My left hand with the right notes

Guitarists Carlos Vamos and Lindsay Buckland, also known as The Famous Unknowns,may not remain so anonymous locally after today, when they take their fine-tuned skills on their guitar strings to the streets of Valletta and strum their stuff. Brought over as part of the Tourism Ministry's contribution to Notte Bianca, their musical notes - the result of a tricky technique called tapping, of which few exponents exist - should fill the air in Freedom Square.

And if Maltese audiences are anything like what these musicians are used to, they should either be dancing the night away or entering a peaceful trance - or a mixture of the two. Even the left-handed guitarists are likely to succumb to the spell they cast - in fact, that is what keeps them playing their mind altering and heartfelt music for 10 hours at a stretch. "Usually, we stop when the batteries run out! Sometimes, we bring two." Original and instrumental, their music is described as world music, or ambient; exceedingly relaxing, without forfeiting rhythm, and replete with melody.

"It is highly infectious... slightly psychedelic and characterised by a sort of Pink Floyd style..." If that is too much to chew on, The Famous Unknowns' sounds can be checked out on YouTube. Mr Buckland, who is from Australia, plays a dulcimer appellation (see picture), which looks as weird as it sounds; and Mr Vamos, from Spain, uses the tapping technique on his electric guitar, whereby he touches the notes like a piano, playing with both hands on the neck - as many as three melodies at the same time. The technique requires lots of practice. He has been playing the guitar for 26 years.

The duo only joined forces 18 months ago, although they have been moving in the same circles and have been friends for 17 years. They met in Amsterdam on Mr Buckland's first European tour in 1991. He was having a coffee at the central station and walked across to find Mr Vamos playing away. Two days later, he was playing in another busy square and it was Mr Vamos who saw him. That was when they "connected" and the rest is history...

As soloists, the guitarists attended several of the same festivals throughout the years but at one in southern Italy, which was not really happening, they decided to play together and the result was an "explosion" that went down well. But their performances are not confined to festivals and ministry courtyards; they play everywhere, forming part of renowned bands and even busking. "If you want to live off music, you cannot be too picky; you do everything. You just want to play."

As to how much money they can earn off the streets, they turn their pockets inside out and empty the few clanging coins, refusing to answer. "That would encourage others to go busking" and they have 500 CDs to sell tomorrow. Beyond the clichés, they insist it is not so much about the money. "People can respond the way they want to. We can have our slow days too, of course, but we enjoy playing music, fundamentally, and we need to play.

"The reality is that we chose to be street musicians, primarily because it is such freedom from being 'corporatised', which is what most of today's music scene is about.

"We, on the other hand, are like a band of gypsies, which is a good thing.

"Fortunately, people really identify with the music we make, which gives us the freedom to move anywhere around the world, without being told what to do.

"People have an image of a street musician in a corner, playing an acoustic instrument. But we actually bring a big sound system and it is like a concert."

When they play in the streets, they are hardly waiting for a lonesome stranger to pass by and drop a coin into their echoing hat, admitting to attracting extensive crowds.

In fact, they plan to name their next CD The Slightly Well Knowns and the one after that Finally Famous... and the fourth will be Not Famous Anymore: The Best Of...