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It’s become a pretty common place over the past week to presume that every gathering, gig and festival that’s planned for summer 2020 is indefinitely on hold. Ultimately the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still developing with there being no real end in sight, continuing to put the music industry in a case of concern and anxiety over what will be a challenging few months for independents. We asked five of our favourite bands their thoughts, speaking over FaceTime from each corner of the globe on how they’ve been impacted, their thoughts on staying positive & advice for others locked away in self-isolation. 

Viagra Boys - Stockholm, Sweden

Launching a campaign off the back of their recent Common Sense EP, Viagra Boys were set on a huge summer, we spoke to V Boys drummer, Tor, about the impacts of the virus. 

“We were supposed to leave this Wednesday to do a 10 gig tour, so far everything is cancelled, we’ve cancelled about 25 shows.”

On finding out about the impacts of the outbreak, Tor said:  “Everything happened so fast, we were supposed to play Greece on 15 March. Two days before that, we were like ‘ok we’re going to go’ one day before we were told that we shouldn’t go - everything happened so fast. It was like we’re going, then the next hour we’re not going, it's been a crazy time.” 

Worldwide many countries have adopted different policies for containing the virus, with Sweden taking a more relaxed approach compared to the rest of Europe. “They haven’t shut everything down here... but a lot of people are reacting to it.” Tor adds, “So far the situation here looks pretty good, but Sweden has been criticised for not being too radical. They’ve banned gatherings of around 50 people, the situation as it seems is not that dramatic than other parts of the world.” 

The extra time has allowed artists to reflect and use the time to their advantage. On writing, he says: “We thought fuck it, let's write new music, the coronavirus is making the next album come out quicker, which is a good thing.” Speaking about advice for other artists stuck in a similar position, Tor recommends: “Use this time to listen to as much music as you can and practise your own instrument, try to be as open and curious as you can and don’t corner yourself into genres because you’re afraid.”

Blanketman - Manchester, England

After releasing their debut single ‘Taking You With Me’ one week into quarantine, Adam Hopper talks us through how the pandemic has had significant impacts on his personal life and Blanketman’s momentum.

“It’s quite strange because I do like my own company and my own time. I feel like one thing that everyone, myself included, is feeling a lot of anxiety about the coronavirus and what will happen going forward. Obviously not going out to see my friends impacts negatively - there is definitely a hint of stress anxiety.”

Instagram has constantly been pushing notifications our way to check out new streams, and some are not to be skipped. We asked Adam who he recommends tuning into. “I’ve been keeping track of the live streams, I actually saw Pregoblin and Lias from the Fat White Family were taking it in turns reading the script of the Shawshank Redemption - it was brilliant and they were semi-dressed up, it really made me laugh. Those sort of moments of respite where they are genuinely funny can brighten your day.” 

The pandemic also delayed Blanketman’s latest release, moving the date from 25 March to the 31. Adam explains:  “We decided to delay because of the uncertainty; we were asking, ‘what are the radio people going to be doing, what bloggers will be working, how are we going to change the way that we’re working?’ Pushing it back a week gave us a chance to see how it would work. We’re more fortunate than others as we’re only releasing digitally - for bands where physical releases are a large part - I know that’s caused lots of delays and cancellations.’ You’ve also got to think about the other side of it - I saw an article which says that radio has been up more than ever.”

Diet Cig - Richmond, Virginia, USA

Diet Cig have been laying the foundations for their second album Do You Wonder About Me? due for release on 1 May via Frenchkiss Records. 

Lead singer of the pop-duo, Alex says: “This whole thing is an emotional rollercoaster - I think not being able to tour is really disappointing because we’ve been working on it for so long. One day I feel really optimistic and hopeful, then the next day it feels so heavy - it’s definitely been challenging.” 

Their have been a few positives to the pandemic, which has allowed Diet Cig to be actively involved with their fan base, Noah says: “It’s introduced different ways to share with our fans, the live streams and stuff like that and viewing content -  it’s a radical acceptance of the reality that’s going on. We just have to take what's happening and try and adjust, move forward and take the opportunities we have.” He follows: “It’s been fun playing Animal Crossing and trying to do live streams, interacting with our fans has made us feel good and having that connection makes it so much better and makes us feel less alone.”

“We’re also realising how special live music is - it’s brought for us a real appreciation of how special it is when we don’t have it any more, it’s allowed a real appreciation of being part of a community like this.” 

The pandemic has also allowed Diet Cig to re-explore their passions for art, which has inspired their widely anticipated debut, Alex explains: “In the first half of 2019 we were mostly making visual art and creating art - that was at the forefront whilst we were still writing our album - I learned how to screenprint and I got an internship in Richmond teaching art and workshops. Being home right now it might be fun to jump back into this again.”

On the growing trend of live streams popping up all over socials, we asked Diet Cig on their favourites so far. “I haven’t seen many strange ones, but I saw Mannequin Pussy do a song playthrough that I thought was really cool. I thought it was really dope to give them something to occupy their time with.” Alex also adds, “There have also been lots of weird celebrity ones where I’m like - what are you doing?! There has definitely been a trend of cringing at celebrities.”

PVA - London, England

PVA were set on a huge summer having been tipped to play SXSW after releasing their blasting single ‘Divine Intervention’ on Speedy Wunderground. We spoke to Ella about the challenges faced and asked for her tips on positivity. 

Ella says: “We’ve had all of our upcoming shows cancelled, and at the moment, that’s really the only income we have so it’s been tough financially. It’s also meant we haven’t really been able to practice, write or play together for a while now as we’re all scattered across different parts of London, which has been something that has been hard to adjust to, personally. When something's so ingrained in your routine for it to suddenly just be off the cards is quite strange. Our manager Maddy also works for a promoter and so we're seeing first hand how stressful this time is for all those involved in the music industry.”

On a lighter note, Ella adds about her experience watching her favourite live streams. “There’s been some great live streams, Ollie from Squid live streamed himself eating a spicy onion (I think it was a spicy onion) when I was on a zoom call with about ten friends, we all got quite manic in the comments section. Katy J Pearson did a great live set on Quarantunes the other day, it was a really nice way to start week two of lockdown. Lynks Afrikka’s pandemic tapes / DJ / live show was incredible! So was Glows DJ set. Also Scott from Happyness’ and Social Contract’s cover of ‘…Baby One More Time’ - truly magical.”

On keeping busy, Ella mentions how she has been occupying her time away from PVA: “I set myself a personal project recently to write and produce a song every day for my solo project Lime Soda. It’s been really fun waking up every morning and starting with that for the first few hours - it switches my brain on for the rest of the day. I've been helping homeschool my siblings, so that's given me a reason to get up early, I guess just keeping somewhat of a routine has been keeping me happy. Have also been doing lots of group calls with friends and lots of zoom quizzes.I was very proud of my round ‘who said it: Lazarus Kane or Tiger King."

Pabst - Berlin, Germany

Our final interviewee come in the form of Berlin-based trio Pabst, who were set on several European dates before the release of their debut album Deuce Ex Machina on 19 June.

Erik leads the conversation with: “My lifestyle change hasn't really changed - I’m a graphic designer so I sit at home all day. I stress myself out about the work to do and it feels more exhausting to do on my own terms, people will say, ‘Can you do this real quick - you can’t possibly have anything else to do?’ For many people who work from home, it’s still a job, my job as a musician is maybe the leisure part where you can go out.”

Erik adds: “Germany feels very peaceful, the government have started funding freelancers, applying for the money has been super easy so far. I'm interested in how this will change once all this finishes.”

“We had a listening session of our album with our label and executives - schools were closed but you could still meet people. We couldn’t even shake hands - it was a weird atmosphere. Everyone had heard of the virus and how you should act in the best way - it was already at the time when you shouldn’t go outside when you don’t have to. Afterwards we had a little talk about what’s going to happen now, for example we weren't sure if our support tour was going to happen - it was on the fringe as it was starting to happen already, we spoke a lot about that and we were expecting the worst. Everything until summer is cancelled and we questioned if we were going to follow the release plan for late June.”

It’s obvious that so many artists have been feeling a range of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, but what is clearer in our minds is that once this all blows over, there will be one hell of a party with these bands all bringing their A-game.

More about: Viagra BoysPVABlanketmanPabstDiet Cig