Given that every single music event or film screening I had pencilled in in my diary for the next few months is now officially cancelled or postponed, it’s difficult to imagine that much of the always precarious world of DIY / non-state sponsored culture will even still exist when we emerge from the other end of this damned thing.

Thus – an idea. A very obvious one, admittedly, so apologies if I’m just reiterating something everyone’s already been talking about elsewhere, but I don’t do social media, so I’ll just throw it out there.

1. If you’re lucky enough to be a music-making person whose work at least some other people know about and like, now is very much the time for home recording. Dust off that long-neglected solo project, play gargantuan improv jams with your co-habitants, wood-shed new songs – whatever.

2. When you’ve made something, put it online to download, for some money. This money should then be donated in its entirety to your nearest decent music venue / community space / pub / rehearsal space / etc, because god knows, those guys are going to need it.

And, that’s it. Creative, fun, can stave off cabin fever and could be genuinely helpful re: ensuring a future in which we can still get together to listen to horrible loud music and drink beer, if enough people were to get going on it.

(And needless to say, if you’re in an existing band/music entity that already sells stuff online, please consider donating proceeds from that too, assuming you don’t desperately need it to recover manufacturing costs and/or pay rent.)

I realise that posting stuff on ye olde weblogs isn’t exactly an A+ way of getting an idea out there in 2020, but if yr reading and you like this idea, please do pass it on via less luddite-ish means.

Labels: bad news, disasters & emergencies, ideas