Covid-19 and creativity
For
most of the lifetime of this blog, I've managed to post pretty
regularly. Sometimes weekly, maybe more like a monthly average over
the years. But I've had to be quiet of late. Like the local music
scene, I've been squashed flat. Let me explain... This blog
is, mainly, about local music and musicians, with occasional
diversions into radio. And it's been very difficult to write about
the local music scene when it's been trashed by lockdown. I don't see a
recovery coming our way for at least another six months. But, oh boy,
will it ever be bloody marvellous when it comes back, in all its
glory.
Distractions and dysfunction
There
are personal as well as practical reasons for my inactivity. At the
start of lockdown, I plunged head-first into a massively complex and
demanding database project for the excellent Radio Classic in
Tampere, Finland. Sadly, I didn't go over there – all flights were
cancelled during lockdown. That took me through to mid-summer, as I
watched our local scene suffer. Along the way, I had to scrap three
fine Podcast interviews I had collected with promoters and venue
managers, who suddenly had no venues or gigs to work on.
By
the time I surfaced from the Finland work, you could forget about gigs. Podcast interviews were out, too, especially for me - I'm
one of those rather vulnerable at-risk types. Then, things got scary. I had
some serious health issues - not Covid, by the way - as summer shaded into autumn. Thankfully,
most of them are in hand now, and I'm feeling more like a human being
again.
Mojo
partially back at last, I am tiptoeing back to music. I've followed a
ton of live streams, some of which have been absolutely
inspirational. I've also enjoyed those multi-muso collaborations –
check out the 'Tonight Matthew...' series. Here's one.
Or how about this sensational compilation of former and current
students from the Juilliard School in New York?
Fresh air and a working brain... at last!
But
it's only been very recently that I've felt clear-headed enough to
take some recent albums and work my way through them. One of them
isn't exactly that recent either. I was in Banbury in early March,
just before lockdown, to catch up with Dave Pegg of Fairport
Convention – the podcast is here.
Dave kindly gave me a copy of the band's latest album, Shuffle and Go
– it's their 29th
album. Not bad going for a band that's been going since 1967. I
finally listened this morning. Gloriously, Fairport are still fresh,
experimenting, trying new things, and generally enjoying themselves. They have a loyal fanbase; fans gather each year at Cropredy, the band’s festival
(obviously not this year), where, of course, the band will reprise
old material.
Who are you making music for?
And
that is an interesting conflict. Diehard Fairport fans will clamour
for the old material, songs like 'Meet On The Ledge', and some of the
vintage Jigs and Reels. But I’m not sure how much the current
Fairport still enjoy doing material that their predecessors have been
doing for forty or fifty years, even if some members (Peggy, Simon
Nicol) have been there for pretty much the whole time. It helps to
pay the bills; people love the hits. But do the band still love the
very old material, especially given that along with the regulars,
there's also lots of new blood?
Turning into your own tribute act
Look
at it this way: when do longstanding acts turn into their own tribute
bands? In Fairport's case, probably never on record, but you might
well see them pay tribute to their illustrious past at Cropredy. I
would suggest that The Stones and what's left of Status Quo, Queen and
AC/DC are already there. The example set by Robert Plant over the years, most recently with his admirable Saving Grace project, tells me that Led Zeppelin will never go there,
no matter how much money is waved at them.
Or
consider the brilliant Bruce Hornsby. Does he have to play ‘The Way
It Is’ at each gig? Well, his audience may well want him to, but he’s
going way beyond all that. He's never stopped experimenting, and
gloriously, he is not alone.
Nostalgia pays
Another
side of the coin, however, is the revival of 80s and 90s acts, who
are being rediscovered by their original and newer audiences.
Locally, Pop Will Eat Itself, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Ocean Colour Scene,
and The Wonder Stuff, among others, benefited from this trend before
lockdown, and will surely return when all this is over. I'm willing
to bet that, unlike the Stones and their ilk, none of these bands did
more than make a fair living in their heyday; many of them probably
not even that. And now that Spotify has ripped the possibility of
long-term earnings away, this route is a decent way to go.
I
also think that this issue shows up the brutal contrast between local
scenes, as perky and vibrant as they may be, and the big business end
of music. All Spotify and the other streamers want now is to build
numbers any way they can. That very much favours the long-standing
veterans, as well as the flashiest of newcomers. The long-standing
veterans generate the numbers from their back catalogue; the newbies
from their notoriety. I'm willing to bet that despite her party
people negative publicity, Rita Ora's streaming numbers are up. But
right now, the local scene can, as usual, hardly get a shout out, and
that, too, filters back into streaming figures.
When this is over, I'll find you and hug you
What
a mess. I can't wait for all this to be over. I dream of sitting in a
boozer, pint in front of me, surrounded by friends, taking in
something fine, sparky and inventive. How about you?
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