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 the South of France, the Montpellier-based techno duo Cosmic Boys (aka Sebastien Bevil and Gaby Meynadier).
What’s it like where you’re living? We live in the south of France, in Montpellier. We have a lot of sun all year ’round and the sea is only a few minutes from home. When we can, we cycle to the coast in the mornings. It feels good to be outdoors and the landscapes are super-inspiring.
Were you locked down? We were each in our own house, but we live in the same building with two apartments, one below the other. So when the rules allowed it, we saw each other every day. In that sense, we have been quite lucky!
How have you spent most of your pandemic time? We took time for ourselves to get some much-needed rest, and watched a lot of movies, plus TV series… often things from Marvel or DC Comics. We also took the opportunity to move forward on projects that we didn’t necessarily have the time to do before, which included producing a load of new music.
Did you lose important gigs, or income-producing work? If so, very briefly, what kind? The summer touring season was shaping up to be great with a lot of dates in Europe, and tours of both Australia and Russia. But like many other artists, it could not be done once the lockdown started. This is only a postponement, though, because soon as possible we still intend to do everything we had planned. We can’t wait to hit the road again, play and inform our fans from all around the world.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? We are working a lot on our label, Legend, and scheduled on the imprint is lot of new releases. Notably, our EP, “Dawn,” just came out with a remix from Tom Pooks. After that, we have some nice surprises including a remixes EP of Dusty Kid’s classic track “Kore,” which includes remixes by Cosmic Boys, Alex Stein, Nure and Franck Deka. Also, on Legend, we will release an EP from the incredible Nure that’s coming out in March with a remix from us also on the release. We had a lot of fun working on these projects and we can’t wait to share it with the public.
Have you learned anything in the downtime? We learned to take time for ourselves and enjoy every moment we spend with our friends and families. It also made us realize how much we love our work, and how much we miss being able to perform in public, as we really miss the experience of connecting with our fans.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? We took the time to discover a lot of new artists with exceptional talent, and are in the process of helping several of them to evolve in their music. For us, it’s a pleasure to be able to help people by sharing the knowledge passed to us by others.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? Well, we already knew the music business was a big community, but all the live-streams by thousands of professional or amateur artists from around the world have definitely confirmed this. It’s been great to see everyone continuing to make electronic music exist, and we are super-proud to be part of it.
Have you done anything online recently? We recently did a live-stream in partnership with the city of Pérols in the South of France. It was filmed at the edge of the water where the setting was magnificent and we got such a great sunset. In terms of music, there were so many great live-streams from the lockdown period, but we truly believe this one has some of the most stunning scenery in its background… the video is available on Facebook and YouTube.
Any themed tunes recommended for the moment? Faouzia & John Legend’s “Minefields” is one that springs to mind, because of its lyrics about not noticing what we missed until it was gone, and also not being able to get close to people. We love this song, and the emotions it has.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? This situation is incredibly difficult for the most of world, but we must manage to take advantage of these moments, and not take things for granted things – like meeting friends or playing sports. This is a good time to call family or friends who you do not always have time to speak with because of being busy with outside activities. Also, learning new skills in the house, such as learning to cook or doing art. It can also be good to read books to further knowledge on something, but most of all remember that we will meet again soon.
To check out more Life in Lockdown interviews, click here.
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