The man who tamed the harmonica

Charles Pasi is praised by his Chinese fans as "a genius in music" after his performance in Shanghai this October. [Photo by Ruan Fan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Charles Pasi, taking a break in the middle of his performance, walked onto the stage with half a glass of beer. While he was stepping on the stairs, he fell as he stumbled over an electric guitar wire.

The audience, mostly females who had been eyeing his every move, all screamed as he fell. However, the Frenchman stood up in no time, smoothed his unruly hair and cheered the audience with his half glass of beer that hadn't spilt a bit.

As awkward as the fall was, the accident didn't faze Pasi at all - "I'm not obsessed with what people think of me, I'm more obsessed with what I can control," he said.

What can be controlled, according to the boyish 31-year-old, is how he sounds, how his music sounds, and the joy he can bring his audiences.

He is very disciplined with the things he does – playing harmonica, writing and composing songs. Pasi aims to never disappoint his audiences.

During his China tour in late October, he gained a group of new fans, many of whom claim they encountered him by chance but was since unable to erase the strains of his harmonica from their head.

"When I get on to the stage, I wanna have fun, I want people to have fun, and the only reason to be on the stage is the audience. I wanna keep making music, and hopefully make good music."

While Pasi and his band take turns playing solos on harmonica, guitar, keyboard, bass and drums, the audience stood up, swaying their bodies, clapping their hands and calling out "bravo".

It seems that Pasi and his band did it – they brought joy to everyone with their music for a day.

Below are excerpts from the interview Pasi gave to China Daily Website before the performance on Oct 27 at Post Mountain Club in Beijing. During the interview, Pasi talked about how he became obsessed with harmonica, his music as well as life.