Charlie Siem

The only downside to playing the violin is that you never know when you're going to be asked to play. I could be out to dinner or having a drink at a bar, and someone could just give me a violin, and I've got to be ready to play.

I'm always on duty, so I tend to wear suits. I've got double-breasted and single-breasted, mostly dark blues and grays. I'm obsessed with them, and I always have been.

Where I went to school, Eton College, we had to wear dark trousers, a tailcoat, and a stiff, starched collar every day, and that was fine with me: Part of the reason I wanted to go there was because I've always loved dressing up.

I wear white or pale-blue shirts and black knit ties: They don't draw attention to me in any kind of peacockish way.

That's what makes me keep playing every day is the fact that I'm not quite there, you know. There's always more for me to be able to do.