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 The City of Brotherly Love – Philly’s guttural bass bomber, Subtronics.
What’s it like where you are? It’s mixed. Pennsylvania is in a not-so-great spot, considering how close we are to New York. But this specific area of Philadelphia hasn’t been too affected yet. However, it’s really frustrating because it seems my neighborhood is super-carefree. The local park down the street is not following social distancing protocols. People really need to take it more seriously. A few times a day I’m tempted to yell out my studio window: Bro! WTF are you doing? Go home, stay inside!”
How are you spending most of your time? Exactly how I normally would [laughs]. I’m such a cave troll that I’ve been largely unaffected lifestyle-wise. When I’m not out playing shows, I wake up at 5 p.m., work on music till 7 a.m., pass out, and do it again. I normally never go outside.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? I’ve been releasing a ton of music, constantly streaming on Twitch, and lining up live-stream festival plays until we can go play shows again. I’m very lucky and finished out a very successful tour right before this started, so I really dodged a bullet in terms of being able to keep a roof over my head. But I’m still working as hard as I can, all day, every day.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? How strange my lifestyle is… Watching everyone slowly lose it being stuck inside all day, complaining about bad sleep schedules and always eating in. I didn’t realize that, like, most people don’t already live this way.
What are you doing online? I’ve been doing three Twitch streams a week with multiple types of content. Tuesdays are live-production learning time. Thursdays are demo listen and feedback/general hangout. And Saturdays are normally for live DJ sets, although I’ve been doing so many of them recently that I’ve decided to draw it back a little bit and spread them out.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” [Laughs]
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? Stay productive, give yourself daily goals and reach them. Now is the best time for personal development.
To check out more Life in Lockdown features, click here.
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