She's a sleeping tiger: Not just another busker

It’s Easter break. Chilly wind blows all day. Cold metal chairs as steadfast witnesses of the scene: Myer bag sways as a young man grip tightly to them, lovers exchange sweet compliments, a mother pushes a baby pram. Loud, lively and busy—it’s none other than in Bourke Street.

There’s one man who is deep in thought. He’s with his guitar. The man closes his eyes and picks the guitar strings with his slender fingers. Head slightly moves side to side. With Bourke Street as his stage, Santos Bonacci performs Moliendo Café.

The song urges you to stay where you are: watching Santos performances instead of sheltering yourself from the cold. People don’t want to leave. They are being rewarded with an exquisite music. As a form of thank you, Santos stares back at them and smiles. His smile blooms between his slightly hollowed cheeks and draws his eyes into two curvy lines. And when he nods, his black fedora covers a half part of his light brown complexion. His frizzy hair is steady behind the ears, despite the occasional head nods he makes during his guitar play.

Santos Bonacci was born in Australia of Italian parents. He grew up in a tobacco farm in Victoria. At the age of nine, he started to play the Beatles and Cat Stephens. “I grew up watching a few Spanish guitarists and I really like the guitar. So, I beg my parents to buy me a guitar,” he says. “I started taking lessons and then I was started getting serious [into music] when I was 18.”

A man in his late 40s, Santos is a frequent performer in Bourke Street Mall. Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, he charms the town’s busy atmosphere into a leisurely café in Spain.

Santos' devoted music performance captivates the pedestrians on Bourke Street.

(Photo by: Pingkan Isabella)

“I can sing some ballads. I can play Flamenco, classical, baroque—all styles. There’s nothing that I really like the most … So it’s very eclectic what I do.” Santos also composes songs that are “a fusion of Flamenco, Latin, and Jazz.” The music he composes was originated by the Southern France gypsies, which were popularised by the Gipsy Kings in the 80s. After Santos watched them live in 1989, he was inspired to play the same kind of music.

He recalls the time when he first played the guitar, “The guitar speaks to you. If you love the guitar, [pause] it speaks to you.” His voice gives a hint that it is no cliché—he assures that it was real. “It tells you, ‘you have to play’. Yes, it’s very powerful. Very powerful.”

Asked how the guitar spoke to him, he answers, “It’s just everything about it is beautiful.” As he continues, he gazes away, “You wanted, you desire it. If you’re a guitarist, you desire the guitar. It’s just a natural inborn desire.”

Santos became fully professional in music since the year 2010. However, he was unsure whether music could help him to make his family a living. “I thought maybe it was impossible to make a living with music. But then I took the leap and I was lucky I did. [pause] Very lucky, because I’ve been able to make a comfortable living for 12 years.”

His decision to be a professional musician has taken him even further than just a living. His love and passion of music has brought him overseas: to Japan, India, New Zealand, and America. Santos and his partner played for the opening keynote speech of Bill Gates in 2001 at the Comdex Festival, Las Vegas.

Music has played an important part in his life. However to Santos, it is not as important as finding the truth. For years, astrotheology has taken his interest. Besides being a musician, he teaches. He records videos of his teaching and uploads them to Youtube. He has done many researches to establish his teaching.

His Youtube channel, MrAstrotheology, has gained 6,645 subscribers and 640,689 viewers. A snippet of the channel’s description reads: Astrotheology, Claiming Dominion, Universal, verifiable, truth. Uncovering deception and lies. Santos has two websites: SANTOS.net.au which is for his music promotion and UniversalTruthSchool.com which contains his teaching materials.

“I could not live and be happy without being a musician. But it’s not as important as [pause]—as other things for me. Truth … , light, and the invisible sciences are more important.” Four seconds later, he adds, “Philosophy… [pause] Metaphysics. [pause] Spirituality.”

His voice somehow reflects his thoughts—sonorous, assuring and firm. His answers are straightforward. Pauses between the words do not beg to be filled in, but instead supplemental for his quotes.

Same thing occurs with his music. It represents Santos’ being. For Fabio, a Melbourne University arts student whom has lingered in music world for several years, Santos’ performance is astounding. “It is a form of art that flows right from his passion—a higher degree of art. His performances are not mere playing of the instruments, but more as an expression of his very being,” says Fabio.

Contrary with Fabio; Yara, a casual passerby, doesn’t feel the same about Santos’ music, “I think he is a talented musician … but I honestly think that the other street buskers aren’t less talented than he is.”

Nevertheless, Santos feels a lot of joy when he sees people enjoy his music. He plays devotedly in every performances he has had. “Music has kept me very, very happy and it’s kept me … young, and healthy, and happy—all the good things. Music is a great medicine—it’s a spiritual medicine.”

Then, he adds more, “Music is a vibration, it’s very healing.”

It’s already the time. Santos gets back to his guitar and plays the tune of Inspiration. And there he is: body leans forward, eyes closed, and occasional head moves. The Myer bag stops swinging, sweet compliments pause, and the baby pram pulls up. The young man, the lovers, and the mother stop to watch Santos. Once again, Santos charms the Bourke Street.