Questions to the musicians: Richard Fairhurst

Have you always wanted to be a musician?

No, when I was 15 I really wanted to be an airline pilot and went as far as completing most of my PPL (which took 3 years) until for some reason music became more of an obsession and the promising financial security of a future in the skies went out the window. I have no regrets.

What first encouraged you to play the piano?

A chance to escape from the classroom at school and later hearing an Oscar Peterson record (Night Train). Listening to Oscar Peterson got me playing, but hearing Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and John Coltrane got me hooked forever.

What music have you been listening to recently that you can't take off the CD player?

Bill Evans - Waltz For Debby Björk - Vespertine Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa Miles Davis - The Complete ‘In A Silent Way’ Sessions

Tell us something funny.

I’ve just been on a trip to Sri Lanka with my girlfriend. Arriving there I decided to take an elephant ride. After about an hour, and in extreme discomfort due to the nauseous swaying of my elephant and the distress of being whipped over and over again in the face by the branches of overhanging trees (and the 40 degree heat), we paused for a break. Our ‘Mahoots’ decided it would be nice for us to have some photos taken in front of, or rather underneath our elephant. Fantastic, I thought. We both dismounted the 13 foot 10 tonne beast and arranged ourselves nervously underneath its trunk assured by the mahoots it was completely safe. Anyway, as I stood there feeling confident with the elephant, it kicked me! Now I saw it coming, and managed to do a ninja like dodge to one side as this ‘tree trunk with a toenail’ came towards me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite quick enough and it’s toenail-type thing sliced into my upper thigh like a knife. AAAGHHH!! At first I felt OK (a little hurt and offended that this beautiful majestic creature that I felt I had built up a rapport with had attacked me unprovoked) anyway, I looked down at my leg and saw a messy arrangement of blood, exposed flesh and cholera-ridden mud water hanging off it. Shit!! This is it, I’m going to catch some horrific third world disease and die very slowly. I looked over to the mahoots for some kind of reassurance that I would survive, and that this kind of thing happened all the time. But they both had very serious looks and one of them started to run away. Later I realised he had actually dashed off to return with a handful of tiny leaves from the jungle with miraculous properties which he rubbed into my wound carefully. As I stood there casually laughing about what had happened in a bid to appear supremely courageous!! Anyway, with my wound cleaned we got back on the elephant and started the hour-long journey back to base in nervous silence. On arrival we were awarded with a certificate of our ‘daring and adventurous’ ride—making no mention of an elephant attack at all— and we left for our hotel.

Who are your heroes?

Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, Mr. Steinway, Billy Connolly, Woody Allen, Bill Bryson, whoever invented red wine


What inspires you? Kindness …………..and cats.