TSC Behind The Corona | DJs
With the global coronavirus pandemic, the music industry, as we know it, is being challenged. The life-threatening disease and the enacted social distancing is resulting in the cancellation of live shows, depriving the whole music industry of one of their main sources of income, and music lovers of an escapism ritual that was deeply engraved in their routines.
Amongst others that cannot physically do their job, the Clubs, Promoters, and DJs, are particularly fragile and we hope with these series of interviews and articles, to raise more awareness on why and how you can support your local music community.
To support your favorite djs you can consider:
- Support them on Bandcamp
- Buy their music
- Not asking for refunds on tickets bought
- If you cannot afford to buy their music or not ask for a refund, share their their music with your network
The music industry needs our help! On the other side of this crisis, a lot of great quarantine music awaits us, to be blasted on your local club’s speakers.
In part two of our TSC Behind The Corona interview series, we spoke with:
- Djuma Soundsystem – DJ & Producer
- Christian Nielsen – DJ & Producer
- Kasper Stubb – DJ and partner at Nim Sound
- Only Ollie – DJ and partner at Nim Sound, IZIKI, Peccāvī)
- Skarn – DJ and partner at Peccāvī
read part one 'tsc behind the corona - clubs & promoters'
How has the coronavirus pandemic affected you and your work? Are all of your upcoming gigs cancelled?
Djuma Soundsystem
For now all my events are cancelled for an uncertain time, like with everyone else.
Christian Nielsen
Yeah. All gigs have been cancelled. But the biggest downfall for me is that Sonar is cancelled. I was really looking forward to playing at Maceo Plex’s pool party together with some of my biggest heroes. Still crossing my fingers for ADE in Amsterdam.
Kasper Stub
We are very affected by this outbreak of Coronavirus as it has shut down cultural institutions and society in general. A pillar of the work we do here at Nim Sound is to showcase the cultural scene of electronic music through video content, as we produce live videos of different artists playing at various venues and parties. But due to the shut down of for example Culture Box, we are no longer able to produce this content. Furthermore we are not really able to sit down and have in depth conversations with people of the industry, for our podcast ‘Behind The Beat’. So all in all, this is heavily affecting the output and production of content on our behalf.
Only Ollie
It has affected my work tremendously as I have gigs and several parties cancelled or postponed. Both with Peccāvī, with IZIKI and as myself. We were supposed to have one Peccāvī party in March, but luckily we have found a new date with our artist and Culture Box for September. With Peccāvī and IZIKI we were supposed to have more parties in the coming months, but we are really uncertain of them being held due to the situation our World is in right now, and we can only wait and see. It is also keeping me for seeing many of my friends and buddies in the local scene as we are not allowed to see each other every weekend.
Skarn
Me and the crew I make parties with were supposed to have a party at Culture Box in the middle of March. Furthermore, we were supposed to have our first showcase in Berlin in the first weekend of April. We are very bummed to have had to cancel both.
What measures have you taken in the aftermath of the pandemic? How do you plan for the future?
Djuma Soundsystem
I get some studio time, and a break from touring, which can be good as well.
Christian Nielsen
Well I haven’t really thought of it. Thankfully I have a day job that keeps things rolling, so I guess this gives me time to focus more on my productions.
Kasper Stub
We are very ambitious at Nim Sound, to say the least. So we’ve had plans of expanding our portfolio of concepts on the platform. Now did we plan to launch those initiatives this fast? Absolutely not! But it’s concepts that have been in talking, writing and in the idea phase for a long time. So we are, very soon, launching new concepts to help us keep a consistent output of content for people to enjoy. Which will help keep us sane and hopefully bring some joy to people in these troublesome times.
Only Ollie
As being a DJ and promoter what you can do right now is to wait and to support the venues, and artists you are working with as good you can.
Skarn
I’ve been able to spend more time in the studio, as a lot of artists are doing these days, which is great! Trying to move events that had to be cancelled to this fall, when it will hopefully be possible to hold them.
Most importantly – how can your fans support you and your music in these hard times?
Djuma Soundsystem
There are a lot of people worse off, so I’m not asking anyone for support. We should rather focus on people in real need – like refugees of war.
Christian Nielsen
Buy music! Stream music!
Kasper Stub
The main way for people to support us is definitely through sharing and liking our content online. Now, granted, this doesn’t make us any money but it helps us spread the word about what it is that we do. So if you want to support us share our content with your mom, dad or one of your fellow ravers. This definitely helps us. If you want to further support us we also have a Patreon site for you to donate your hard earned dollars. This helps us pay the bills for the different softwares we use, the insurance and all that boring stuff. But it can also, down the line, help us do cool stuff. Because really, that’s all we want to do; produce cool content. Now, if you are in a bit of a financial pickle yourself, then please DO NOT throw your money at us. Put it on a savings account or spend it on a bottle of red wine or on a bag of chips instead. You are still more than welcome to watch the content we make. You can find us on Patreon.
Only Ollie
Support the scene! Donate to local venues like Culture Box and Ved Siden Af so they have a chance to survive this crisis. Support your favourite artists by buying their music, listen to their online sets or watch their live streams and engage with them in other ways!
Skarn
The best way people can support me is indirectly by supporting fundraisers for Copenhagen clubs, as I (as an artist without many international gigs) would lose my ability to play regularly without them. Especially Culture Box, my club home, is in need of help right now to reach their funding goal in order to continue after the crisis is over!
You can support some of Copenhagen’s local clubs on the following links:
Support Culture Box on GoFundME
Support Ved Siden Af on GoFundME
Anything you’d like to say to the clubbers and the electronic music community?
Djuma Soundsystem
I hope clubs and festivals and artist all over survive this rather big hit! I encourage producers to not just produce a million new tracks, but maybe use this time to do that a bit odd thing they have had dusted in their drawer for years, but now maybe have time to develop.
Christian Nielsen
Hang in there! And stay home and stay safe! <3
Kasper Stub
These are hard times that the cultural community is facing, and society in general. Everyone is struggling, and it can seem rather confusing as to what one person can actually do about it. What you can do is to support your local electronic music community. Support your favorite artist by buying and sharing their music. Support your local clubs and promoter crews by donating money to help them keep a float. In general, now more than ever, the scene needs for people to band around it to show that it means something to them. This will help bring awareness, so that the government and other people can see, that this scene means everything for a great many people.
Only Ollie
Please respect your local government’s guideline and take care of each other. I am sure all venues, clubs and promoters are just eager as you are to start raving again. Support the clubs and go out and have a blast with all of us, when we are allowed to!
Skarn
Keep going strong, supporting the many life streams and crowdfunding campaigns to keep our industry and the artists afloat, and I can’t wait to see you on the other side!
Thank you for the interview Djuma Soundsystem, Christian Nielsen, Kasper Stub, Only Ollie and Skarn!
If you want to make sure you can go clubbing once we are back to our normal lives, you can support some of Copenhagen’s clubs on the following links:
Support Culture Box on GoFundME.
Support Ved Siden Af on GoFundME.
Cover Photo Mantas Hesthaven
