Paul Simon opens up to 774 ABC Melbourne’s Rafael Epstein.

A candid interview with 12-time Grammy Award winner Paul Simon is now available online from 774 ABC Melbourne for his fans to enjoy.

In the interview, which was scheduled  for just 10 minutes in duration and ended up going for an hour, Paul Simon reflects on his illustrious career with 774’s Drive presenter Rafael Epstein in an exclusive and in-depth conversation.

The intimate interview provides rare insights into Simon’s career and can be heard online now, and will be aired in full for the first time this Friday 12 Aprilat 11amon 774 ABC Melbourne’s Conversation Hour.

The feature length interview hears Simon openly discussing his distinguished musical career, starting out as part of the seminal musical duo Simon & Garfunkel before gaining acclaim as an influential solo performer. Simon recollects finding his feet as a musician & songwriter and the political perils he faced recording his most celebrated album ‘Graceland’ in South Africa in 1986.

Of his experience interviewing the musical legend, Epstein has told radioinfo:

“I’ve been lucky enough in my job that I have met many famous people. But Paul Simon was a little different. In some ways I forgot he was famous, but a few things kept hitting home to me that I was in the presence of someone who had a significant impact on people.”

“As I was walking away [from the interview] through the city, I saw Paul Simon heading down the street with his dinner companions. Very few people on that warm evening seemed to realise they were walking past one of the true cultural icons of pop music in the twentieth century.”

The intimate interview is part of the Melbourne Writers Festival‘ Songwriters Speaks’ series, a salute to the craft of song writing, offering a greater connection between the audience, the artists and their work.