Local musicians are dealing with the struggles of COVID-19 pandemic

Between anxiety, stress, the slowing of business or being laid off completely, people have a lot on their plates right now during this COVID-19 pandemic.

But when your livelihood depends on large groups of people coming together in one confined space, the situation can be even worse.

That’s the case for many local musicians right now.

“I have a lot of friends who are in the music business full-time. And my worry is with them, who rely on having people around together partying and hanging out in order for their paycheque to come,” said Malcolm Whyte, bass player for the band Ritual Rabbits and hired gun for other local bands.

“It’s already a stressful environment to be a musician and it is hard enough to make an income in some cases for musicians. But what doesn’t help it is when everything shuts down.”

Luckily for Whyte, who has a regular day job at the University of Saskatchewan working in health-care simulation, he doesn’t rely on music as his main source of income. But he does admit that not being able to play shows for an undetermined amount of time is still a tough pill to swallow.

He was slated to travel with another local band Gunner and Smith to Austin, Texas, to play in the South by Southwest music festival before it was cancelled.

“It was disappointing but it was for the right reasons. It was something that had to happen. Just to help manage the spread of the virus, any sort of public gathering got cancelled,” he said.

“I was disappointed but I was thankful I had the opportunity to go at least.”

However, while most bands are probably feeling the pinch right now, the pandemic shutdowns came at the perfect time for one Saskatoon band.

The trio of Jordan, Tallus and Myk that make up the band W3APONS just returned from a month-long, 21-show tour across Canada with Theory of a Deadman.

They returned home in early March and had one last gig at Amigos Cantina on March 13 as part of the city’s Juno celebrations before they had planned to take a couple months off to rest, write and release new music.

“I think that was the only show that we could say was really affected by it. As soon as this was all happening, we were all drinking Coronas and having a good time,” drummer Tallus Scott said about their show that received some criticism for even happening at all.

“I could see how some people would think we were being reckless and ridiculous but at that time, it was all acceptable, whether some people looked down on it or not.”

Even though this pandemic hasn’t thrown a wrench into any of their plans, the three musicians recognize how lucky they are and that it isn’t the same story for most local musicians.

“Pretty much as soon as we arrived home there was news on social media of local bands and pretty much every band in the world cancelling or postponing their tours,” said Scott.

“So, yeah, I think we all feel very fortunate and are very lucky to have been able to do that entire tour across Canada with (Theory of a Deadman) and it’s unfortunate that every other band out there had to cut their tours short. But that being said once again we just feel very lucky and very thankful for it.”

While the band was already planning to take a couple months to work on the creative side of things, guitarist Jordan Welbourne admits that the uncertainty about what the future holds is still a little concerning.

“Coming off the tour, that was a really busy period for us and then coming back from that this is kind of like the natural cycle of things but I guess the more daunting part is what the future holds,” he said.

“Any bookings that I may have had in side hustles, there’s nothing coming in. So even though I’m OK right now, looking down the line it’s like, ‘Oh shoot, how long is this going to go on for?’ That uncertainty is kind of the daunting part for me.”

Whether it was planned or just making the best of a bad situation, the silver lining for local artists and music fans alike during the pandemic could end up being all the extra time bands now have to work on new music.

“As a hired musician I don’t have a lot of the flexibility and creativity to do my own thing and I’m happy to support other people’s projects but you know this has really given me time to focus on my own projects and writing more,” said Whyte.

“As a bass player I am far removed from the creative process of writing songs, but I’ve been dabbling with lyrics and being creative with the tools that I have. So I’ve been writing a lot more and my band Ritual Rabbits has been collaborating remotely over some new songs and stuff like that.”

When asked what people can expect from the new songs W3APONS is getting ready to release, Scott summed it up in four words – “get ready to rock!”

In the meantime the band stresses the importance of staying optimistic in these times when it is really easy to get caught up in all the negativity happening around the world.

“I guess just try to stay happy. Take time and do fun things, use it to your advantage. Don’t dwell on the past,” said bassist Myk Ulan-Hohol, before Scott chimed in again.

“To add to what Myk was saying, everything will be all right. Everything will go back to normal and when that time comes, everyone will be so happy it’s going to be party time for a lot of people. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Scott.