UK artists have struggled immensely since the beginning of the pandemic last year and the lockdown restrictions caused a severe lack of gigs and concerts, meaning bands and artists have had to act creatively to persevere in the last year.
Charlie Jenkins, singer, and guitarist for Essex based band Sandcastle Jesus, has been running regular Instagram live events to keep their followers engaged.
He said: “It’s been draining trying to do it without performing live because you get so much energy and there’s such a connection between the band and the crowd. We do those livestream gigs – there a bit of fun to have a drink and a good time with your band mates – but trying to put on a show, you can’t do it without that interaction.
"The best thing we can do at the moment is not let it dry out, you’ve got to keep up the momentum that you are trying to create in yourself. If that’s music releases, a presence people are going to be interested in, that’s all you’ve got to keep doing because you never know when it’s going to happen again you never know when gigs are going to come back or when they’re going to stop.”
Sandcastle Jesus were not the only ones impacted this year - as many of 56 per cent of musicians are relying on Universal Credit, as shown in a study conducted by Help Musicians.
Help Musicians, an independent UK charity that provides support to professional musicians, also reported that 87 per cent of musicians said their mental health has deteriorated due to lockdown.
Without the opportunity for regular live performances, music creators have had to work extremely hard to produce content and keep their fanbases engaged.
Sam Webb, drummer of Brighton based band Voodoo and the Crypts said: “In the first lockdown we did our best to keep making the content that we could, we released a single and we’d filmed a video but hadn’t cut it together yet. That was quite lucky that we had some material to put out and keep people interested, but without being able to get together and collaborate on fresh stuff it felt like we were kind of scraping the barrel for things we hadn’t put out yet.”
He added: “That’s why we came to decision to stop trying to put things out for the sake of it. It’s a trap that you can fall into as a young creative that’s taught to put out content all the time – content for contents sake can lead you down the wrong path. You put so much pressure on yourself to produce high quality content all the time that it can be damaging, and you can lose sight of why you’re doing it.”
Musicians were shocked by government’s response to this last October, in which they released a poster ad of a ballet dancer putting on pointe shoes alongside text that reads, ‘Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. (She just doesn’t know it yet) ’ – an act that showed government disregarding any respect for the arts sector.
London based singer-songwriter ZELI said: “Everyone’s stuck at home, no one can do anything – what does everyone turn to? Entertainment. Everyone wants new music; the demand is stronger than ever because no one’s got anything else to but consume. Going to studio’s hasn’t been counted as proper work even though for most musicians it is absolutely essential work to make a living.”
"The creative industry as a whole have been massively taken for granted and patronised and belittled for what they do”
She added: “I think musicians and the creative industry as a whole have been massively taken for granted and patronised and belittled for what they do, especially in a time that we’re realising how important it is to support musicians because of how essential they are to the people.”
After a year of hardship, many of these artists are filled with uncertainty for the future. Whilst the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown is currently promising – nothing is set in stone. The current roadmap indicates that restrictions on social gatherings should cease from June 21, allowing indoor events and large-scale festivals to take place, but the possibility of new variants and another wave of COVID could mean further prolonging of events.
Even if COVID is fully resolved worldwide, UK musicians have the further hurdle to cross involving the fallout of Brexit. It is of concern that the impact of Brexit will make it extremely difficult for UK musicians to tour Europe, and as a result fewer European festivals will be keen to book UK musicians.
Having persevered through a difficult year, ZELI remained optimistic about the future: “I’ve just signed for my next single and I’m releasing again with a few collaborations on the way. The main thing I’m looking forward to when everything opens up is actually travelling abroad to do sessions. I’ve got a lot of people in Sweden that I want to work with which is going to be really fun once it is possible.”
Though the future may look bleak for musicians and artists of all kinds, there is no doubt we need them now more than ever. Art and music are the base of our culture, something we need to embrace and savour at the first chance we get. If things go according to plan – from June 21, lifted social gathering restrictions will allow festivals and live events to flourish again in celebration of enduring the hardships of this previous year. After all, culture is a crown – and live performance is the jewel of that crown.
If you want to support your local musicians, make sure you follow their social accounts, stream or buy their music, look into future live events, or even buy any merchandise they might offer.
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