A wandering minstrel

Maybe performs a burlusque show

He is a burlesque performer. He is also a children's book author. But mainly, he's a musician who performs solo, as a duo, or as the front man of a full-fledged band. And that last avatar is the one in which the Mumbai audience will witness Englishman Spencer Maybe at a gig in SoBo tomorrow night.

The multi-instrumentalist and singer, whose real surname is Pearce, first started learning the piano in his childhood. But that didn't quite catch his fancy. So, he gave the harmonica a shot in his teens. And it was when he picked up the guitar as a 23-year-old that he finally got into his musical groove, forming a band in London as well as busking in the city's underground tube stations.

Spencer Maybe plays live

What did his years as a busker teach him? "Well, it taught me to be vigilant in a city like London," Pearce replies, adding, "It wasn't a very good life lesson in terms of teaching you how to perform on stage. But if you literally looked away for 10 seconds, someone would possibly do something horrible. I've been kicked in the back and have had things thrown at me, and it's usually been 15-year-old boys. It's not a nice feeling, and it made me really watch my back."

Armed with that vigilant attitude, Pearce next packed his bags for a gig in Sri Lanka, looking to settle down for a while in Australia, Thailand or India thereafter. He ultimately chose Arambol in Goa. That's where he's been based for the past five years, shuttling between England and the sunshine state on and off.

Meanwhile, he's also slipped into his burlesque avatar at different intervals. But why burlesque in the first place? Pearce says, "I'm essentially a story-teller who's putting on different hats, you know? And ultimately, I want to find that one vehicle that brings all of them together. But I don't even know if people can handle that, because it may be too schizophrenic. A guy like David Bowie did it really well, and I am that kind of artiste too, really, where nothing is fixed [in my craft]."

This go-with-the-flow attitude reflects in the fact that Pearce has no fixed set list for his Mumbai concert. If it turns out to be a sit-down-and-listen kind of audience, he will play accordingly. Otherwise, he says he'll amp things up. And that means that the gig - borrowing from Forrest Gump - will be like a box of chocolates. You don't know what you're going to get, after all.

On: February 27, 9 pm
At: The Quarter, Royal Opera House, London.
Log on to: insider.in
Entry: Rs499 to Rs 1,299

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