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Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 00:03
Hello, and a warm welcome back to the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. My name is Liam Ball, I am your Magical Wedding Host, also know as The Gentleman Magician.
Now, if you’re a returning listener, thank you so much for your patience. And if you’re new, welcome. You have joined us at a rather splendid moment. I’ve taken a short pause over the wedding season and the end of the year. As anybody in this industry knows, when the diary fills up, the microphone occasionally has to wait its turn. But we are very much back. Freshly polished, well rested, and I’ve got some exceptional guests lined up in the coming weeks and episodes. Now, today’s return is quite frankly a very musical one, and I couldn’t have chosen a better way To strike the first chord of a new season. I’m joined by the maestro himself, Lincoln Knoll, known better across the wedding world as Tinklin Lincoln. He’s a pianist who brings elegance, warmth. And just the right amount of personality to weddings and events, whether that’s grand ceremony moments, relaxed drinks, receptions, or atmosphere-setting background music that quietly steals the show. I’m told that he blends technical excellence with genuine musical instinct, and perhaps most importantly, he understands what weddings are about. So let’s welcome him to the podcast, and I’m pleased to introduce you all to Tinklin’ Lincoln. Hello, Lincoln. How are you?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 01:28
I’m extremely well. I I was sitting backstage listening to my introduction and thinking, who is this guy? He sounds quite good.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:36
He does sound pretty good, doesn’t he? Yeah, he sounds rather wonderful. Yeah, thanks, Sam really good. I like that. I’m very impressed. Amazon, very good. Well, I mean, I can tell you now, having met you and seen you work, you’re absolutely worth every word. But I’ll tell you something I’ve always wanted to know, and it’s first things first. Where did the name Tinkling Lincoln come from? And at what point did you realize it was going to stick?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 01:59
I didn’t choose the name Tinkling Lincoln. I was doing a residency here in Northampton in a village just outside Northampton called Bugbrook. I was at a place, I might as well name Check them the Wharf. in in Bugrock and the the uh the guy that owned it decided to call but put put Lincoln Unknown in this area, and everyone knows Lincoln, but he decided to put Tinkle in Lincoln and I can’t remember if he put a G on it or he didn’t, but the G disappeared and it’s been tinkling and Everybody that knows me that knows that’s my email tinkling link. And the name’s caught on. The gig. I did the gig for about, let’s say, 15 months. We’re talking 1999, 1998, 1999. But the name has stuck. And I don’t know, there’s a I I d i in 1999 I went to Al Tinkum in Turkey. So I said, you know, it’s a fair dinkum in Al Tinkum.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 03:07
The alliteration is just beautiful. It could go on and on and on. Fabulous. So, um, I mean, I have to say, having met you as well, I can agree with this. You’re known for being calm, charming and quietly brilliant. Were you always destined for weddings, or did music take you on a few scenic detours first, and what did they look like?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 03:26
Wow, great question. Liam, I I’ve always been fascinated by weddings. I I went to my first wedding when I was eight, um, and I did my first wedding when I was thirteen. Um The I’ve been a I’ve been I’ve played the piano since a very, very young age and doing weddings was just a seamless thing that I went into. So I was a church pianist, church organist first. So a lot of things, I suppose a lot of performers start off in the church, or people who are public speakers start off in the church because Being in church gives you great opportunities for public speaking, whether you’re reading the Bible or you’re singing or performing in a play or a Nativity play or or whatever. But, um, no, I I started playing the piano for church services fairly young, eight or nine. And on the back of that, um, I went to a church called Colletree Baptist Church, an English Very fully English traditional church as opposed to gospel that people will assume. Well Man of this ethnicity must be gospel. No, it wasn’t, you know, four-part harmony, Handelbach, JS Bach. Anthems in Troits, all that sort of thing. So that was my and and as a young kid, watching the organist who was the musical director Doing all of that. And I was very aware of the etiquette and the right way to do things. So etiquette has always been a big thing for me, whether I’m performing or whether I’m playing at weddings. I then got asked to go to a smaller chapel, literally. You know, your typical most towns have got a Baptist chapel that’s quite small. Kingshill is a Baptist chapel. It’s very small, and I’ve probably been playing there about two or three years. When one day, when I was waiting for my racing bike, Aged 14, when Mr the Reverend Gilbert Dodd, the late Reverend Gilbert Dodd, turned up. It was a bit like Alex Higgins. If you remember Alex Higgins, a snoop player. My parents didn’t know that he used to chain smoke in front of me. He used to pick me up and I used to play at chirp. But he was a really Earthy agricultural chap, ministers, gentlemen of the cloth in those days, always had an MA, studied at Och College in Oxford, well spoken. smooth as smooth as silk, but he was a very earthy kind of guy. And he turned up at my door as I was waiting for Nulick Cycles to deliver my ten-speed racer and He was clutching the bridal march and the wedding march, and he said, Can you play these? Of course you can. But he put the music in front of me. It was a Thursday in July 1979. The third Thursday in July, I can’t remember what that date is. I played them. He said, Can he do a wedding? I said, Yep. I said, When is it? He said, Saturday. I said, Great. He said, By the way, um We’ll pay you five quid. And I went, oh, okay, ’cause I wasn’t being paid at that point to play in shirt services. And nor was it a priority. It was more the I’m going to play for a princess who’s marrying a prince, and people are going to be there. And that’s what my fixation was. I was not. nervous about being in public because I’d been I was accustomed to playing the piano in public. I was about grade seven on the piano at the time. So the level of competence uh competence wasn’t an issue either. Was he worried about whether I understood the format? No, he wasn’t. If you’re a church organist, you just knew and you did it. And so I, it’s only when I did the second wedding. As the first wedding the bride wasn’t particularly glamorous. She was sort of as wide as she was tall, and the dress looked second hand and worn. But my second wedding, the following year, she was glorious. And I was in love with the idea because she was and he was handsome. Gary Gary’s in his seventies now. They split, unfortunately. And I was sold. I loved, it’s about the adventure. We sell them the dream. I all went into one day Olympics. And we all turn up in our best clothes. You turn up in the best clothes. I, you know, this it’s probably there’s a lot of people who know me watching me saying, Lincoln, I’ve never seen you this casual on camera. And maybe I should have come on in my tuxedo on my piano toy, but I thought I’d be you know, I’d I’d be as casual, Lincoln, since I’m uh off duty at the moment. But You know, I wear my best clothes. I don’t, like you, I never turn up looking like it was a second thought. It’s my top drawer wardrobe. It’s my top drawer presentation. Whether I’m sitting at a grand piano at Whittlebury Park or I’m on one of my portable pianos. everything feels Champions League. That’s that’s the energy I bring. And I bring, you know, I don’t sit and play like a plinky plonk pianist. I’m a pianist, and they’re getting this is me bringing the same energy that I would bring to a West End show that I’ve done, or girto, or a big performance, or a big show. This is a big performance. It’s not about me, but the occasion is huge and it’s all about energy.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 09:14
I get you. I mean, I think that’s something that performers and certainly musicians understand that. Maybe many people don’t, is that people are looking at you, and everything they see has to fit together. And if one thing stands out, it breaks the whole illusion. Yeah. So, yeah, really, really wonderful. So, so you started not not necessarily on a piano then, but on an organ as well, right?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 09:43
My first wedding was on the piano. I took the organ up so from 13 to 16, I was on the piano, and I took up the organ when I was 16. Receptions became a thing at my friend um Joanne’s wedding. Um twelve years later in nineteen ninety one. So the journey started in nineteen seventy nine. Receptions happened by accident in nineteen ninety one and everything was kind of evolved From there. You know, like yourself, I also act as master of ceremonies, and that happened by accident as well from nineteen ninety eight. You know, something needed to be done. Someone needed to jump. Someone needed to get up the steering wheel and operate the gears. And I became that man. And suddenly the ladies and gentlemen, you know, good afternoon and well, you know, very few civil ceremonies start without me starting at the front with the Mission of the registrars. It’s something here every registrar in Northamptonshire knows that the Lincoln situation will be Lincoln taking charge and saying, ladies and gentlemen, you know Welcome. Make sure your phones are switched off. We’re going to do X, we’re going to do Y, and please don’t take any photos. I’ve been asked by the bride and groom if you can refrain from uploading anything to social media until tomorrow till Sunday, till you know and I’ve bec I’ve become that man, that that person. So and but I’m but I’m the pianist who then steps off the piano to do the words of welcome. Because I think that This is particularly for the girls. I know that lads have become dandies, but girls get excited about going to weddings. They They trade out that seven hundred and fifty-two thousand outfits before they buy fifteen to take that twenty to then settle on the the two that they’re going to take. And then they wear the one. So when I say good afternoon, good morning, welcome, I want them to believe all that faffing around was worth it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 11:46
All the effort was worth something, yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 11:48
Everybody. Everybody is excited about a wedding. Life is tough out there. And what I’ve noticed in In all the years I’ve been doing weddings, especially in the last 25 years, that it’s become an event. Back in the seventies, people turned up in whatever they turned up in and they went to the church. Whether they’re in church or the golf club or the stately home or the hotel or the middle of Farmers’ Field. It’s an event. They’re talking it up on social media. A lot of couples have got a website that everybody’s you know, people are people are people are talking it up. It’s I call it, you know, I have all my phrases, the one day Olympics. I say to the boys that this is their cup final. And the difference between this And the cup final, you know, the cup final never rarely lives up to the height.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 12:49
Yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 12:49
But their cup final is full of It’s like a firework display. It’s full of lots and lots of different wonderful things that happen from the getting married to the exchange of vows and the emotional machinery that That is unexpected in that situation. I know some girls, like when they’re watching a love story, they want to cry. There are some people that want to get emotional about it. And I I will make a point of being seen to be engaged emotionally. If I cannot be emotionally engaged. then maybe that that that particular wording has got has not got my name written on it. It’s important to know who the people are. I know who the people are that I’m playing for. I know about them, I know their story, I know what brought them together. And I it’s not just about playing the piano or making announcements, it’s about ref Reflecting who they are and their energy. Some people are out, you know, all the way up there, and some people are more so considered.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:59
Yeah. I think so many people I think I think everybody knows when you’re hiring a wedding supplier of any kind, you’ve got to meet that supplier, you’ve got to like them, you’ve got to like what they do, you’ve got to you’ve Gotta, to a certain extent, understand what they do and how it fits in with your day. But I think what many people don’t realize is that that’s also the true the truth for suppliers as well. And if I meet a couple who want to hire me for their wedding I’ve got to like them, I’ve got to vibe with them, I’ve got to know that what they’re after is what I’m delivering, because there’s absolutely no point me turning up and them saying, All this stuff that you do, we don’t want any of that, we want all this other stuff that that you don’t do and it’s kind of like, um. Why did you hire me? And yeah, I know what you mean. I think it’s you’ve really you’ve really got to understand what you’re doing in order to be good at it. and then know which are the right venues and the right events and the right people for you to work for, haven’t you?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 14:56
Yeah, and I mean, in the early days The vicar told the bride and groom what they were walking down to, what they were walking out to, and what the hymns would be, and what the five reading. You know, you There’s no such nobody is average. No. But for every person who is taking that step and, you know, we’re in we’re having this conversation in early January. There are a lot of boys that have gone on bended knee or girls that have gone on bended knee to pro to to propose the question. There’s a lot of excitement. There are a lot of wedding fairs. that are being sought out, supplies being found online. That whole it’s a very and I’m not just talking about the money, there’s a lot of engagement most brides and grooms are very involved in the planning process. They are probably not used to being involved in planning anything with the level of intensity as they are doing their wedding. That’s right. So what you want is to reflect, as you quite rightly put, the right sort of approach. Journey experience for them. They’ve got an idea. And look, most people don’t actually know how to put on a West End show, but this is their West End show. And they believe like men when they’ve got their football teams, they ring in five live and tell the presenter what their team should do. And then the controls will say, what do you propose? And it’s actually, I I haven’t got a clue. That’s what he’s paid for. But they you know, th this is their opportunity to to put the big production on.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 16:38
And I think that’s something that people don’t realize is the difficulty they face when when We’re planning a wedding, right? Because, I mean, you nailed it, you know, like football managers, football teams, they go out there and they do what they do, and they’re great at it. West End producers. They know exactly what they’re doing, exactly where the beats are, but they’re good at it because they’ve done it a thousand times and failed a thousand more. Whereas for most people, They’re going to plan a wedding day, which is an orchestration of hundreds, if not thousands, of moving parts. And. I think every couple comes to that point where they go, What have I let myself in for? What is going on? And I think that’s where suppliers like you and myself really kind of step in and go, Hey, don’t worry. We’ve got this, right? You’re the right people. You’re in the right place. You’ve got the right idea. Now let’s bring it all to life. And I think that sort of positive, forward-thinking attitude is Is exactly the kind of supplier that people need. So let’s come back to the music for a second, because I’m getting that you have played all sorts of weddings. What has been, let’s say, the most unexpected song request that you’ve ever had?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 17:55
Gosh, we we’d be here for years. I think it’s not so much the song requests. Because, you know, I’ve had I’ve accompanied opera singers singing, you know, some handle, which is very sort of high end in in in that kind of intellectual space. I’ve had belters singing Robbie Williams I’m not really a singer, but I have sung Let Me Entertain You as an entrance for somebody that wanted to make an entrance. And I I overlooked the fact that for all the energy they wanted me to create, we were creating this huge experience. Yeah. Ceremony of fifteen guests. So Um, I’ve just the last wedding I did, Liam, um uh just the the the the uh the north side of Christmas, I was in church with the bride and groom, the vicar and four guests. And numbers, that is my smallest ever wedding. It’s really about. the energy that people are looking to create. I have been on ceremonies where I’ve been more of a PA and a sound engineer, where I’ve actually Played the track, and the bride has come down the aisle with dark glasses on, and the bridesmaids are wearing dark glasses, and they almost look like they’re coming into the ring to fight the groom. You know, it’s almost like What that particular bride was actually trying to create was a ring walk. And it’s all about what they’re trying to aim for. So, you know, I could, I had played the theme tune to Rocky. I played it in and I played it out, which was unusual to have the same tune in and out. But she was so obsessed with that tune and you know, she actually just walked in demurely with her dad. Dragging in beside her, and they just look like any couple anywhere on any day, despite the fact that I was playing, you know, What it needed was you, you know, with that lovely moustache. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the main event and, you know, in the red corner. He comes from, you know, it’s, but what it is, is just, you know. A girl with a face full of slap and a nice veil walking in. I might as well have been playing Hickam’s the Bride. I might as well have been playing Ina Klein and Act Music. I might as well have been playing Can You Feel the Love Tonight? you know, um, and Ed any Ed Sheeran song that I’ve played a million times or cold play, she she had the same demeanor coming in So, despite this huge three-hour conversation we had about the music, if I’d have just turned up with a plate of sandwiches and never met her, I think she would have still come in the same way. Yeah, but it all but it was all it was all about the build-up. I think um I want I want people to be excited in the build-up about having a conversation about the wedding as much as the event itself, because the two main players, they’re so uptight about the whole thing that they don’t they very rarely enjoy that 30-minute ceremony because they’re they’re trying to remember. I I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful imped pediment or a a girl from Thailand talked about in the enslediment. the the the the the slaughter in s the slawful in in in sediment. I mean, you know, everyone was you know, the registrar let it go, I I do I do scholarly this if lair. I mean, I’ve heard it all. Some people are just so nervous.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 21:59
Yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 22:00
And I’m and the beautiful thing about weddings is it’s the same gate for everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are. I was watching Prince Harry gave Prince Harry and Megan. I know people what lots of talks about, but I was looking at Prince Harry and Megan with the experienced style that I have watched them on telly. And it doesn’t matter how powerful they are, or how wealthy they are, or how mighty they are. It’s still a boy marrying a girl, and his backside is going like a brass. Because it’s important. It’s massive. And I’ve seen some very, very confident public speakers stand in front of a vicar and forget who they are.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 22:41
Yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 22:41
Or in a ceremony where the Sir the registrar says, state your full name and this lad who’s can bench press you and me times ten looks at his mum As if to say, Mum, I can’t remember who I am because he’s so nervous. It’s the intensity of the moment. So I want people to be excited about the situation because sometimes If they’re lucky, they’ll get someone to record it and they can watch it back with their children that come along and they can relive it like my children do. I hadn’t mentioned that my wife, she passed away three years almost to the day. And my children now watch our wedding video more now that Anne-Marie’s in heaven. Because they you know, they w every year she watched it with them, and now they watch it more. And and they want to see where they want to see their history playing out in real time So there’s so many things we’re creating history for those two people. And so to double back to your question I just create normality in my mind because this is normal for them, because this is theirs. So, you know, if they want me to play um, I don’t know, New Order Blue Monday, and I’ve never played it. I’ve got a I I I have the I have the technical machinery to create that ninety seconds that starts and finishes in a credible way, which then passes the bat on to the vicar, the celebrant or the deputy superintendent registrar for them to say, hello, good afternoon. My name is Sharon Smith, and I’m the deputy superintendent for North North Antishire. And it is my you know, I’m thinking about the segue of the music How everybody who’s present experiences it because the person in the dress or the guy in the suit, if you’re two boys or two girls You know, they’re so uptight. They’re not remembering the moment.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:52
Yeah, but it’d be gone so quick. Yeah. Well, that’s what I said because. Yeah, I mean, I had a note here to ask you, you know, and it’s something I think that I understand the difference of, having seen the differences, and many people don’t. was that what is the difference that live music makes to prerecording music? And I think you’ve hammered it right there, haven’t you? But also, it’s about creating that memory. And if they have got somebody who’s recording that moment, who can get the music, who can overlay it afterwards, or use some of that music as well. It it just creates. It’s a whole different atmosphere. I remember being in the army with a guy, 16 years old, joined the army. One of the guys there was a guitar player, and he used to play. all sorts of sort of modern pop stuff. And I remember saying, you know, what kind of music do you like? I said, Oh, I’m not I’m not really into music, it’s not my thing. He said, Have you never been to a live band concert? and I said, No. He said, You should. And I went, Well, I wouldn’t know where to go. He said, It doesn’t matter. all live music is good when it’s played live. And I think that’s the difference, isn’t it, between music and a box is that you’ve got somebody going to press play, somebody’s going to wind it down and end it at the end. Whereas when you’ve got somebody who is adding emotion and feeling and being able to really kind of ramp it up in the moments that count to meet the atmosphere that’s there, that’s a whole different thing, isn’t it?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 26:14
Yeah, I I do think I’ve watched I’ve watched obviously I’ve watched back a lot of my weddings But occasionally there will be a friend of the family that will come in and take my place. It may be a a nine-year-old boy who plays the piano and he can play the cannon in there and they say, We’d like, you know Would like my ring bearer or my nephew or my godson, he can play it and he can he play it. And sometimes It’s about the experience. He’s doing it. He’s creating memories for other people. The physical acts, I mean, I’m very up I tend to be personally, I’m always in front of the people as opposed to behind them. Different people work different ways, but I generally am at the front. At the other side of the registrar’s table. That’s generally where I work. And people can see me create they can see me working, creating the music for the process that’s taking place live. And I think it’s like if I’m playing on a real piano in a pub, the first thing I’ll do is take the front off so people can see the hammers. There’s something about it’s about the theatre of the experience. It could be fifty seconds, ninety seconds. maybe two and a half minutes, depending on how long the participants take to come down the oil. But it’s it’s it’s it’s about The moment and the live experience more than anything else.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 27:47
Yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 27:49
And that’s where music is live because I can, as I said. Experience has taught me to conclude a piece of music, whatever it is, wherever it is, whereas when it’s on tape, it has to be faded out.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:03
Yeah. That’s right. So are there any songs that people ask for where you go, Oh, I love this one? Or conversely, where you go, Oh no, not this again? What are your sort of favourites versus your secret hated?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 28:21
I am very traditional. I love the I love Here Comes the Bride. I’ve written a fanfare. I wrote it for my sister in nineteen eighty eight when she got married. of the organ and I kind of played that fanfare in it. I remember what whenever the royal family they’ve got their own the king, the queen always have their own fanfare. There’s something about the fanfare that lets everybody know that this really is important. I like the bridal march because Everybody knows what’s coming down the track. It’s not the tune, it’s what it represents. So that’s my favorite in, but I do like the Canon in D. And anything that’s Anything that’s that’s got a great melody. Every year there is a song that becomes that year. You know, for instance, in 1998, it was Angels. John Legend, All of Me was a tune I seem to play a lot, a lot of Disney. As long as it’s musical, as long as I can find a way to be musical, I don’t care what I’m asked to play. Obviously, I’m a classically trained pianist. I I would prefer to play the classics, you know, Debussy’s and your Mendelssohns and your Mozarts. But not everybody is informed in that way. So I have to accept that in the last fifteen, twenty years, I’ve had to accept that everybody’s reference point is different to mine and if they want me to play uh the the somebody asked me to play the Stranglers, I’ve played um Paul Weller, The Jam. You know, if that’s this that’s the tune That does it for them in that moment. It is now over to me to make it work. And I have that skill set to do that. The only time I trouble I struggle. I get the tape in. The only time I struggle is if there if there isn’t a melody I can whistle. If I You know, Thomas Beecham said that if Miltman and Bellboys can’t whistle the tune, it’s not working. And I go with that. You know, if there’s a melody I can whistle, then I’ll find a way to play it. And that’s really that’s kind of where it is. There are lots and lots of people who Who are probably trying to be different, who will bring in something that’s really kind of musically esoteric. But I think that People, you want people to be with you on the journey in that moment, you know? The sign of the register music is important. Exit music for me isn’t quite as important because I always say it’s all about the first 10 seconds. What’s the first 10 seconds has happened? We’re not really sticking around to listen to Lincoln play the next bars five to twenty eight. What we’re going to do is run after the couple and we’re going to kiss the bride or kiss both brides or lesbians and throw confetti and say it was lovely. It was so emotional. And that’s what Everybody’s all, you know, I want to get a glass of Prosecco, or any chance I can get a cold beer, you know. So my favorite out tune is the wedding march because it does what it says on the tin, and then we move on. So many people say, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do this. And I always come to the same point and call me a cynic. Those of you watching, you can call me a cynic. But this is not the movies, this is real life, and this is real and pool. and real people in that situation. You are now Mr and Mrs. Smith. Ladies and gentlemen, please make loads and loys for Mr and Mrs. Smith. So while I’m playing the intro, there’s fifty guests or twelve guests or four guests or six hundred guests go, nobody’s thinking about what the PhD is doing at this point.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 32:21
Yeah, it could be anything at that point.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 32:23
Yeah, so I could fight into a jam jar and no one know, but but you know, that’s that’s why experience has taught me that the out is not as big. If the music they choose for out is that important, I tell them have it in a signing where you can listen to it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 32:42
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 32:43
So, what’s your process?
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 32:45
So, a couple of calls you today, because music’s a really important thing, right? I mean, obviously, everything at a wedding is really important, but for a lot of people, music is also a really personal thing. So a couple of calls you today say we want to hire you for our wedding in six, eight, twelve months and you’re available. What’s your process for them to be able to for that for them to get your service and for you to understand what they want?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 33:10
In an ideal world, and lockdown has kind of affected that ideal world, but in an ideal world, I will be in front of them with a piano. there’s always a piano in the back of my car. Even if someone had said to me, Can someone play the piano? We need someone to knock out a tune, I’d have gone to the car park and got the piano out and played it The p I’ve got a, I’ve always got a portable piano in the back of my working car. Wow, well, I will take um, it’s a full an 88-key full-size piano. and with a stand, and I will sit in John and Matilda’s living room and I’ll say, Right, here we go, because I want them to see what they’re getting straight off the bat.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 33:48
Yeah.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 33:49
They can send me sixty two thousand emails, but I want them to see what it feels like. And I want to I want to I want to gauge their expectation. In that in that If I’m with my wedding couple, if I look, I’m in Northampton, you know, you’re in the East. If I’m playing for them and they live in Inverness, I’m going to Inverness or I’m going to make it possible to be with them. And if we can’t do that, then it’ll be on Zoom. But I will For me, it it really is important to be with them for them to get a feeling Because once it’s done, they can’t say, if I’d have known it’s too late. So that’s quite important for me. I mean, if someone’s hiring me to, you know, to play at the wedding. drinks reception or the wedding breakfast, I do that as well, of course. Yeah, that’s a different thing. I still would ideally like to be in front of a couple, but I will be ha you know, in an ideal world, I’m having a conversation with them. a face to face. I’ve driven hundreds of miles to ensure that process. And people say, you’re mad. Did you really did you really drive all the way to Dover just to meet them for 45 minutes yes i did because i was they were going to book you no i’m i’m i’m happy with that because i if i if if if if More often than not, and we all have different ways of working this, you know, but more often than not, if a person if if they they recognize very quickly that I really am very serious about getting this right for them. So if they’ve you know picked me up on YouTube or social media or recommendation or there’s another supplier, this fabulous chap in Essex Called Liam Bull said, You should give Tinkling Lincoln a call, and they call me. And if there’s a degree of commitment, then yeah, I will meet them then. we will understand each other. And which is really important, it rarely happens, but it does happen if I’m not the right fit, I can then give them an informed answer and say I’m not that person because, but what you need is this. And they will thank me for. I did have one couple who thanked me for making that call and then recommended me on because You know, I was absolutely honest about them and understood. And when they looked back on the day, they said, you know, we would have loved to have Lincoln, but he made the right call.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 36:32
It’s not our vibe. It’s not what we’re planning. Yeah. I think some people do that. No, they they get fixated and they say, on our wedding day, we want this. And sometimes you have to go, that’s not the wedding you’re planning. The wedding you’re planning is going to be brilliant. But this one thing that you’ve always had your heart set on, that that’s you’ve you’ve got nowhere to put that thing. So either something needs to change or Maybe there’s a better option for you, and maybe it looks like this. And that’s a really important thing about being professional.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 37:08
Regardless of what you tell them, they say, I want to do this anyway, they just say, Okay, we’ve explored all the options. It is not my place to say, Oh, well, it didn’t work. I told you so. Once they have decided that that’s what they’re going to do, and I and I’m buying if if we’re buying in, we’re buying in, and we accept because they have given They have given me the privilege of being at their special day. It’s not right, it’s not my special day. Anne-Marie and I had that was in 2005. It’s their special day. And that for me is key. You have to understand the parameters of what is required. I’m not going to give a concert. I’ve done plenty of those, and I still do. This is about. This is about being a participant every day.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 38:02
Something really important. Yeah. So if there’s people out there right now watching this from goodness knows where, thinking, gosh, you know what? I’d really love to have Somebody come to my wedding and play a piano, but we live in the outer Hebrides, but we’re going to find somebody. And it so transpires that you’re not available, what would you recommend people find out and look for and understand and know in order to make sure they’re getting the right person for the right day?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 38:37
I think that on a wedding day there are certain non-negotiables for any couple. And if the music that they want is in that top five, then they have to understand who they people have got to be honest about who they are. And I don’t mean just who they are, who their family are. Who are more? What is their identity? Who are their friends? What sort of people are they? Because you don’t get married in isolation. You get you get you get I mean, some people, you know, like my my cousin has just flown to Barbados over Christmas and got married in Sandy Lane, and it’s just her and Phil. That’s fine. But for most of us, it’s a shared experience. So the shared you know, what who are you and what do you really, really want? And if that’s because we can’t have everything. Have Prioritize the things that are most important. And if fooding’s not important, you can have the standard buffet. And if the d if the if the the if you you know, you if you don’t want to have my friend Mr Jam, then it’s fine. Have the standard DJ. Because there are lots of suppliers in place who can do an excellent job. They would not be on that list If they weren’t trusted, and they have got a body of experience to bring to the table. So, the specifics that you want Go for the specifics because this is your one-time you know, I’m working on the basis that every person I play for is going to stay married forever. I’m not I’m not entertaining the, well, you know, they’re going to call me three years because, you know, I’m not interested in that. I’m buying into the fact that these two have decided to make that commitment, and that’s what it is. So. I say to people, prioritize the most important things. And if wanting a peer is an important thing, then give me a call.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:42
Fabulous. So how would people contact you then, Lincoln, if they want to get in touch?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 40:47
They can Google me. I’m on YouTube. My uh my website is Lincoln Noel Pianomusic. co dot uk. But um there are not many Lincoln Noels in the world. There are six other Lincoln Noels and I can guarantee that they’re not particularly good looking chaps. So it won’t be hard to follow the meeting.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 41:07
Great stuff. Okay. Now, a couple of more light-hearted questions. Go. What’s your routine for getting ready on the day of a gig?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 41:18
Oh, fantastic question. Number one is I always travel alone because I want to be in I want to be in my It’s the same for all performances. Whether I’m playing my jazz trio quartet, I’m accompanying singers, instrumentalists. I like to travel alone. I like to be in my space. I will always, in some cases, carry two of everything. So tuxedos, two pairs of evening shoes, three or four ties, two shirts. Because I just want to be absolutely sure. And I like to have I like to have calmness around me before I set off on my journey. So I like a moment of calmness so that I can be ready to be that person because there’s a lot at stake.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:16
Yeah. Awesome. Any memorable moments from weddings where things didn’t go to plan and turned out better as a result?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 42:25
There’s a very famous footballer that’s ma uh related to another famous footballer. Um so if I say that the footballer that he’s related to is Rio Ferdinand, you’ll work out that it’s a a Newcastle centre forward that played for Spurs in England. He was attending a wedding and everything was going wrong principally because the bride’s father, who had produced her at the age of 16 and wasn’t with the mother. had promised her that he would walk her down the aisle, and he decided when the time came that he couldn’t and wouldn’t do that, and we were sort of hanging on And of course, the stepfather’s telling me that when he gets down here, he’s going to turn him into sand. And I’m saying, please don’t do anything of the sort. You have nothing to prove. Said footballer met me several weeks later with several other celebrities and said, This is the guy I was telling you about. Vinnie Jones, Nigel Benn, Kerry Katona. Uh and they were filming here at uh North Ants uh Silverston Race Track uh for for um top gear. That that, of course, is something that you will always remember because he told me that he was dreading coming to the wedding. I don’t want to really want to talk about bad experiences because I always see I don’t have bad experiences at weddings. If I think I’m going to have a bad experience, my experience will tell me This one is a poison chalice. Let somebody else take the money on this one. It’s just the things that happen. Weddings, the people that I play for become people who are connected, are part of my world forever. So I take a great interest in their children. I have met some wonderful people. The thing that I’ll say about weddings is that as a man of color that lives and operates in Middle England, although of course I work in the metropolis. I’m amazed at how so many different types of people have allowed me to enter their very intimate worlds and given me the trust. permission and the authority to take charge of one of the most special events In their whole life, that is the greatest privilege about being a wedding pianist. Is that I’ve had the opportunity to play for every level of society. And I just don’t see famous people. I don’t see wealthy people. I just see people. And, you know. And it’s a human experience. And I want to give them that great human experience. And at the end of the day, people come up to me, not just the bride and groom, not just the parents, not just the uncles or the grandparents. Rank and file guests will come up and say, Lincoln, thank you so much for making this day amazing, special and memorable. I really enjoyed myself. I knew I’d enjoy myself, but I’ve really enjoyed myself. Or I was dreading coming because I don’t like weddings, but I enjoyed this one. You know, that’s the buzz that I get every look, there are people who are determined not to get the best out of life. who will just turn up and do the process. I can’t save the world. If people choose to do that, then that’s up to them. But for everybody else I want to get in the car and drive home knowing that whatever time I leave and I’ve embraced everybody, that it was a wonderful experience. And I’ve You know, my heart sings. My birthday’s Christmas Eve. And as I sit down and I pop my feet up and go, there’s another year over. Oh, you know, into Wedcom, we’ve got Christmas coming soon. I’ve met Liam again and Katie and Roxy, the girls, and all my old mates there in the North or the South or wherever we are. You know, I think, yeah. You know, we I it’s always a long journey to WEDCON and I see you and I go back and I think, yep, listen to all these fantastic speakers. Is it worth it? Yes, it is. Why is it worth it? Because of that, because of that, that feeling, that feeling of one of the things my wife told me before she passed away is that People give you gratification, and it’s a wonderful thing to watch other people give it to you and say, we appreciate we appreciate what you’ve done. So I’m pleased for that opportunity. It really is wonderful to do that.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 47:09
And one last question. If you knowing everything that you know now, if you could wind the clock back and go right back to your wedding day, what would you want want to walk down the aisle to?
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 47:23
I’d still have what we had because we had two trumpeters and we had here comes the bride. And I smiled I s I smiled and I beamed and I watched Anne Marie come down with her mum. We both lost our dads. in 1992. So her mum gave her away and I was waiting with uh my minister, my best friend at the time, Tony Avery. Uh I wouldn’t change a thing. The only What I would change if I got married again is I wouldn’t get married on a Sunday, I’d get married on a Saturday.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 47:54
Okay, fair enough. That’s probably a good bit of advice. Listen, Lincoln, it’s been an absolute joy catching up with you, and we must do this again more often. But in the meantime, I’m going to say thanks ever so much, and I’ll see you next time at Weccomp. Take care.
Lincoln Noel Piano Music – Tinklin Lincoln – The Maestro! • 48:09
Brilliant. Thank you.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 48:13
And there you go, folks. What an absolute joy this conversation has been. If you’re planning on getting married and you want music. that is live, that feels effortless, it’s elegant, and it’s genuinely human, I can wholeheartedly recommend Tinklin’ Lincoln. And his details will be below, but as he said, you can head over to his website, LincolnKnoll Piano Music, or one word. dot co dot uk. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be back, folks. My name is Liam Ball. I’m the gentleman magician and your magical wedding host. We’ll see you next time for another supplier Spotlight where we’ve got plenty more brilliant coming your way. Take care folks, bye bye.