'. . . Neumann is, in fact, a Renaissance Man, the rare artist whose expertise spans a significant number of subjects. He seems to have done a little bit of everything from composing, performing as a singer and guitarist, operating his own recording studio, producing movies, speaking and teaching. Neumann has even penned five books.

        As if being capable of this is the most natural thing in the world, he said, offhandedly, “I might start painting again, as well. I enjoyed it so much when I was younger.”

        Where on earth did this musicologist, bursting with creative ideas, come from?

        . . . The native South African was composing and playing guitar by the time he was 8. Although his earliest influences were classical with religious undertones, he also loved rock and pop.

        By the time he was a teenager there was no doubt music formed the core of his life . . . It was in the mid-eighties and Neumann was gigging around town as a musician when Italian producer Manlio Celotti discovered him. Under Celotti's direction, Neumann became a part of the band, “Reespect,” and signed with Polydor Records [in Hamburg, Germany].

        . . . Neumann [on returning to South Africa] began working in the movie industry as a sound guy . . . despite working his tail off, it took about three years to get up and running in the music world.

        . . . He became fascinated with studying the language of music and eventually added the title of musicologist to his repertoire.

        . . . So what is a musicologist . . . His definition encompasses a totalitarian approach to the study of music: its origins, its history, the science behind it . . . Neumann said . . . “Music speaks the truth of emotion . . . the true emotion of what is intended will bleed through the notes [music].” Neumann smiles again and quotes Paul McCartney, “'the message is not in the lyrics, it is in the music.'”

        So what inspires Neumann? He laughs and shakes his head. “Everything, inspiration is everywhere.”

        First of all, he is influenced by a huge spectrum of styles and genres . . . So regardless of whether he is working as a minister, a blues rock guitarist, or as a musicologist, the creation comes first, then the avenue with which to share it through.

        . . . Brian Neumann ends the interview much the same way he started . . . a grin. “I probably talk too much,” he confided.

        It's really more about being one of those people whose brain runs faster than his mouth can keep up. He has so much experience, so many ideas, so much to share, that at times he can hardly find the words to convey precisely what he wants. That's the way it is with those renaissance types.'