So Holy Moley… it was approximately a whole year ago that the brakes were pushed down on the whole music industry!
TO A STANDSTILL!
What has happened and what have we learnt?
What happened?
Venues shut down. People lost their jobs. Artists lost their sole income. Some musos adapted and found ways to diversify (insert John Veloso Media), but most rode the storm by channeling their creativity. Podcasts were made in lockdown, musicians streamed their art across a multitude of platforms, and we found art and music in places we didn’t before. With all the loss we experienced, some (not all) were able to rise out of the ashes with new collaborations, new bands, new recordings and more.
Learnings: Venues look after number one. Themselves… with a minority of local music based venues (namely places like Solbar, Foxy on Coolum, and a few small music orientated cafes dotted around the coast) it made it damn tough! Across multiple forums as a collective, musicians have banded together to fight the good fight and stand up against under paying (or non-paying!!) venues. Exposing the businesses that refused to pay for services rendered.
Where to now?
In the last 12 months, we have seen the Sunshine Coast gain one massive venue! Nightquarter. Lots of little boutique events like Troubador Wagons, and new venues ready to roll out… Exciting times are-a-comin! It shows the human nature and the Queenslander attitude, when you see a new dive bar around the corner, local artists expanding to lessons and opening up studios, and these underground venues anticipated openings. Is this our centuries “roaring twenties” about to come to fruition?
Let’s wait and see….
Cheers… JB
In the meantime, check out the links below to who or what I’ve been helping, working on, and some offers to get your band, brand, or music out there for the new age of live music!
Oh, and Rhys from the Point filmed me talking shit at the beginning of all this….