Included below are the full interviews that were conducted for my “Covid-19 vs The Local Scene” infographic that was posted earlier this month. I asked each individual how lockdown has affected their work, their sales and how they promote. Most importantly included is an interview from Keiran Johnson, who’s interview unfortunately didn’t make the infographic due to time restrictions, but still gave some insightful thoughts on the matter.
I also want to thank everyone who has supported this blog over the past couple of months. I really thought my aspirations for journalism would go straight out the window in lockdown but your support has helped me to make something good out of this.
Please for the love of god, check out everyone who has an interview listed below. They’re all incredibly talented people who deserve your attention and support.
Stay safe my goons x
Keiran Johnson
Keiran is frontman for heavy rock throwback 4-piece Circa ‘69. Give their vintage sound a listen through their Youtube channel below.
“We don't operate as regularly as we usually would when I'm at York so it's all a bit different but obviously music now is super stagnant and we cant even practice with me locked down half way down the country. Our spotify/music service stuff is all on a steady incline and has only increased a little bit might be a long time in the future given the way the lockdown is being handled by the idiots in the government.”
“But overall the lockdown is a massive rub of salt in the fatal wound that is the NE music scene (pubs and clubs anyway, which I'd say is probably the most prominent scene as there's a higher level of activity).”
“As for advertising, most of it was done online but for the gigs and as there's no opportunity to rehearse and play music as a band on a scene there's no advertising.”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmcUIJJSx6vrE5nmuWH3mg?fbclid=IwAR3MtspPVImvzYSqKPU_QYJ7p7I1tmFiijMN1x_DZd3BELxdBrb1J6ODFxk
Charlie Sanders
Charlie is an immensely talented graphic design artist with a unique portfolio of work. He is currently available for commission work for album covers and other graphic design material. Check out his art through https://www.instagram.com/aviaryart.ncl/ or support his Patreon through the link below.
https://www.patreon.com/AviaryArt
“Honestly it’s actually been good for business as bad as that sounds, like people are tidying up like personal projects they haven’t had time to do in the past, and bands getting round to sorting a cover and finishing off the mixing etc. I’ve actually had about 5-7 music producers be in touch in the last 4 days asking to buy work or asking for me to make stuff for them for a cover, as well as requests for animated music videos and lyric videos.”
“People being inside literally all over the world has meant that I’ve actually been around to chat to people in the states and in east Asia when usually the time zones just wouldn’t fit together for decent communication. It’s been an interesting time, I’ve seen a distinct and pretty drastic rise in my followers and engagement on all platforms over the last 2 weeks.”
“For me personally it’s taken a while to adapt to being able to work from home decently since I usually go out to coffee shops and that to work but it’s made me go looking for other inspiration online and finding new artists, both visual and musical, to ‘stoke the creative fires’. But now I’m all settled in. I'm probably working better and more than I have before.”
Image courtesy of Charlie Sanders
Luke Stevens
Luke is the immensely energetic drummer for post-punk four piece Fowl. His talents are displayed perfectly through their most recent ‘Kool Aid EP’ release which is available to stream on Spotify. You can also support Fowl by purchasing their music digitally through the link below.
https://wearefowl.bandcamp.com/music
“I've been affected quite heavily by lockdown. Being a drummer it's always difficult to properly get practise in especially when I'm stuck in the house and all the rehearsal rooms are closed. I have an acoustic drum kit that's currently sat packed away in the corner of my room, which I can’t use due to the noise, so next month I'm buying myself an electric kit so I can start practising properly at home. I haven't touched a drum kit in 2 months now so I'm feeling very out of practise.”
“In terms of writing new material, me and Evan have both sat down individually and tried to write new riffs and lyrics that we could develop into songs, and we just send stuff back and forward to each other over email. I think writing new songs would be a great way to use our time but we already have a full album worth of new songs waiting to be recorded that we wrote in between November and March, so we aren't too concerned about getting new material written as such, but more keeping what we already have fresh in our minds so we can come to record it in a couple months time.
“We released our single Kool Aid in April which was a nice way to tell our following that we're still here and we're still trying to engage and be productive during this time. We also did a limited run of shirts which we made a small profit from which was helpful. As of right now we have 1 upcoming release which might be happening somewhere around June or July, it's a song called Sweatbox that I'm sure people will like and find pretty funny."
"Before this whole lockdown thing happened we were hoping to have a full 9-10 song album recorded professionally and released around October but it’s really set us back for time, so we're hoping for maybe a December or early 2021 release but who knows at this point. I would say this lockdown has definitely stopped us in our tracks, as we've had to reschedule some pretty important gigs and recording sessions, but we're trying to use the time productively, as we're all looking at upgrading our gear and getting a better sound. It's a tough time for local bands and I think everyone needs to help each other out as much as possible.”
Image courtesy of Erin Earle
Neil Partington
Neil is a well known and respected DJ for venues such as the Dog and Parrot. Though he keeps his DJ work as more of a hobby, he’s still an insightful lover of music. Check out his Instagram through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/neiljpartington/
“The lockdown has directly affected my DJ work by bringing it to a complete halt. My regular place of work has closed indefinitely and I'm out of work until further notice. Fortunately I have a 'real' job during the day so I'm okay financially.”
“As for my career as a DJ, who knows? I can't see how I'll be able to play again this year with the restrictions that will likely be in place when bars reopen.”
“I'm pretty fortunate that DJ'ing isn't my main income anymore. It's more a hobby for me nowadays. Pretty terrifying times for those whose only income is DJ work etc.”
Image courtesy of Chloe McAllister https://www.instagram.com/chloexlm_/
Finlay Ireland
Finlay plays bass and takes up lead vocal duties for the indie pop band Primary Colours. Though the band has been active for four years, their pre-lockdown gigs proved to be some of the most raucous in Newcastle. Listen to their music on Spotify or support them by following their Instagram page through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/primarycoloursband/
“The main thing lockdown has done has stopped us from being able to practice/perform. Which means we aren't writing as a band, that doesn't mean we aren't individually writing but it only really comes together when you're all together as a band. The main promotion we do is for gigs or releases, with lockdown, it kills gigs and releases only happen with what we already have recorded.”
“Merch and gig money is what we rely on. Most of our merch is bought at gigs, without that, we basically haven't been making money.”
“I will say that when all this blows over, I hope people realize how vital music is. And support the artists they love, by whatever means.”
Image courtesy of Ben Payne https://www.instagram.com/_ben.payne_/
Harry Dargavel
Harry is an accomplished gigs and events photographer who honed his craft through capturing the intensity of the first Tits Upon Tyne event in November of last year. Follow his photography work through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/harrydargavel/
“Lockdowns obviously stopped us all going to gigs which is hard for the fans like me and even more difficult for the bands, as a photographer/designer interested in the local scene it’s definitely put somewhat of a halt on my creative outlet, I can’t get out and shoot any bands which I’d just gotten back into doing so I’m pretty gutted.”
“Long term for myself it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, I can still get on with the design side of my hopeful career at the minute and I’m sure when we can all get back out there so many bands are gonna be jumping on any stage they can. There’ll be plenty opportunity to get shooting again and possibly even more of a buzz about the scene than there has been in a while.”
Image courtesy of Harry Dargavel
Ellis Paul
Ellis plays guitar and takes up lead vocal duties for Holding Out. The band has become Newcastle’s nastiest punk outfit over the course of the 4 years they have spent performing live. Their new single ‘Gutter’ is available to stream on Spotify. You can also support Holding Out through purchasing their merchandise through the link below.
https://holdingoutband.bigcartel.com/
“We've managed to sell a couple of T-shirts, which has really helped us out, especially since we had to cancel some shows. We've just released a new single which hit 1000 streams in the first two days of release. Whether this was a result of lockdown or not is up for debate, but people do tend to have more free time on their hands at the moment.”
“Our main source of income pre-lockdown was playing shows, so we're really suffering in that regard. Thankfully, we can release music pretty much for free given that it's all recorded and mixed by us.”
“It hasn't affected the type of music or lyrical content we write as that's all generally stayed the same. There's been some hurdles to overcome for recording and writing since none of us can get together and write. Myself and Tomm both have recording equipment so we've been recording separate stuff at home and piecing it together remotely.”
Image courtesy of Ellis Paul
Image courtesy of Erin Earle
Neil Partington
Neil is a well known and respected DJ for venues such as the Dog and Parrot. Though he keeps his DJ work as more of a hobby, he’s still an insightful lover of music. Check out his Instagram through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/neiljpartington/
“The lockdown has directly affected my DJ work by bringing it to a complete halt. My regular place of work has closed indefinitely and I'm out of work until further notice. Fortunately I have a 'real' job during the day so I'm okay financially.”
“As for my career as a DJ, who knows? I can't see how I'll be able to play again this year with the restrictions that will likely be in place when bars reopen.”
“I'm pretty fortunate that DJ'ing isn't my main income anymore. It's more a hobby for me nowadays. Pretty terrifying times for those whose only income is DJ work etc.”
Image courtesy of Chloe McAllister https://www.instagram.com/chloexlm_/
Finlay Ireland
Finlay plays bass and takes up lead vocal duties for the indie pop band Primary Colours. Though the band has been active for four years, their pre-lockdown gigs proved to be some of the most raucous in Newcastle. Listen to their music on Spotify or support them by following their Instagram page through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/primarycoloursband/
“The main thing lockdown has done has stopped us from being able to practice/perform. Which means we aren't writing as a band, that doesn't mean we aren't individually writing but it only really comes together when you're all together as a band. The main promotion we do is for gigs or releases, with lockdown, it kills gigs and releases only happen with what we already have recorded.”
“Merch and gig money is what we rely on. Most of our merch is bought at gigs, without that, we basically haven't been making money.”
“I will say that when all this blows over, I hope people realize how vital music is. And support the artists they love, by whatever means.”
Image courtesy of Ben Payne https://www.instagram.com/_ben.payne_/
Harry Dargavel
Harry is an accomplished gigs and events photographer who honed his craft through capturing the intensity of the first Tits Upon Tyne event in November of last year. Follow his photography work through the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/harrydargavel/
“Lockdowns obviously stopped us all going to gigs which is hard for the fans like me and even more difficult for the bands, as a photographer/designer interested in the local scene it’s definitely put somewhat of a halt on my creative outlet, I can’t get out and shoot any bands which I’d just gotten back into doing so I’m pretty gutted.”
“Long term for myself it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, I can still get on with the design side of my hopeful career at the minute and I’m sure when we can all get back out there so many bands are gonna be jumping on any stage they can. There’ll be plenty opportunity to get shooting again and possibly even more of a buzz about the scene than there has been in a while.”
Image courtesy of Harry Dargavel
Ellis Paul
Ellis plays guitar and takes up lead vocal duties for Holding Out. The band has become Newcastle’s nastiest punk outfit over the course of the 4 years they have spent performing live. Their new single ‘Gutter’ is available to stream on Spotify. You can also support Holding Out through purchasing their merchandise through the link below.
https://holdingoutband.bigcartel.com/
“We've managed to sell a couple of T-shirts, which has really helped us out, especially since we had to cancel some shows. We've just released a new single which hit 1000 streams in the first two days of release. Whether this was a result of lockdown or not is up for debate, but people do tend to have more free time on their hands at the moment.”
“Our main source of income pre-lockdown was playing shows, so we're really suffering in that regard. Thankfully, we can release music pretty much for free given that it's all recorded and mixed by us.”
“It hasn't affected the type of music or lyrical content we write as that's all generally stayed the same. There's been some hurdles to overcome for recording and writing since none of us can get together and write. Myself and Tomm both have recording equipment so we've been recording separate stuff at home and piecing it together remotely.”
Image courtesy of Ellis Paul
