Days of Rona: Reece Tee of Steak & Desertfest London
The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.
Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Reece Tee of Steak & Desertfest London (London, England)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?
Desertfest: We had been watching this Covid cloud looming for several weeks and fearing the worst. To make life more difficult for us, the UK government wouldn’t put a ban on mass gatherings but just advised people not to go to any! It was very difficult for us to make a decision straight away as we had a lot of financial issues to resolve. What to do regarding deposits for bands and venues and what we could do for people that had purchased a ticket, should we try and do something later 2019? Although there was some pressure on us to announce earlier, we wanted to get everything sorted so we could announce a clear plan for Desertfest 2021 and allow people to roll their ticket over and offer donation packages so people could show their support. I have to say we were blown away by the reaction from everyone and it has helped us so much in planning for our 10 year anniversary edition in 2021. The Desertefst team are fighting fit and we are working hard to make 2021 our best yet.
Steak: Before Covid kicked off we were working hard on the next album, we had a large portion of it recorded already but we decided to go back to the drawing board, we could do better, we could push ourselves as musicians, it was too comfortable so we took the best of it and reworked some stuff. Since covid we have had to retreat to our homes so other than passing ideas around digitally we haven’t managed to get together, it’s been frustrating to say the least although it’s given us plenty of time to play around with ideas. We are all healthy and focused on releasing a great album and we can’t wait to get back to it.
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
We are on lockdown and not really allowed out other than some exercise and getting food, it’s such a strange world right now, people are all dealing with it in different extremes and judging how to interact with other people becomes tricky. Things change weekly though and people are out and about more as the weeks go on — cabin fever is setting in! In the UK we have been told that we will lock down for another 3 weeks but then hopefully we can gradually get our normal lives back.
How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?
It has totally stopped live music on the UK, all events and gigs have been cancelled or postponed until later in the year or to 2021, it’s such a surreal situation and difficult for musicians and promoters alike. I do believe there are positives though. Life is so fast paced, especially in London, so to be able to lock yourself away and focus on music is great and something I haven’t managed in quite some time. I’m playing so much more guitar, and listening to more music, there are so many bands that I haven’t spent enough time on which I can now. I’m finishing other musical side-projects and it’s allowing me to focus on what I love. It’s a really important time and never again will get this opportunity to step away from the world for a while.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
Desertfest: Desertfest will come out of this crisis stronger than ever and what has been the most beautiful thing for us is the support from the fans. Sometimes it feels that people may be getting tired of the festival and should we change it to keep it fresh, but this situation has really strengthened the community and I think people realise what a cool thing we have all created. Only when you lose something do you really appreciate it so I believe the hunger for Desertfest is stronger than ever and can only be a good thing for the future. Thanks’ you lot!
Steak: A lot of people have been asking when the new album is out. It was going to be the end of 2019 but as mentioned before we scrapped the first recording of it. Not because it was bad — in fact I listened to it again last week and it’s really good and the best stuff we have done by far — but we believe we can take the songs to the next level. We questioned rushing it. We want to jam with these songs some more. Let’s see where it takes us, and pre-Covid it was proving to be the right decision. This album will surprise some people, it’s had time to evolve without trying too hard and it’s becoming a beast in its own time.
https://www.facebook.com/steakuk/
https://steakmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/464163361105416/
http://www.desertfest.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
