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 London: the hitmaking, house-music duo Gorgon City (aka Kye Gibbon and Matt Robson-Scott).
What’s it like where you are? We’re locked down – I am in London. It’s not too bad where I am in Tottenham, as it’s pretty quiet and people have a good sense of community here. Kye is in Chicago, and it’s lockdown there, too. We can still go for exercise and shopping, so it’s not a complete police state yet.
How are you spending most of your time? We’re mainly finishing off tracks that we started over the last few months and starting new ideas at our home studios separately. I’ve also been reading quite a lot, running and doing a bit of yoga with Adrienne – like everyone else [laughs]. The Nintendo Switch has been getting a hammering, too.
Have you lost income-producing work? Yes, drastically. Our main income comes from touring and we can’t see that going back to normal anytime soon. We still are making and releasing music, which does generate income in the long-term, though.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? Yes, all our music generates income via publishing, streaming and sales. Our record label Realm also can produce income, too. We are signing lots of new music at the moment and not slowing down with these sides of our business.
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? The main thing we are doing is finishing as much music as possible. It is very rare that we spend this much time in one place, so we are trying to make the most of it. The only problem is that Kye is in Chicago and I’m in London, so we’re working remotely, which is cool, but does have its limitations, obviously.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? I’ve realized how much our society relies of human interaction. The whole music world is revolved around collaboration, crowds and travelling. Without these things, it’s obviously not the same. It’s a strange time for all of us, but I hope things will get back to normal one day. I do think clubbing and festivals will change forever in some ways after this, though.
What have you done online so far? We’ve done three live-streams already. The lockdown coincided with Miami Music Week, which would’ve been a big deal for us. So, we wanted to showcase some of our new music online instead. What Defected and Beatport have done already is very impressive, and I’m sure more amazing online events will happen in this period. It’s been a great way to fund-raise as well. I think this period in time will increase the attention on live-streaming in general and certain platforms will become more influential in the music world.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? We’ve made a song with a U.S. act, which is very of-the-moment that will be coming out next month. Hopefully, it will be an anthem for the times we’re in.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? Try not to pay too much attention to the news all the time. I’ve been doing “one day on” and “one day off” from seeing any news. Things are bad right now, but the best thing you can do is be responsible yourself and not worry too much about what everyone else is doing. Being creative is the best way to spend your time, if you can. If not, keep active and interested in new things. There’s a lot out there, and there’s something for everyone.
To check out more Life in Lockdown features, click here.
DJ Times Magazine is copyright © 2020 by DJ Publishing, Inc. www.djtimes.com
