Have you ever left Paceville at 4am and, on your way to Champs, you hear a man with a velvety voice singing the immortal lines “Today/Is gonna be the day/That they throw it all back to you”?

And as you stop in your drunken stupor, you realise that there is a man sat down on some steps, guitar strapped on him, casually singing pop songs.

At 4am.

In Paceville.

This man is Canadian David Ellul Robinson, and for him, that’s just another day – or night – on the job.

“Busking in Paceville was either a hilarious or horrific adventure,” says David. “I think I started that about 4 years ago. A certain very prestigious hotel I won’t name was trying to get me to perform for half of my usual pay rate about 10 years before. A mate of mine was out there, a good musician, but not a professional, and he’d earned almost the same as the hotel was was offering. I said ‘fuck it’ and forget negotiating and started busking.” 

At first it went well, but the income started drooping after a while. Worse than that was the drama that came with it.

“I’ve had things stolen… there was some violence as well. I took to carrying a couple of sticks with me so at least I could prod the trouble makers away with minimal risk to my guitar,” he says.

“Even after I lost interest in being there, I had started to feel like a bit of a mascot (though masochist is spelt similarly). People kept referring to me as the only source of good music in the area. I felt like a bit of light amongst all the darkness that is that den of evil and villainy. I haven’t busked there in almost a year; it just became too much hassle to too little return, but I’m considering it for St Patrick’s day,” he says.

David’s been busking around Malta for about 15 years now, and nowadays you can catch him in Strait Street on most nights, when he isn’t back home in London.

But those heady Paceville nights were will always remain with him.

“I stopped a lot of fights just by playing the right song at the right moment, or telling people to chill because it was messing with the vibe, or fans doing the same. My biggest regret was not filming it over the years. There were some moments that would have had a billion YouTube hits. The banana peel in my face mid-song for instance – that was a moment,” he laughs.

Have you ever run into David around Malta?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]