Virtual rescue: How online music festivals are helping musicians during lockdown
Here’s how a virtual music festival is helping artistes reach out to their fans during the times of coronavirus lockdown.
Just like any other artist, Aishwarya Pagare, a Madolin player, says this lockdown has affected her in myriad ways. “The uncertainty of the situation, the irreparable economic losses, dearth in the number of gigs, exhausting saved funds, leaves a very gloomy picture of the future. While facing such a vulnerable situation, the only thing that keeps me going is the possibility of diving deep into the musical world,” she says.
To give artists such as Aishwarya some hope, a virtual music festival titled Distrancing is being organised by Dashtag Artketing to support independent artists during these tough times. “I am very excited about this. Performing live virtually and at the same time getting paid for the act is quite interesting. Especially during this lockdown where musicians like me are already missing our stage and gig life,” says Sanish Nair, vocalist of Band Euphony, who will be performing a half and hour set during the concert. “They are my originals from the album that was supposed to be out this year but unfortunately the situation is now out of hand,” Nair adds.
The concert will have around 18 performers, who will be performing from April 24 to 26, by going live on social media. Joel Fernando, a Mumbai-based flautist, who too will be performing, says: “I intend to begin the first half of the session with some familiar ‘hope giving’ peppy tunes on the flute. Later, I will move on to tunes based on the audience’s request, after all it’s meant for them. I’ve got a day job and work as a HR professional. Financial stability during this pandemic wasn’t a concern for me but my heart really goes out to full time artists, who make their living out of art. A concert like this is a great initiative to get all artists on one platform and create hope.”
The importance of a virtual concert like Distrancing, Neeraj Arya of Neeraj Arya , says, is that it will be easier for independent artists to reach out to their audience. “We are eagerly waiting to get back on stage but we don’t know when that will happen. This seems like a good opportunity in the meanwhile.”
