Well, that’s a bit how 2020 has felt musically. Yes, there’s been a ton of other pressure we’ve been dealing with, but for me in the in the music space….nada! (I am lucky enough not to depend on music income. I know many others have suffered hugely here.)
Usually the biggest pressure driving me is trying to get gigs to play my music out at clubs and festivals – it’s a never-ending mission to have a promoter take a chance on a newcomer, and also one who is a pain in the arse arriving with, instead of a simple USB stick, a shed load of gear to play…LIVE. But, there are no gigs FOR ANYONE! So, that pressure was cancelled for 2020!
Then, like in 2019 when I signed up to take my music to Burning Man, I had the pressure of trying to work out how to not only survive 8 days in the Nevada Desert, but also get enough gear there for my live act and play 4 sets (one of them my first ever 3hr straight live set!). That pressure was also cancelled for 2020!
I also usually spend 2 months of the year in a new country and do “20 Tracks in 20 (days)” – where I produce a new track AND do a live jam stream of the results every day for 2 months. Check out my YouTube Channel for the Series 1 & 2 from Berlin in 2018, and Series 3 & 4 from Sicily in 2019. That pressure was also cancelled from 2020!
Talk about cancel culture!!
So with all that pressure cancelled, it feels like all the diamonds that previously resulted, just haven’t quite been there for 2020.
Still, I’ve had a fairly steady stream of new music I’ve completed, I’ve been honing my live act with plenty of live streams and also had a few releases out – the latest is available now on all the usual digital outlets – Manly Organic:
So, it’s not ALL bad…