26 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COMi INDUSTRY ISSUES
Jon Burton: “I’m lucky as I am PAYE and so have
just enough money coming in to keep my head
above water. However, my freelance work has
obviously taken a nosedive, all my gigs cancelled,
starting with BBC Radio One’s One Big Weekend,
one of the first to go! University work has now all
gone to online teaching which has been hard, as
this half of the semester I’m doing 90% practical
work. I would like to give a big shout out Soundgym.
co who have let me run free classes for a month
with them. This is a great website and everyone
I have put on to it seems to be engaging really well.
Get working on those critical listening skills.. .”Steve Pattison: “I was in the middle of a tour
with The Script. Luckily, we were in the UK at
the time, so getting home was easy. I know
a few crew people, who had just flown to
Australia only to be there one day, then get
quarantined and then try to get back to be
quarantined. Some people are still stuck abroad.
So far, my tour is indefinitely postponed with
some other dates still listed - but I can’t see
them happening unless large gatherings are
allowed by June.”Have you found any useful resources that might
help readers?
Gareth Owen: “Unsurprisingly, Facebook has
proven to be a pretty good resource with lots of
people sharing their experiences and findings.
While this can be quite scary, it has also helped
avoid the feeling of being quite so alone.”Steve Pattison: “I’m sure most people are sick
of DIY at home by now, so it’s a chance to do
any online training you can. There’s loads of
online tutorials: just Google the equipment
you’re interested in and you’ll find webinars and
tutorials on YouTube and company websites.
Audinate (Dante), Yamaha, Allen & Heath,
Shure, Waves, iZotope and many others have
some fantastic tutorials and certifications
available online.”Bobby Aitken: “The Association of Sound
Designers (ASD) has, as always, been on the ball
with online information. A big thanks to them.”Sebastian Frost: “The ASD’s full list of
resources is a crowd-compiled feast: http://www.
associationofsounddesigners.com/COVID-19-
Links. There are several bits of sound software that
I’ve been learning - not least Sound Particles.
I bought that nearly a year ago, but now’s the first
time I’ve had to sit down and learn how to use it.”Justin Grealy: “I’m looking forward to a summer
fruit-picking in Kent. Now that all the migrant
labour has gone, work will be easy to find.
A healthy outdoor job for a change.. .”What are your main concerns about the future?
Gareth Fry: “It’s going to be interesting to see
how the theatre and events industries recover
from this. Once we’re past the need to socially
distance, I think our audiences may hesitate
about attending mass gatherings. Many won’t -
perhaps after a few weeks of self-isolation
people will be clamouring to go out and be with
other people. But others will avoid large groups,
and that’s bound to affect our industry. For anycompanies that were in a precarious situation
before COVID-19 came along, they’re likely to be
pushed over the edge by the impact of it.”Steve Pattison: “Hopefully, people and
government will remember the sacrifice made by
health workers, emergency services, delivery
drivers, shop workers and many others, all of
whom are putting themselves at risk to help keep
every household in every country going through
this global nightmare. It always comes down to
the hardest working, lowest paid to bail everyone
out and save the day. Maybe for once we can all
get behind them and stop being selfish assholes.
For most of us, it’s only money. It’ll make things
a bit trickier, but trickier is better than dead.
Health and wellbeing is the most important thing
we have. When we get this sorted, live music will
once again contribute to people’s happiness and
wellbeing, including our own.”Justin Grealy: “Even if we recover from this,
there is Brexit putting an effective end to
small- and mid-level touring in this country and
making it unfeasible to take kit to Europe.. .”Sebastian Frost: “I obviously share the same
concerns of many of my colleagues, and that is
mainly to do with the medium- and long-term
health of the industry, and whether things will be
fundamentally different when we come out the
other side: not least, the veiled threats the
chancellor has made with regard to freelancers
and taxation. However, the greatest concern is for
the financial wellbeing of the other members of
the sound industry - many of whom I employ for
my projects - and how some of them can cope
with a prolonged period of no income.”Roger Lindsay: “Now would be the ideal
opportunity to reach out to others in the industry,
to ask the questions you always wanted to but
were either too shy or embarrassed to ask
face-to-face. Most of the talented people I’ve been
fortunate enough to work with would be only too
happy to respond via email etc as a productive way
of filling the mutual void created by the
coronavirus. If we can stay safe and ride out this
current crisis, we may all be able to return to the
work we love with greater social awareness and
appreciation of the industry we share. Let’s hope it
happens as soon as possible.” IAN OPEN LETTER TO
THE INDUSTRY...LSi journalist and industry veteran Steve
Moles has penned an insightful and
emotional open letter to anyone in the
industry having diffi culty adjusting to loss
of income caused by the coronavirus. In the
letter, Steve offers tips on cutting back and
surviving, drawing on personal experience of
a dramatic loss of income in the past.Read the letter online:
P http://www.lsionline.com/open-letterB From top:
Bobby Aitken
Roger Lindsay
Jon Burton
Steve Pattison
Sebastian Frost