? It was tw uh 2011. Something like that, yeah. So I was 196, so it'll be uh 15?

SPEAKER_04 9:58

Oh, 50, okay, okay. So and I remember you saying, oh and at that time I I was about grade five or something. Yeah, 15. Uh yeah. So so little did you know right then when you're your grade five. Grade four, I think. Grade four, but that somewhere in the world someone was writing a piece that was just gonna be, you know, your calling card from then on. And it's extraordinary to look back at that, because it sat there, kind of gathering dust, really, for uh uh all that all that time until the right moment came and it's really finding its audience there. Because everywhere you go, yeah, you you do it so nicely. And and uh it it uh people have made comments, haven't they? Like uh, oh when you start playing that piece, I never want it to stop. And I remember when you did the Dorchester uh one, the the the fellow who was sitting there listening in the rehearsal time, and you got to the end and that last chord just drift drifted away, and he said, Oh, if you play that piece, they'll never let you leave. And it's lovely to hear that, and this is becoming quite normal. So here's the one, here's the one to watch, okay. Uh, you need to go out. Um his first album um is in the process of being edited as we speak. Um, do we know yet when it's gonna be on the shelf? Hopefully made. Hopefully made. Okay. Okay, so watch out for that. But the other one, this one we're talking about now, where he's gonna play all my music. Um, that's the second one, and that's we're gonna start recording that in July. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Can I just ask a quick question, Fabio? So, how does it make you feel that you're you know, that Richard is um well, you you're performing his music? How does that make you feel as a as a person?

SPEAKER_02 11:25

Because it must be it is it is quite special because um, I mean, as as a young guitarist, you always look up to the to the great masters and you always see them having these works written for them, or you go through the Segovia repertoire, and you know, you have the greatest composers ever writing dedicated to my dear friend Andrew Segovia, or uh for my dear friend uh Julian Bream or in memory of Blah. And like, oh my god, it must be so cool to be so like acknowledged that you know you get a real composer writing for you and having a name like for you that was written for you and and contributing to the repertoire, and then you feel because of course I don't compose, so you you end up sometimes feeling that you don't add anything to the repertoire of the classical guitar. You just feel like okay, I'm trying to get them performed, getting the uh listened to. So um, once you start having someone who's writing for you and collaborating with you, you really feel, oh my god, you know, I'm having more of an impact than just performing other people's works. And uh and I think the the other aspect of it is the you feel really good by bringing to life music that hasn't been performed to end and and uh sometimes really special music like the guitar is prayer, I think is it's quite unreal that it has not been performed until I did. Because I mean it's just it's just great, it has everything to be uh uh a great hit and for people to love it. Every time I play it, people just love it so much. Like, how is it never been performed? And um and yeah, just having Richard uh you know writing so many things for me, and everything is so different, and we get to talk, we get to work on them, and and each time comes with a different idea, or I've seen you perform like this, or I've written this, uh a new piece, and then also I get to find myself because you get someone, oh I really see this in you. So then you start, oh yeah, that that that is the style I like to play. And um, yeah, it's it's very it's very special, it's very big, it's like a a wide umbrella that covers so many uh aspects. And yeah, it's very special for sure.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Yeah, it's a it's a very good point you make there because it's not just um uh a guitarist playing, neither is it just me writing music, but it it's somehow the the I mean you understand what I write, and I think I can say I understand how you play, and it's that collaboration, it's the synthesis of those two things that really uh makes the magic happen. Now, um I've just spotted a couple of questions on here. Um obviously some people have joined the uh the TikTok a bit later and they don't know who you are. So I'm just gonna do a quick recap. Um, one person said, Is that Richard's son? Now that's the story about the whole adoption thing. That's another story. Um no, this is not my son. Um I wouldn't I wouldn't mind if you um this is if you've been following my TikTok lives in the last uh couple of weeks, you will know that I've been uh singing the praises of a certain guitar player who has been uh championing my music and who is going to be recording an album of my uh pieces later in the year. And this is he, Fabio Fernandez from Portugal. Um so uh hopefully that clears things up. Uh yes, so any other questions? Keep them coming.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Um there was a question from Ducky McDuckface, I think his name is. Oh yes. He did mention a question which was what is your favorite um piece you have performed?

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Um, it's a good one, actually. I mean, I think the the question of the favorite piece really evolves as as you go. So for a long time, used to be Segilla by Albania's. Because when I was really young, that was the one I thought, oh my god, the day I get to perform this, I need to be so good to play it, and I love to play it. And I remember asking my teacher a few times, how can I play it? You know, it's it's it's it's not quite the right time to learn a uh uh a work like that. And so I cannot I can never forget that it is one of my favorites, and it is one of the pieces that made me really strive to get really good. So I one day I can play that. Uh is something that's still in my repertoire. I play it every time I can and I have the chance, so I really love to play it all the time. Um but then you know things evolve. Of course, I think The Prayer is one of the pieces that I've been playing the most these past few years, since uh 23 when I premiered. Pretty much every concert, very few I will not include it, but I just think it's so good and it just fits so well uh all the different uh programs. Um, and then another one that is something that I was working on and I had to stop just because I didn't have the time, that I really would like to pick up again is the introduction and caprice by Ray Gondi. It's quite uh dense uh work, um quite long work as well, and it just requires a lot of practice time and it just hasn't been fitting any of my programs, so I haven't had the chance to keep working on it. I've performed it, but you know, I just need to kind of get back to it.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

But that's all right, because you need you have more time to spend on my exactly projects coming up. Now that's the thing that I've spotted a couple of times on here, um, and it kind of ties in, although from a slightly oblique angle. Um, a couple of people are commenting and very kindly at the same time was wonderful on Big Brother. Okay. Um but when you did your concert the other day, um, it occurred to me when you were introducing my pieces that I thought, gosh, that is what you do not expect to hear in a in a classical guitar recital. Someone to walk around and say, I'm gonna pay two pieces, the composer is sitting over there, and he won Big Brother. I mean, that's not something that happens very often, yes. Why not? No. I just meant a couple of people have asked a question there, so I just thought I'd uh oh now someone here is saying, where do you perform? I mean, do you have anything coming up soon that you can um let people know about?

SPEAKER_02 17:21

I do. Well, the main thing is gonna be my um my launch concert of the the the first city that we mentioned, that is of uh English music, uh and it has two of your works, yeah, and it has some other composers. And so when is that? That should be May. So that's the one that we're trying to get the dates uh fixed as soon as possible. So it's a little bit on a limbo at the moment, should be early May. And is that part of the English music festival? Is that the English Music Festival is right after, so uh late May. Uh quite remember the date now. Where is it going to be?

SPEAKER_03 17:53

That's in um um I forgot the name. Is it in Dorchester again or something? Dover. Dover? Dover, yeah, is it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

And so I can I can remember always mix up the English. Well, well, Dorchester is where you were the pre pre. No, it's not. It's not it's a different place. Okay, so I had to move uh to a different uh Okay, don't worry.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

We will we will clarify once we know so what we'll do, we'll put a link in the show notes uh later on as well.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

So we we can put a caption on the YouTube. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so if you're watching on YouTube, just look down below the uh the screen there and uh hopefully you'll see all the information there. Um right, now then um we're going to depart from all this serious stuff and and have a little bit of silliness now. Okay. Because I know that you would like that. Um there is a certain feature of our podcasts, something that we do every single time. Okay. Um you're looking a bit worried. But it's become quite popular, and it's called the taste test.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

All right.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

Now, as our special guest today, would you be willing to participate with us in the taste test? Yes. Thank you, thank you. Now, what the taste test is, is each time we uh turn up, one of us will turn up with um uh an edible item that we hopefully haven't tried before. And we just try it and see what we think of it and make our comments, and then give it marked out of ten. Okay. So it's a little bit of daft silliness, but it seems to be quite popular. All right, so what we have here, I'll just uh finish that trick up. Yeah, dad- So what we have this time is, right, I'm gonna hold this up, everyone can see it. This is a packet of MS jelly babies, and not just any old jelly babies, it's MS jelly babies. Do you think there might be an advertising slogan? These are not just jelly babies, these are MS jelly babies. Right. So, would you like to try one of these? Yeah, I have no idea what they are.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

You've never had them before. Well no. I'll tell you something. This this you've never heard of them. Are they like just normal uh just like chili sweets, but you've never had them? I've never had them.

SPEAKER_04 19:56

It's the first jelly baby I've ever had. Just before we do it, I've got to say, because I've always wondered about this. Can imagine, if you will, if you can, a world without jelly babies. Right? Just pretend they didn't exist for a second. Well, you you That's how my world is. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

Now manufacturers, people who make confectionery and the like, they they all have little meetings and they sit around the boardroom table and they try and come up with new ideas, new new things that are gonna sell to the great public and everything. Can you imagine, in this day and age, with all of our political correctness and everything, if these didn't exist already, if someone turns up to that meeting and goes, here's an idea, let's make some chewy sweets in the shape of babies. And let's all sit around eating them. That's a good idea, isn't it? It just would never get past the planning stage, would it? And I'm actually surprised that they're still allowed to do this. Um because jelly babies were around when I was a kid. And um, but anyway, there we are. Uh so if they suddenly disappear from your shelves, you know why? Someone has decided that someone's gonna get offended and oh dear, what crazy look. Whatever they start to I'm gonna I'm gonna do the grand, oh do you want to do the grand opening? Yes, yes, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

If I can without exploding everything, it might be a ter tear down. Is it a well I don't know a tear uh I mean te from the top down? Yeah, that's perfect.

SPEAKER_04 21:12

Yeah, I can see you've got to go. Okay, so you help yourself. Take take one out of there. Thank you, James. Okay, now just hold it for a moment. Does it look like a baby? Well well it's theoretical. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Uh the smart of his face. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_04 21:27

Right. So what we're gonna do is we're all gonna taste this at the same moment. Okay, so we know that whatever we're tasting is we're all getting the same thing at the same time. Okay, and then we make our observations and comments. So are you ready? Here we go. Three, two, and this is just for the count now. Well, I was just I was just hungry. That's quite nice, I think. That's your first ever jelly baby. Wow. Wow. See now the reason why he's never had jelly babies was because he's too busy practicing. Wow, it's good.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

I really don't. We'll have another one if you want. Do they have different taste? Yeah, don't worry. The different colours are different flavours, yes.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

It's a yellow white. Okay. Now you have to tell us in a moment why you think it's good, and then give us a mark out of ten, you see. What are people saying on there? Oh, someone else is asking again if you're my son. No, it's it's it's not my son, no. No.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Um you see Caroline. Uh that's quite a popular question at the moment.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

Oh, yeah, people. Yes. Did you see people are in here? Do you remember Caroline who just had it in for me, and I don't know why. And everyone always asks me, How did you cope with Caroline?

SPEAKER_03 22:36

At all, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Let me have another one of these. Yes, use a 127-6x78 travel six. Yes, it is, um, Fabio.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Yeah, that's him. That right there. Yeah. In person. Mmm. Right.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

So they are rather good, aren't they? Yeah, they're good. I mean, I've tried a few different brands of these, but I've never had the MS ones before. So, what do we think? Mr. Cameron, tell us, give us the benefit of your your superior palette. I guess we go first. Oh, well, I just wanted to give him an idea about the kind of things you might say.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Oh, okay. Okay. So you mark it on the look, the flavour, packaging as well. So and if it has a linger after you've done it. Yes, so um, for me, yeah, quite enjoy these. These are the is it the round trees that do the original?

SPEAKER_04 23:29

The bass, I think it was. Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

So I am gonna say the bassets are still the best.

SPEAKER_04 23:35

They're your favorite ones. Really? No, I was gonna say that I like these ones better. But there you go. There's no accounting for taste, is that? Okay, of course, other brands are available.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

We have, yes. Yes, but yes, uh, yeah, these are quite good though. These are very good.

SPEAKER_04 23:50

Okay, well, before you before you reveal your score, let's have what do you think? Oh shall I shall I go next? I'll go next. Yes. Oh, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that all right? Do I have your permission?

SPEAKER_03 24:00

See what I have to work with.

SPEAKER_04 24:02

Right. Well, I I had an an orange jelly baby, and then I had one of the the black ones. Um, normally I I don't like the black one so much, but the MS ones really quite tasty. I might even have another in a moment. Um, yes, because uh it's important to you know have that sugar intake, keep the energy level up, and he especially needs it for something that's coming up shortly. Stay tuned. Yes, um, so I I thought that would that was really very tasty, a nice um kind of consistency, a nice um squidginess, a nice chewiness, that's the word I'm looking for, and a good texture. Yes, there you go. What were your thoughts?

unknown 24:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

I I was very surprised because I thought I would not like it. Oh because it's what is uh what are the um Turkey lights? They have this sort of uh sugary coating, and that's something I'm not very fond of. I mean I like sweets as a general, but turkeys light, I know I don't go crazy for it. I I could pass easily if I see one, I will not take it. If someone offers them, okay, right.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

But they're but they're sort of almost like mar mites. Some people, you're right, some people like them, some people don't. So I completely agree with you. I'm the same, but you like too much either.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

So, you know, because of the coating, I thought it was gonna be like that. Yes, but I was quite surprised, I really like the taste, and the um the constancy is very nice, a little bit um more consistent than the than the Turkish lights, but the the the sugary or the top because I think I never had uh sweets like that with that sort of um coating. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

And Turkish light has a tendency to be quite sweet, I think. Yeah, like oversweet. So it's it's it's okay. Yeah. So there you go. Right. So the big moment is marks out of 10. So what what what would you give that?

SPEAKER_00 25:33

I will give that a 7.23.

SPEAKER_04 25:39

7.23, that's very precise. Okay, well, I I I think I'm a bit higher than that. I think I think um I think I'm gonna give it uh. See, when deciding on on the score, you have to decide why it didn't go higher. That's the crucial thing. And if it and if you can't think of a reason, well, you've got to give it four marks, haven't you? Um So I'm just trying to decide. The only thing, the only reservation I have about jelly babies in general, you see, we we we we only do the intellectual conversations on these podcasts. The thing the thing stop it. Stop it! The thing I've always the only reservation I've had about jelly babies is this kind of flowery coating or whatever it is, it kind of sticks to your fingers a little bit. And it'd be nice if they didn't did something that didn't do that. So that's the only thing I didn't like. So I'm gonna give this a solid 9 out of 10. Well, that's quite a lot. And I don't normally go up that high, as as the record will show. So anyway, what's your what's your score? Bearing in mind, this is the first time you've ever tried one of these.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Yeah, so I think the marks are going up because I um I didn't expect them to be so good actually. I thought I was gonna be not quite like it, but I was very impressed. So the it did surprise me the taste, and I'll give it a um I'll give it a 7.9 because I think he's a I won't say an eight, but then I think eight is quite a lot. Yeah. Considering all the sweets that I, you know, that uh other sweets that I like, and I might prefer Slyley, so then maybe I'll give them an eight. So this one is a 7.9, so very, very close. I agree with the thing of the fingers on.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Sorry, 9.25.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

Oh, right, so it's not the highest I've been. No. Right? Oh, but that Terry's caramel thing was very good. It was, I remember that well.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

So just there is a couple of nines on here from you, by the way. I want to keep on going.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

But uh No, no, no, no, no. I I don't want you to keep on going because I I just want to tell you a couple of things I'm seeing on the TikTok chat here. See, Danny says, Richard, you're so cute. Thank you, Danny. I absolutely agree with you. And Brittany says, Richard, I love you. Well, thank you, Destiny. That's very kind as well. You see, you see, see, people do care. They do, they do. That's amazing, right? Yeah, yes. And it's nice to know the next time I'm slaving over a hot piece of manuscript paper for this fantastic musician, I will keep these comments in mind that people think I'm cute, even at my ripe old age. If you can be cute at 60, that's actually quite a good sign, isn't it? Yes, yes. Um now, and again, the Bo Moneyhype. No, no, no, he is not my son. No, no, no. I can understand why you might think it, because we've been talking a lot about the adoption story, I know, but no, this is not he. Just for in case there's still any doubt, in case there's still any doubt, this is Fabio Fernandez, who later in the year will be recording an album made up entirely of music that I have written especially for him. Uh a singular honour that very few composers ever actually have, because you know, uh composers are lucky if anyone plays their music at all. But to have a whole album of it done, you know, you know, and I didn't bribe him much. No, no. There was a pregnant pause there. Um right, uh oh, Destiny's saying, Richard, strange question. What was the first thing you ate when you got out of the house? Um if you knew my house this morning, then yes, it was these Jenny babies that we just didn't try. Uh but if you're talking about the Big Brother house, I can't remember. I know that the next morning we had a nice cooked breakfast in the in the hotel. Uh that that was probably it. Anyway, listen, now we're we're almost up to time. This has been a super, super duper little little session. But as you can probably imagine, it would not be right for me with my composer's hat on, with the the the the musician uh who who give does my uh pieces such justice sitting right next to me, it would be wrong to conclude this session without prevailing upon him to uh give us a little sample of of one of the pieces that he's performed so many times and that we've been uh referencing in this very conversation. Would would that be all right? Would you have it? Yeah. Now, um, you know, you don't have to play the whole thing, that's all right, because because because you know I I don't want to put too much pressure upon you. Um uh but would like to tell us what it is you're gonna play for us.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Yeah, I guess because we've been speaking so much about the this guitarist prayer piece that you've written. I think uh it would be fair to play a little bit of that. Let's do that. Let's do that.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Yeah, so so the piece is the guitarist prayer, written by yours truly, uh, and it's the piece um that uh actually brought Fabio and myself together. Uh he gave the world premiere of the performance first performance in the English Music Festival last year. It already features on an album that he's recorded already, um, and that's coming out in round about May or so, uh, prior to the second album that's going to start being recorded in July. Um, it won't be the whole piece because, you know, hey, you didn't pay anything for this. I gotta listen to the album. You've got to go out and buy the album. Um yes, but this will give you a real a real taste of the piece. Hope you enjoy it, and I'll um shut up and let you get on with it. So, Fabio, over to you an extra an excerpt from the guitarist prayer. Squid tuning. Oh yes, always smells better in tune, I think.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

I think we will. Especially with because you always write with these funny tunings, right?

SPEAKER_04 31:04

Oh, so I mentioned that. Yes, yes, okay. You may have heard him say, I write with funny tunings, right? What that means is, for those of you who may not understand guitars very much, each string is tuned to a particular note, uh, and there's a standard way of doing that. But sometimes composers just get a little bit too ambitious and they ask for the strings to be tuned to different notes other than the ones that they normally are. And in this particular case, that's what happened. So two of the strings are tuned differently to normal. So he's just got to check his tuning before he starts. Anyway, there you go. So there, I filled the space. Are you ready?

unknown 31:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 31:36

Right. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the one and only Fabio Fernandez with an excerpt from the guitarist player. There you go. Now, just in case you were wondering, how does he do that? All that fast playing, that's called the tremolo, tremolo technique uh on Castle guitar, and it's one of the things that makes the guitar sound so particularly beautiful, and especially when it's done uh in in the hands of such a consummate player as this gentleman is. Now, just before we clear off, oh Susan says that was amazing. Um uh K oh K it goes too too far too. Anyway, yes, uh, I agree with you, it was amazing. Do you agree, Mark? It was it was amazing. Fantastic, yes. Um, well, listen, there we are. Well, all done. Thank you so much for your questions. Uh, thank you for everyone watching on uh the YouTube. Um, for those of you who are watching on YouTube, please do consider subscribing to the channel. It won't cost you a brass farthing, but it's very helpful to us if you can do that. Thank you very much. Thank you to Fabio for being a special guest.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

Um and all the best with your recording, the album that's coming out in May. And of course, of course, the second album, which I know is going to be even better.

unknown 33:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 33:30

Already on the way. Already on the way. That's right, that's right. Um, so as we always say at the end of one of these sessions, be nice to each other. Be nice to each other, and as I always like to say, do not cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. Thanks very much, everybody. See you again on the next episode. Okay, bye bye.