When the Coronavirus shut us down, clubs and festivals ceased, and everyone was essentially forced inside with no definitive end in sight, DJ Times wondered: How is our tribe coping? How are DJs getting by? So, we sent out our “Coronavirus Questionnaire” to DJ/producers from all musical genres to find out.
For the short-term (hopefully), DJ Times will be presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our first installment:
What’s it like where you are? Here in L.A., the city is taking all of the necessary measures to make sure virus isn’t rapidly spreading. It was recommended to stay at home, so that’s what I’m doing. And frankly, this was my lifestyle for the past few years and there is not much that has changed for me apart from the fact that there will be no traveling for the time being. So now I’m in the studio working 24/7 on new music.
Have you lost income-producing work? All of my upcoming shows are cancelled or postponed to later dates this year. It’s very hard to say what has been lost and what can be made up, because nobody can really tell or predict for how long this situation will remain. At this point, the only thing I can do is to follow the given guidelines against the spreading the virus because this should be the main priority for our community.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? Making music itself is always generating a certain amount of income, especially in the long run, so that’s what I’m mostly focused on right now.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? I have pretty good understanding of where I see my career in next few years. I’ve set certain goals and I do everything possible to achieve them – that’s probably why I never leave my studio. I’ve been working on two projects for the past two years – ARTY and ALPHA 9 – and that always requires extra time I need to invest to make sure both projects get to the point where I want to see them.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? I can definitely say what was the least surprising thing for me during this time and it’s actual self-distancing. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m very used to that, because when I travel every single week and I come back home, most of the time I feel exhausted and overwhelmed. So personally for me, the best cure to fight those feelings is to spend good amount of time on your own, having your personal space, getting back to your daily routine.
Have you considered doing anything new online like a live mix? I didn’t really pay attention to latest DJ streams, but I’ll definitely do at least few live mixes on my social medias, so I can stay close to my fans as much as I can during these times.
Any tunes recommended for the moment? Right now, I’m listening to The Weeknd’s new album [After Hours], and it’s simply incredible.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? I do understand how overwhelming these times feel for all of the people. Things are getting worse and there is no clear answer when it will be over. But we are all part of society and we’re in this together, so as long as everybody can do their maximum efforts to contain the situation, these bad times will be over sooner.
To check out more interviews, click here.
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