The coronavirus pandemic and UK lockdown has been, and continues to be, a challenging and uncertain time for us all. It has reconfigured our homes from places of rest and recuperation to also being the office, the gym, the yoga studio, the classroom—and, for some, the song-writing and recording studio.
Amidst the inevitable new stresses and pressures placed on our lives, one of the positive effects of the current climate is that people have been using their free time to discover or rediscover artistic pastimes, meaning creativity has been on the up while we’ve all been locked down.
Flexing our creative muscles can work wonders for our mental health and wellbeing, but with the economic climate shifting as a result of the pandemic, we’re now seeing more people looking to not only pursue their passions as hobbies, but as a profession, too.
Whether you’re one of the million people who’ve been made redundant as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, or the shake up to a comfortable and familiar job and routine has given you a glimpse of another way of working and living, you could find yourself now wanting to take your creativity and finally carve out that dream career as a singer, songwriter or musician.
But with big change comes inevitable uncertainty. Especially in these strange and surreal times, when your creative juices are finally flowing, but music venues, arenas, theatres, and even open-mic nights at cool unassuming bars and pubs are either closed or operating strict social distancing rules. So what does this mean for making music?
It means adapting to the shifting landscape and making music in a new way. Because the world needs creativity, expression and escapism now more than ever—and your voice needs to be heard.
And in fact, the limitations on performance might even been balanced out by the freedom of creation, with our new ‘homes’ putting all performers on an even keel of bedroom songwriting and living room performances.
The Guardian recently published a piece on how the UK lockdown has liberated female musicians and how “the domestic space has offered artistic liberation at odds with the home’s reputation as a place of constraint for women.”
Experimental British pop star Charli XCX spoke of how “nobody could turn up unannounced or interfere” when making her album, How I’m Feeling Now, in lockdown—her album was recently nominated for the Mercury prize.
R&B producer KeiyA created the successful Forever, Ya Girl during lockdown, because, for her, collaboration could easily become a “hostile environment”. And Taylor Swift released a surprise lockdown album, Folklore, which her label apparently didn’t even know existed until moments before its announcement.
Whether you’ve been making music throughout lockdown or you’re just beginning to embark on it for the first time, you might need some extra support to reach your full potential and could benefit from practicing some mindfulness and meditation techniques, or some MINIM (Mindfulness in Music) therapy to support you on your journey.
Whether you’re struggling with your self-esteem, have performance anxiety or a creative block, we have the music industry experience behind our therapy services to give you all of the tools and techniques to take your creative dreams to the next level.
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