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.
During the crisis, DJ Times will be presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our latest installment, this time from northern Italy, the Milan-based, prog-house duo of Marnik (aka Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo).
What’s it like where you are? Lombardy is the most affected region in Italy. Our government decided for a total lockdown. It’s unreal. You can leave your home just to buy groceries at the supermarket. All other activities, which are not connected with the emergency, are bound to stay closed. Lele is lucky because our studio is in the same building as its home, so at least we can keep making a lot of music.
What income-producing work have you lost? A lot. It’s been a big loss, considering we had a pretty full calendar over the spring season. But eventually, health comes first – we can work and travel later. Also, as said before, our production routine didn’t change and we are gonna prepare new stuff, which hopefully will be listened to during the next tours.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? Of course, yes, as usual. Fortunately, nothing’s changed on that side and labels are still working as well. People keep listening to music, even if they are quarantined – probably, they need it even more than before.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? We are mostly focusing on our sound development. We feel that the dance market is losing some kind of “aggregation” and party mood nowadays, which should always be intrinsic in the genre. That’s why we are trying to bring the “Eurodance” vibe back to the dancefloors.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? It sounds weird, but we both realized that easy and simple things can be even more surprising and satisfying than before. We all are always on rush, following our job routines and targets. This quarantine time is helping us to find out some precious matters that we were probably keeping hidden somewhere. Also, we have more time to grow some personal hobbies that we left behind us.
Are you doing anything online? Have you seen anything you liked? Honestly, no. We saw some DJ video streams, but nothing that impressive – and it’s fine. These days, people just need some easy and nice ways to spend their time and to feel a bit more connected. So yeah, we are planning a DJ live stream – check our social platforms.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? Well, we think that our recent release [with KSHMR], “Alone,” fits perfectly this particular period of our lives. We all feel alone more than ever before, spending hours and hours on our phones and locked in our “social” lives, waiting for some good news to come from nowhere.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? We think it’s important to find the bright side of every situation – carpe diem. Sometimes our mental balance is determined by the attitude with which we face the events around us.
To check out more Life in Lockdown features, click here.
