In my last blog I talked about the trials and tribulations of being a full time musician. Well life got even harder in March when the COVID pandemic hit, and the UK went into a national lockdown. Now as a professional musician, I have some experience with living on the breadline, but this was ridiculous. Overnight I saw all of my confirmed bookings for 2020 and 2021, just disappear. Needless to say this delayed my debut EP significantly. Wowzers, that was definitely a kick in the teeth.
I won’t lie there were some sleepless nights in my household, as we tried to figure out how the hell we were going to bounce back from this one. The only thing I can say is that at least we have our health, and things could always be worse.
Debut EP loading…
With any kind of release you want to do the product justice, and I needed a certain amount of cash to get things over the finish line. I’m not a huge fan of the crowdfunding model, I know it works well for others, but it’s just not my bag. Unfortunately with no cash coming in, this delayed things considerably. However with a bit of rethinking and a can do attitude, I was still going to push ahead. Let’s face it I’ve been talking about this for ages, and there was no way a global pandemic is going to stop this train rolling!
Here we are then, and if you’re reading this the release is imminent. Yes I’ve had to make some compromises and do EVERYTHING in house, but I’m still very happy with the result, and I think you will be too. This is a 100% independent release, I have literally done everything on this record; recording, production, performance, selling my soul to the devil…everything.
This is going to be one hell of a ride…
With this release I’m trying something completely new. I’m giving you the chance to ‘experience’ the debut EP, completely FREE of charge! What I mean when I say ‘experience’, is that I’ve set up a small tour of the debut EP when it launches. If you’ve signed up to my mailing list (you can do that here if you haven’t already!), you will receive a link to listen to each song on the record over a number of days. That’s not all though! There will be videos, stories, behind the scenes features, and much, much more. Pretty cool huh? I wanted to do something different for my fans; most record releases are run-of-the-mill. Hopefully if you like the record as well, you might buy it to show your support.
Learning to be resilient…
If the pandemic has taught me one thing, it would be resilience. I’ve always seen myself as quite a resilient person, but this year has definitely put that theory to the test! Keeping a positive mental attitude has been really important, but also incredibly challenging at times. Being stuck at home with no work can definitely mess with your head, especially when things were moving in the right direction for my business. At the same time it’s given me the opportunity to reset, reflect, and practice!
The key for me is to be kind to myself, mindful, but also set myself goals and a routine helps. Every person is different, and has different ways of coping. For me reducing my time on social media, and cutting back on watching the news has helped. The garden has been a real sanctuary too. I suppose if the music doesn’t work out, horticulture may be my next career path. What coping mechanisms have you found during these challenging times?
How you can help…
It’s been a hell of a year for everyone, I do think the entertainment industry has had it particularly hard though. If you do wish to support me and help to pay my bills, there’s a couple of options:
- The first thing you can do is share, comment and like my stuff. It costs nothing, and let’s those algorithms on social media know you like what I’m doing.
- Subscribe! It’s another thing that’s completely free, and we get to hang out more.
- Pre-order your copy of the debut EP – that way when it’s released you don’t miss out, I’ll personally sign your copy and you get a juicy discount.
- Buy the EP and merchandise on launch – if you enjoy the tour, treat yourself to a copy of the EP and some lovely merchandise. It makes you feel good, and helps me to keep doing what I’m doing.
Well that’s all for now folks. If you’re signed up to the pre-launch, then I will be sending you a sneaky peak of one of the songs on the EP.
Take it easy,
Lawless Luke