MONDAY Q&A 3/23/20
MONDAY MC Q&A
(NOTE: I am going to sort of combine my answer to these two questions)
Q:
What does the coronavirus mean for you and your family personally? Has it changed your outlook on life? Also, what do you think it will do for the music industry as a whole?
When life changes, when you have an experience like this, though obviously we have never seen anything like this, does it effect the song writing process? Does it effect your mood and how you play? Does the music become darker? More angry? Sad?
A: Well this is certainly something unprecedented in our lifetime that we, as a planet, are facing. Personally, Tish and I are blessed that both of our daughters are here with us … as both of their colleges on the east coast closed last week. I can’t imagine going thru this worrying about them being on the other side of the country. As their Dad... I worry enough without this virus! For us, we have a ‘small but mighty’ family unit. This certainly makes you stop and appreciate the ‘little’ things in life that are often taken for granted. As for the music industry, I think the fallout from this is going to be massive and take a long time to recover from. As President of Schecter Guitars, I have 48 employees (and their families) that I feel responsible for. We are trying everything possible to navigate this safely and keeping everyone employed. No way am I going to let me crew go without income.
Looking at this as an Independent artist… BIC not being a touring band is certainly less disrupted by this than bands that depend on touring. So many friends tours have been cancelled .. putting them in extreme financial hardship. Many are sitting on boxes of t-shirts, CDs, etc... that are usually sold at their shows. I urge anyone that can, to please purchase something from your favorite Indie bands. Buy their music from the band … forget Spotify and streaming, at least for now. Major bands have the financial means to weather this … but most Indie bands sadly do not. It is certainly refreshing to see the sense of community that is surfacing around the globe. It is a two-way street, as I see many artists also trying to do their part to raise the spirits of their fans, many in quarantine or lockdown by doing on-line shows and other ways to brighten their day. That does restore some faith I had lost in humanity from watching people scorch-earth the supermarkets. Who takes everything and with no regard for their neighbor? Hell, this Covid-19 thing shall too, pass, and we will get thru it. I think the silver lining to it will eventually be an avalanche of new music. I am thinking about even possibly doing some Facebook live things to connect more with our BIC Family and we are working hard to finish the final mixes of our new album ‘the storm before the calm’. The ‘unknown’ is still the IF the pressing plant and the printer that are needed for our physical VINYL and CDs will be affected. It concerns me, but as of Friday I was told this would not be an issue. We know this is a fluid situation and is changing daily, but we can only control what we can control. Our record, even if initially it is only in a digital format will be released on 5/22/20! Certainly not our ideal release, but we aren’t going to let Covid-19 beat BIC! As for how this entire experience is going to effect our songwriting … that is still to be seen. As soon as our current mixes are sent off to mastering this week, I plan to use my unplanned free time to dive into writing some new music. I have already sort of laid out our plans for the rest of the year and into 2021 … so it still has to be seen how this all comes out in the lyrics with the amazing female artists that are set to be part of the next BIC evolution. As for the musical soundscapes I will be sending them …I certainly don’t think any of this will send me down a ‘happy pop path’ by any means, but I’m sure there will still be some beauty in the chaos!
Stay Safe, Sane, Quarantined and Kind!
MC X
BEAUTY IN CHAOS continues to try to do our part by offering FREE downloads of BOTH of out albums. Click on these links to get yours and please pass on to a friend!
MC sporting new 33.3 MUSIC COLLECTIVE Tee! (mask and gloves not included!)