Why musician Nile Rodgers likes to stroll in all places

What was your childhood in New York City like?

I’m a Lower East Side child, and my reminiscences really feel very cinematic due to all of the completely different cultures: there was Chinatown, there have been Eastern European residents, Jewish residents ­— all of them had their very own factor occurring. My dad and mom had been beatniks and my childhood was loaded with tradition: films, theatre, concert events.

Where have you ever been lately that shocked you?

I went to Kazakhstan to carry out at a marriage — the one factor I knew about it was the Borat film. But it was so numerous, like a soup of various cultures. Everyone was so cool, and I used to be shocked by how many individuals spoke English. It’s custom to provide guests a gown and these furry hats [malahai, traditionally worn in winter], so there I used to be in my hat doing Jungle Love by Prince, and folks began singing alongside. I additionally lately visited Scotland. I stayed and carried out at Skibo Castle [in the Highlands], which was based a whole lot and a whole lot of years in the past. We skilled all seasons in in the future: sleet, snow, rain and exquisite sunshine, all inside a few hours.

Has a vacation spot ever impressed one among your songs?

São Paulo, which gave its identify to the B facet of Chic’s first single 40-something years in the past. I’d by no means truly been once I wrote it, however I imagined it because the New York of South America. I’ve now visited many occasions and it’s truly like New York, however subtropical and extra romantic. New York could be very ‘we’re right here to do enterprise’, whereas São Paulo is ‘we’re right here to have enjoyable, reside and chill’. Brazil is all the things: you may have the rainforest, the exceptional meals, the native inhabitants, the Europeans. It’s so multicultural, and that’s fantastic.

You lately determined to stroll daily for three hundred and sixty five days straight. Why is that?

I’m 73 and I needed to see whether or not, once I’m 74, am I going to be higher, the identical or worse? I like strolling for miles wherever I’m, irrespective of the temperature or terrain ­— by blizzards in Connecticut or warmth waves in Miami. It clears out your mind and makes you’re feeling stronger. I by no means know the place I’ll find yourself; I simply take a look at the horizon and suppose ‘that looks cool, I’ll head that method’.

Where do you go to unwind?

My studio in Westport, Connecticut. It’s the place I benefit from the outdoor. Connecticut’s a really attention-grabbing place: it was one of many first states of the US and it feels such as you’re within the nation with out being within the nation.

Of all of the artists you’ve labored with, who would make the very best journey companion?

That’s difficult. Almost everybody I’ve labored with is enjoyable, mental and has one thing to carry to the celebration. But Grace Jones would maintain you entertained greater than anybody on Earth. She’s a celebration woman; she’d inform you to exit and have enjoyable each single second of the journey.