63336 Celebrity answers with Adam Ficek
Our latest celebrity answerer is multitalented musician Adam Ficek. Famous for his part as the drummer in Pete Doherty led indie band Babyshambles, his musicianship knows few boundaries, he's even released a solo effort entitled Roses Kings Castles - playing every instrument featured on the album.
If you've got any question about music, whether its playing, composing, or wondering what that tune was in the ad, you can always ask 63336 your first question for free.
Q. Who is Adam Ficek?
A. Adam Ficek is the drummer in the British alternative pop group Babyshambles, Musical Curator of Roses Kings Castles and general philanthropist.
Q. What is the meaning of life?
A. Music and laughter is the meaning of life, everything else is just a pointless filler of time and emotion.
Q. Why be a musician?
A. There's no choice for some people. If you're lucky or unlucky enough to be born with a sense of musical expression then it needs to be released by default, an inner tension building everyday.
Q. What's the weirdest gig you've ever played at?
A. A wedding where the bride was a kangaroo, it was quite an odd experience seeing a mammal in a wedding dress but each to their own.
Q. What's the most random thing you've been given by a fan?
A. A small plastic cow given to me by a fan in France with a letter explaining from the cow's point of view how she came to be there and needed my support!
Q. How many hours per day is all about music?
A. Every hour, consciously or sub-consciously, it's intrinsic, as a musician every sound melody and phrase is absorbed somewhere to be used and thrown out later in a song or a melody.
Q. Who's your idol?
A. Donovan, he seems to have achieved all his musical merits without being jaded or compromised by the music industry.
Q. What song that's already been recorded would you most like to have written?
A. Space oddity – David Bowie, the structure of the chords alongside the wordsmithery makes this one a classic.
Q. Any nerves before you perform? And if so, how do you counter them… or are they a good thing?
A. Yes, more with the solo project than with Babyshambles, and I counter them by just ignoring the sense of imminent doom and by using my training as a neuro-linguistical programmer. But they are a good thing - without the nerves you don't get the euphoria after.
Q. Who's the most musical person you've ever met?
A. Probably someone from my academic background, the un-noticed musical geniuses of our world. Lots of people I have met whilst studying would blow any of the 'geniuses' in the pop/indie world out of the water. I think studying music at a high level keeps you very humble and aware of how far you can take a talent.
Q. What's your ringtone on your phone?
A. It's on silent. I can answer at me own leisure then.
Q. What question would you most like 63336 to answer for you?
A. How many how manys in a how many, and how many is that?
Q. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you in a band?
A. I got knocked out with a wine bottle. Funny in a very odd way. It happened in Italy but I still somehow managed to finish my verse though.
Q. Were you a fan of Babyshambles before you joined?
A. They didn't exist in the current form so perhaps not. Although the songs had potential! I did like the energy but I thought they needed to grow a bit musically which we did.
Q. Who would win a fight – Pete Doherty or Jack Kerouac?
A. It would be a draw. I reckon Jack's got the stamina, Peter has a good reach.
Q. Why Roses, Kings, Castles?
A. I needed five syllables for cosmic reasons and I liked the romantic regal of the words. There was no fixed, deep insightful meaning in there, just three good words.
Q. Ever met Mike Oldfield?
A. I met a Mike Oldfield but he sold cars in Dagenham.
Q. Finally, if you weren't a musician – what would you be?
A. A spider.
You can listen to some of Adam's latest work and pre–order his latest album from Amazon.
Notes to Editors:
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