Yo, Goslink here. When I was 12 I played in a punkband named ‘Keine Fax’. With a borrowed snaredrum and a guitar I didn’t know one chord to play on we even made it to the obscure Dutch punk compilation ‘alle 55 kort’. A request to appear as a support-act for Claw Boys Claw was blocked by my mom. Age 17 I picked up the guitar – again – after hearing some 1930s fingerpicking blues recordings. For months I did nothing but listen to those tapes and try to copy the playing. For 13 years I played with different tapedecks, this way teaching myself how to play guitar, 5-string banjo, lap steel / dobro, mandolin, piano, ukulele and more. Nowadays I’m happy and proud to be a Volunteer. In my spare time… Spare time? Nope, uh-huh, don’t have any. Always busy enjoying myself. I paint, draw, build my own instruments, draw comics and make music.
That’s it.

• Purpose: banjo, mandolin, accordeon, lap steel, resophonic guitar
• Gear: original handbuilt Sips banjo, Samick mandolin, a very old Scandalli 12-base accordeon (found on a pile of garbage on the streets of Rotterdam, recently traded for a more solid sounding 12-base) and my home-built, unique in the world (afaik), stand-up playing lapsteel

Goslink's Top 5 Modern-Day Favorites:

1. John Hartford – Nobody Knows What You Do
2. Bad Livers – Hogs on the Highway
3. Big Bill Broonzy – Whiskey and Good Time Blues
4. Michael Hurley – Snockgrass
5. The Be Good Tanyas – Chinatown

Share your most intimate secrets with Goslink at goslink@elpinoandthevolunteers.com.

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