They gather crowds, make people smile and bring the city of Oxford to life. In fact there are normally very few areas in the city centre you can go where you will not be accompanied by the sound of buskers.

But while they have been off the streets in lockdown many have continued to make music.

Vish, 24, who started busking in 2018, normally performs on Bonn Square and sometimes near Marks and Spencer.

He used to sing with guitar but has switched to karaoke and plays love songs and upbeat pop songs such as Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's Valerie and Jason Mraz's I'm Yours.

Oxford Mail:
Busker Vish

Like many modern buskers – some of who now take contactless card payments - you can find him on You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Vish has released videos for his own song, What’s Your Name, and another titled You Were The Only Thing on YouTube.

Pre-Covid, depending on the crowd, he earned between £25 and £50 an hour but had been known to make as much as £100 in an hour.

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He reckoned his best performance came before the second lockdown.

“I was busking and I had some crowd then suddenly rain started from nowhere and people still wanted to listen and dance. So we were like singing in the rain and enjoying. That was my best day in 2020.”

WATCH: Vish's music video for 'What's Your Name'

He believes Oxford has some especially talented street performers.

He said: “I think there are many buskers in Oxford who play so good. One thing I like about busking in Oxford is that people are so good here. Definitely it adds atmosphere of joy. With busking city feels so full. People love it!”

'Hard time'

But of lockdown he added: “It’s been a hard time as it affected the job of buskers. I had to start a delivery job but also on the other hand I learned lot of new songs and it helped me spending more time on music production and writing.”

Pete Lock has been playing in local bands for about 40 years and started busking in summer 2017.

He said: “When the bands reached a sort of natural conclusion I needed some outlet to satisfy my performance itch.”

He usually performed in Queen Street or Bonn Square, playing well-known hits from the 60s mixed with what he calls “obscure gems”.

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He said: “I don’t really earn anything – possibly because I’m no good! – or possibly because I generally do songs that nobody can recognise.

“If I make enough for a cup of coffee from G&D’s on the way home, that’s good.”

When lockdown struck he kept the creative juices flowing by posting four videos a week to You Tube including covers of Lou Reed's Perfect Day and The Monkees' Daydream Believer.

He originally had 60 songs in his set but has been motivated to learn another 20.

He said: “I’m aiming to have 100 in my back pocket by this time next year. Hopefully by then I will be able to perform in public once more.”

Busking app

Meanwhile other buskers have been supporting themselves by performing on busker.tv – a channel on an app created by Oxford-based entrepreneur Sam Jones.

He pays buskers £200 to perform on the app OOOOO and sends them products from leading brands to sell to viewers during the performance.

The company takes commission on any sales and the busker gets a cut.

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Oxford-born musician Ben J. Cartwright earned £800 in an hour which was a lifeline as all his gigs had been cancelled and his wife is an NHS worker.

Mr Lock, who also has a day job, said: “I don’t make much money busking (well below the minimum wage!) but if I see someone singing along, or someone stops to tell me about their affection for one of the obscure gems, that’s generally a pretty uplifting experience.”

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