This week, we kick off the first edition of our interview series ‘Performing in a Pandemic’ with DJ and Music Producer Brandon Reeve. Be sure to check him out on Soundcloud!
Have you played virtual gigs during the pandemic, if so how did you find them?
Yeah, I ended up doing two for Lisa (Lashes). She did a live stream. It was interesting. You had to do the set up yourself. Setting it all up took a while. I feel the response was really good.
Why did you choose to play them?
I wanted to set myself a challenge, I hadn’t done anything like that before. Also, it was at a time I was missing djing so it was a good way to DJ to some form of audience. It was a good case to play in front of a crowd. The last time I performed was in October, so it was interesting and fun.
What were their biggest challenges/complications when live streaming virtual gigs?
Yeah there was. Mine weren’t live, it was a pre-recorded set and Lisa (Lashes) streamed. There were challenges ranging from getting people to join on time to technology going wrong. During one of my sets Lisa (Lashes) accidentality started practicing on her decks over my mix, there were people in comments going “he can’t mix custard”,it wasn’t good. Yeah so there were complications in technology and making sure everything was correct. Once you start doing it you get the hang of it, but because it was so new to everyone there were probably more challenges than you would think.
Do you think that lockdown, isolation and virtual performances have impacted your mental health?
I don’t really think of my mental as much as I should, but it has put a damper on things. It did make me think “god, how long is this going to last?”, especially being confined to a room all day, it does tire you out, you don’t actually think about it. It’s also had a positive effect in a way- it means that I’m here, I’m doing music and I’m doing what I love. However, for a lot of people not being able to produce dj, and meet people it will have affected their social life.
Do you think virtual gigs are the future of music shows? What do you think is the next step up?
There’s definitely a future for it, but I feel over time it will die out. As long as there are no more lockdowns and restrictions, but now we know that this is an alternative we know that this is possible and people will join. I think it will go back to big events in person, because it can’t be like this forever. But again I could be proved wrong, it all depends.
What do you think are the long-term consequences of the pandemic in the nighttime industry?
Lots. I mean a lot of places we know are probably closing down or on the verge of closing down. And some of them haven’t been able to build themselves back up financially. I think a lot of loved places are not going to be seen again for some time, and also the fact that people who are scared still go outside and amongst people who haven’t been vaccinated who could potentially be a risk to their health. So people will still worry and I think that would affect the amount of people who go to festivals. Particularly for the first year, it could improve but for the short term there’s not going to be as many people, but I could be surprised. For example, places like Ibiza will need to build themselves back up again.
