Entertainment

Arts Q&A: Eddi Reader on busking, Ella Fitzgerald and philosophy

Jenny Lee puts performers and artists on the spot about what really matters to them. This week, Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader

1. When did you think about music as a career and what were your first steps into it?

I didn't. I just followed the advice of people who saw me and heard that I was musical. I would be invited to busk or sing at a folk club or party or a band in a pub would ask me to get up and sing. Only after years of that did I try and get paid for it. I enjoyed singing just like I enjoyed eating sweets from as far back as I remember.

2. Best gigs you've been to?

Bob Dylan at the Barrowlands, Glasgow, Ella Fitzgerald at the London's Grosvenor House Hotel in the mid-80s and sessions at Matt Molloy's pub in Westport, Co Mayo.

3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?

The band that I had at my wedding.

4. The record you'd take to a desert island?

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book.

5. What book would you take to a desert island?

The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency – I'd make up the campfire stories in my head.

6. Top three films?

It's a Wonderful Life, Big and Pan's Labyrinth.

7. Worst film you've seen?

Gremlins.

8. Favourite authors?

Janice Galloway, Roald Dahl and Irvine Welsh.

9. Sport you most enjoy and top team?

Badminton and my top team is my niece's primary 6 badminton team.

10. Ideal holiday destination?

Sicily – in June.

11. Pet hate?

Other people's mess.

12. What's your favourite:

Dinner? Oysters and lobsters.

Dessert? Eton Mess.

Drink? Beetroot juice.

13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?

Fisherman Mark – I met him when I was 17 when his house was an open party house.

14. Is there a God?

I think there is an all intelligent super nature which is following the path it should. I would never call it a name. But I have a good relationship with the physical embodiment of the wisdom that I have experienced through stories – Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Louis Armstrong. They all mean God exists to me.

:: Eddi Reader tours Ireland from February 12-26, including Armagh's Market Place Theatre on 23rd, Omagh's Strule Arts Centre in Omagh on 24th and Belfast's Lyric Theatre Belfast on 26th.