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 this period, DJ Times will continue presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our latest entry, this time from Great Britain, the Scotland-based, electronic talent Gerry Read.
What’s it like where you’re living? I’m currently in the Scottish village Killin with my girlfriend and cat, Larry. We spend most of our time walking ’round, looking for badgers and eagles. Larry can sniff badgers out from 4 kilometers away. He wears a GPS tracker, so we watch him on our app like a cat version of Uber. It has a high-pitched beep you can trigger on the app, so you can hear where they are. I plan on circuit-bending this into an oscillator-type wobble sound at some point.
Have you lost important gigs, or income-producing work? Anything on tap? I had a wicked local tour lined up playing in local pubs. They’ve been cancelled, though. I’m planning a live-stream on Loch Tay on this giant inflatable Loch Ness monster, which I had commissioned by a Lebanese balloon artist. We’re just waiting for the council to give written permission.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? If the circuit-bent collar goes well I plan on pitching it to Tractive. DJs could use it in their sets to make shit sound dope and people could wear them out or put them on their partners. Working title: The Rave Kitten Collar.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? Any new music from you? I usually let Larry sit and watch music on Spotify stream and, in another tab, let him watch cats in labor on live stream. Oh, my latest release is “Sunshine Kissing,” which came out very recently.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? I’ve realized I miss people accidentally bumping into me all the time and vice versa. I unashamedly get a rush waiting for their apology.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? The Gentle People’s Soundtracks for Living from 1997.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? My only advice would be to stay insane, but I’ll leave you with a quote from my grandad over lockdown: “Usher seems to pull a lot of weight in the music business.”
To check out more Life in Lockdown interviews, click here.
