The Solo Travel Chronicles – On Discovering David Garrett
David Garrett’s Style and Image
07/02/2016 by fabwolftravels
An attempted Analysis of a Musical Phenomenon – Part 6
There are not many questions Google has no answer to, but “Who styled David Garrett?” is one of them. That answer escapes search engines, but I shall hazard a guess and propose that the name of his stylist must be New York.
Don’t forget that David Garrett was a boy who spent his teenage years in starched shirts, corduroy trousers and peculiar concert frocks. Home-schooled, he grew up surrounded by adults. Connoisseurs of classical music were the audiences he performed to as a child, two or even three generations removed from his own. Naturally, grown-up standards ruled David’s personal style as well as his musical repertoire. He never got to choose his pieces, nor his clothes. All this was done for him by parents with the best of intentions. And David played beautifully, looked innocent, well-mannered and well cared-for, but was not what anyone would have regarded as cool.
And then this youngster, who never even owned a pair of jeans, comes to New York – the Capital of Cool, the epicentre of style, where personal attire is a matter of intense study, a way of life as well as an art form. Young David has come to this city to find himself; and find himself he does. In doing so, he also finds his personal style. It must have happened gradually, by assimilation rather than design, and to discover this new world of stylish clothing and accessories must have been exciting, liberating and rewarding in equal measure.
In those early New York days, David Garrett’s brief sideline as a fashion model must have been helpful to him, and not just financially, for it surely gave him a welcome opportunity to pick any items he liked from the clothes he was photographed in. We may well imagine that there were delighted stylists at those shoots, eager to advise him. Come to think of it: Isn’t it surprising that the fashion industry let him slip through her painted claws? … But anyhow, David develops his style, goes blond and becomes a New York City Boy.
At the same time, and as if on a parallel track, an accelerated widening of David’s musical horizon is taking place. According to his own words he did not own a single pop or rock CD in his teenage years. Now there is a whole new universe of music to discover. This must have been thrilling for someone with his musical sensibility and experience, and it may have meant a lot more to him than to most of us.
As an arrow will fly further if it has been pulled back harder, David Garrett’s unusual circumstances in growing up must have given him the momentum that carried him so great a distance. Look at him now: You no longer see the young boy who was teased in elementary school for playing the violin, or the teenager so far removed from being wickedly cool. Now that David couldn’t be any cooler (or hotter) if he tried, is it any wonder that he should be so obviously enjoying the person he has become? He appears so visibly at ease, so happy in his skin; radiating a contentment that by itself would be enough to make him irresistible.
And where are those now, who taunted him then? Probably somewhere in the audience, wishing they had learnt to play the violin.
So there you have the twinned reasons why the choices David Garrett made along the way regarding his personal appearance and his musical taste are such defining elements. That must be how his look came about, and why his wider taste in music is now reflected in his concerts. These days, David’s audiences are a happy mix of all generations. At least age-wise he is no longer the odd one out.
David Garrett had begun his musical career by playing, to put it bluntly, old music for old people. But instead of doing what any rebel might do, namely play only young music for the young in a 180-degree-turnabout, David decides on a third way: to play good music from any era to anyone of any age willing to listen, to enjoy, to learn … And it is this he does better than anyone.
Did any performer ever need a carefully constructed image less than he? No marketing idea you could come up with, even in your most inspired moments, could compare with what David Garrett is himself. Does anyone really believe that it is the rebel label, the style of his hair, of his clothes, his boots or his jewellery that makes us want to see and hear him play? Who gives a damn about what he is wearing when he plays like he does? If it were announced that David Garrett is to perform on the village green, wrapped in a piece of sacking – wouldn’t the place be swamped, regardless?
And you who bemoan his grungy appearance: Have you considered that David Garrett in tails or a tux might cause the stage to combust spontaneously? It could be a health-and-safety measure that he plays down his looks and occasionally has even been known to sport what might be grandfather’s underwear. And why shouldn’t he? His concern is for the MUSIC, and the quality of his playing remains unaffected by his outfit. However, for some people – including critics and journalists – that this should be so is impossible to accept. Certain sneering overtones and sarcastic undercurrents in their comments and their reporting will make your blood run cold. It seems there are many who claim to know exactly how brilliant David Garrett could become if he only followed their advice.
But David has had enough experience of external determination. No more of that! Now he wears what he likes, and he plays what he likes, as a champion of personal freedom. That this is not generally recognized, and that people can only regard it as a clever marketing strategy: isn’t it because such a degree of individual liberation is still unusual, even in a society that likes to call itself The Free World?
The controversy David Garrett has sparked, both with his personal style and his particular approach to music, reflects the ancient struggle between two opposing forces: between those who like to move forward, and those who like to hold back. Which side are you on?
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Note to the reader: I need to remind you that I am describing David Garrett’s journey as I read it in his YouTube material. After listening to David’s interviews, both in English and German, this is how my imagination fits the pieces together. But no part of my description is based on a direct knowledge of the actual facts, and it follows that my reading may be partly inaccurate or even totally incorrect at times. Please, do keep that in mind.
Maybe it really is the case, as has been suggested repeatedly, that David Garrett’s image is the concept and the creation of his managers Peter Schwenkow and Andy Selleneit; the man, to quote Vera Russwurm, “who made Milli Vanilli great” … (Good Lord! Wouldn’t it be better if he kept that quiet?) … I just can’t bring myself to believe it.
To be continued with David Garrett’s Interviews. If you click ‘follow blog via email’ you won’t miss it.
(All photographs are screenshots drawn from YouTube, for the purpose of illustration only. I trust the authors will allow this use of their picture material. No copyright infringement is intended.)
http://fabiennewolf.com/2016/02/07/davi … tts-image/
Отредактировано Лёна (07.02.2016 13:46)