Guy Aud is a 28 year old 186cm point guard that has the Israeli/German citizenship that began playing basketball in Israel in the late 90´s. He played five years with the  Hapoel Jerusalem youth team and also for teams like Hapoel Hevel Eylot (Israel-Artzit), Maccabi Hod Hasharon (National League), and Hapoel Afula (Israel-National League). He came to Germany in 2011 and played for teams like Lich, Paderborn, Chemnitz, Dresden and last season with the Uni-Riesen Leipzig (ProB) playing 12 games averaging 11.4ppg, 3.0rpg, 5.6apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 34.1%, 3PT: 39.4%, FT: 82.9%. He sat out this season to concentrate on his other love music. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball and music.

Guy thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how is life going for you?

Thank you for having me, I’m doing well and I stayed to live in Leipzig at the moment.

It has been 3 years since our last interview and time really flies. Instead of being on the court, you have taken a break and pursuing music. How did this come about?

Beside the basketball I always used to play instruments, since I was a kid I played the drums, guitar and harmonica as main instruments, in the past few years I started to write more and more songs, and I felt this stronger feeling in me like it was something I got to do, and I decided to quit basketball and concentrate only on music.

 

 

Were you getting sick of basketball and wanted to start something new with music? How much love you still have for basketball?

 

Unfortunately through my 10 years of playing professional I realized that the basketball I grew up on as a kid changed a lot. The ‘soul’ players and the hard workers I used to admire are not existing anymore and it’s not the players to blame. Today’s basketball only care about statistics and results. Every year every team I played for, changes few players and sometime the coaching stuff as well. The business side take always a bigger part and people with money but they have no idea of the game. At the end all this pressure comes down to the players, so you got to play for your own stats, for keeping your job or for the next year job, everybody knows they probably going to play or coach in a different team next season and for all those reasons you don’t often see a real team like it used to be in the past, when people played for the fans and the cities they’re playing for.

 

 

 

Was this a decision that you had been thinking about for a longer time or did it just come about? I know you have a music history, but could this not have waited until your basketball career was over?

 

 

I feel like the music is so strong in me and I got to do it right here and right now. of course the easy thing will be to keep playing for a few more years, but that’s feel I have and it´s the right thing to do.

 

 

You have produced a new album called “Done”. Talk a little about it. What style of music is it and how long did it take to produce it?

 

My new album DONE is now out and can be heard in all music platforms under my stage name DEGUY. It’s kind of hard to describe the music, but I’d say it’s something like Indie rock, a bit of Blues and soft rock. It talks about the daily life in a very honest way with everything that comes with it, struggles, hardships, love and more. It was a very long process that took more than a year, a lot of ours of work and expenses, but I’m so happy with the way we did it.

 

 

 

What do you like most about being a musician and how is it overall different from the day to day grind as a professional basketball player?

 

I love to create a song. It starts with some idea of you sitting somewhere and writing a few lyrics or play a few chords, then you add more and more to it and at the end this small song you wrote at home becomes a creation with many people involved, sounds, a lot of instruments and vocals. This is the best thing for me so far about creating music. The biggest difference from this and being a player is that I have to push myself every day in a different way. There are so many things involved with doing music, for example: Booking shows, practicing, selling the music, writing new songs, a lot of paper works, PR and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you had to name one musician on this planet that has always inspired you in a way who would be? Did that musician or other inspire you to make Done?

 

 

 

It’s hard to pick only one, but if I have to it would be a hard decision between Bob Dylan and Nick Drake

 

 

 

 

 

Talk a little about your musical backround. Did you learn any musical instruments as a child?

 

 

 

 

I started with piano when I was 6. I started drums when I was 9 years old, guitar came later when I was 15-16 years old. I always played some music but didn’t put to much effort in it because I wanted to only practice basketball in any moment I had. My first harmonica I bought in Lidel when I was playing in Paderborn, and the harmonica is the first thing which brought me back to music. The funny thing is I never sang until like 3 years ago when I started to write songs and I had no choice but learn how to sing.

 

 

The album is called “Done”. So I have to ask you are you done as a professional player? Will we see you on the court again sometime soon?

 

 

The album name DONE came from the one song I wrote after I got injured and decided I will not play anymore so I’m DONE.

 

 

 

What have you missed most about the game of basketball in the last months?

 

 

To be honest right now I don’t really miss it too much, although making a game winner or a downtown three is always a sweet feeling.

 

 

 

 

You were injured last season. It gets harder and harder to get back into basketball when you don´t play competitively anymore. Do you keep in shape and get up shots every now and then?

 

 

It’s not so easy to stay in shape especially in cold Germany, But I’m trying to keep my weight and my body in a good form

 

 

 

You played two very solid seasons in the Pro A with Paderborn and Chemnitz. Do you sometimes feel like you didn´t get the respect you should of gotten from Pro A teams?

 

 

I definitely thought I could play at a higher level, I don’t know a lot of German players that really led their teams like I did, and I don’t know a lot of German players that had games with 27p and 12a, or 29p and 9a. So I did want to get a first league chance, when I found myself again in the Pro B, I didn’t really enjoy it anymore.

 

 

 

You played mostly in Germany. What are your fondest memories playing in Germany in places like Lich, Paderborn, Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig?

 

I feel blessed I got the chance to see so many beautiful and different Cities, with different people and cultures. I enjoyed every place I played for in a different way and tried to learn out of every situation.

 

 

 

You have played with many amazing players over the years, but if you had to pick one that you would love to be teammates with again who would you pick?

 

 

 

Robin Christen, if I have to pick only one, but it was really so many good teammates and friends out there!

 

 

 

So what are the next plans for Guy Aud? Will you be touring a little or making some kind of promotion for the album and doing this summer?

 

 

Yes definitely, I’m having some shows and concerts in different Cities and places. you can follow all my shows in my website – www.deguy.org . as well as buying the Album and stay up to date with my FB page/ instagram or any other media, under my stage name DEGUY .

 

 

 

 

What was the last movie that you saw?

 

 

 

IP Man , is a really good Kung Fu movie.

 

 

Thanks Guy for the chat and all the best with music