You recently destroyed your 300-year-old Stradivarius. That must have been heartbreaking.

I was very upset. It is being restored, but it may never sound the same again. It was a terrible accident.

You didn’t smash it up on stage, Pete Townsend-style then?

Nothing like that. I was walking down some slippery steps in my concert shoes, and I fell and landed on the case.

Does being a classical violinist preclude a rock’n’roll lifestyle?

I don’t have time for it at the moment. I am rehearsing four to five hours minimum a day. Though I did go to a London Fashion Week after-show party recently, and I have had my wild times. I still do.

Suffer the next day after a night out?

I’m pretty good when it comes to alcohol. I go out with my friends and they get wasted, but I can get up at 8am or 9am to practise. Actually, it was the first time I’ve been out in a few weeks and I was home at 2am, so it wasn’t really a night-out out.

What constitutes “out, out”?

Five, six, maybe sevenish.

Do you party hard?

Not in the sense that I use drugs or anything like that. It is such a busy period as I’m on tour.

Girl in every port?

I certainly have a girlfriend from every city I visit.

And they don’t mind this “arrangement”?

No, we’re friends. If I’m there, I call them up. It’s just company for me.

Is it the Kurt Cobain look that the ladies go for?

People often say there is a resemblance. It goes down well with the girls, yes.

When did you start dyeing your hair?

I used to be a model. On one job they dyed my hair and I thought, “That’s not so bad; I might keep it”.

Bit of a mirror-gazer?

I’m just very conscious of to keeping in shape.

So you’re a gym bunny?

I hit the gym three times a week. I do cardio, mostly jogging, then weights. It helps with my frustration and anger.

Anger?

It’s frustration really. It comes from being by yourself, not having friends around. Every day is a different city for a performer. Every day you rehearse, you go to the gym, you go to your hotel room, yet there’s no regularity. I can’t help but feel frustrated that all the people around me go home to their girlfriends or wives each night while I get on a plane to another city.

You’re German-born and live in New York. How much time do you spend on the road?

For 320 days a year I’m alone in a hotel room. The rest of the time I’m in New York.

No holidays?

No holidays, no weekends, no nothing. It’s pretty sad.

Why do you do it?

It’s how it is to tour. I knew what I was in for when I started playing professionally and it’s just how my life is.

When did you start playing?

When I was 4.

Pushy parents?

No, it all started because I had to have whatever my brother had. He’s two years older and when he got his first bike, I cried because I wanted one. It was the same with the violin. I just wanted one like he had.

So your parents caved in and a star was born?

I listened to my brother and, although I couldn’t read music, after four months I could play every piece that my brother could, just from listening to it. His teacher was amazed and suggested that I have lessons.

And by 8 you’d turned pro?

I played with the London Philharmonic at 8 and when I was 13 or 14 I got a deal with Deutsche Gramophone to make a CD. It’s funny. I watch old videos of me and I’m like: “Wow. It seemed so easy then, why is it so hard now?”

Any ideas?

In the beginning you’re a kid; you play for fun. There’s no pressure. Then, suddenly, you have a deal for a CD, there are ten agents, a CD label wanting you to record. You walk on stage and you feel that people expect you to play fantastically. At that moment you stop doing it for you and do it to please everyone else.

Ever thought of seeing a shrink?

I spoke to a psychoanalyst when I was studying at the Juilliard School in New York. It’s a normal thing there; everyone has one.

And your feeling about carrying on as a violinist?

I decided I wanted to be a violinist not just because I was good at it, but because it was what I had a passion for. That is an important lesson for anyone; to do what you love, not what other people love you to do.

David Garrett’s new album, Virtuoso, is released on March 24. For tour dates visit www.david-garrett.com

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