Gonzales: Guinness Record Holder

Gonzales just broke the Guinness World Record for the longest solo concert by playing for 27 hours, three minutes and 44 seconds. Here's an interview we did with him just before he achieved this miraculous feat.

You can actually see him break the record here.

CHARTattack: What are you doing to prepare yourself physically for this marathon concert?
Gonzales: Two words: wasabi peas. Those spicy little bad boys are sodium in a fun and sexy treat!

My doctors (there are three of them) have been basically telling me what to do, when to sleep, how to eat, what to be scared of. I've been trying to relax, but the event looms large before me and so I'm basically freaking out yet enjoying the freak-out.

What about preparing your mind?
I've written a list of 300 songs; [I'm] memorizing them and making sure I can improvise different arrangements of each of them. The audience will be deciding what order I play them in.

So, if the drunk hipsters at 5 a.m. demand their Cyndi Lauper, I need to give them a rollicking arrangement. But if the well-dressed families after brunch at, say, one o'clock in the afternoon ask for the same, I will play it differently.

It's like preparing for a chess game. You would be naive to think you know how it will develop, so you prepare to be prepared.

I understand the Guinness rep will be testing you for drugs. What do they consider prohibited substances? Will you be allowed to drink Red Bull all night? How about caffeine pills?
Caffeine and Red Bull are allowed. They are most concerned with finding fluo-cortizone, a prescription shot that politicians use for long summits. I did actually have a consultation with president Sarkozy's doctor, who told me they all use it.

What do you plan to eat? How often?
I will eat wasabi peas all day every day... on stage. I will also eat "slow sugars" in my 15-minute breaks every three hours. (Guinness allows for five minutes every hour, to be accumulated at my discretion).

How are you going to preserve your voice?
I'm a piano man, so when I sing, it's kind of held to a lower standard. If I'm hoarse, well, so be it. I'm not exactly Leslie Feist, am I?

How much of the concert will be your own material?
One hundred of the 300 songs are published Gonzales songs or co-writes with other, usually more famous, artists. Feist, Jamie Lidell, Jane Birkin, et cetera.

What about the audience, what will they pay for the show? I understand the crowd will turn over every three hours. Will this be enforced, or will you let the people decide whether they want to stay or leave?
It will be enforced because the show is sold out, so the turnover has to be orderly. God knows how they'll do this. The three-hour blocks are 18 euros and the crazy-person ticket is 100 euros for all 27 hours — of which 15 or so have been purchased.

What motivates you to do this besides the classic mountaineer driver, "Because it's there?"
To see if I can play well and entertain people for that long. Quantity is the excuse, but quality is the goal.

When I told my dad about your plan, he kept saying, "It must be for charity." Is it?
He's a funny guy.

Who else will be on stage? Will you be joined by a band or any celebrity guests?
It is the record for longest solo concert, and it is not tied to any instrument in particular. So no guests allowed. And I'm very sensitive because I have created such an expectation in my audience to have my famous friends drop by that they seem almost nonplussed when I play alone.