Days of Rona: Johannes from Mindcrawler
The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.
In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Johannes from Mindcrawler (Munich, Germany)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band?
On a personal level, none of us has been hit particularly hard by the crisis, aside from having to stay at home for several weeks now. We are fortunate enough that all of us have jobs or studies that can be done from home. So in all, and aside from growing boredom and cabin fever, the impact has been pretty mild on that front.
However, as a band, we weren’t able to get together and play for weeks either, which is a huge bummer. Mainly because we have a ton of new material we were planning to turn into songs, in preparation of future releases and gigs. So this came to a screeching halt for now. On the flipside though, each of us has been creative from home. Writing more material, playing around with new stuff, e.g. synthie sounds and some visual shenanigans. So I guess, in the long run, we are all set.
At the moment, we are hoping that the crisis will fade away quickly. We have some significant gigs lined up for the fall and it would be a shame if those would fall through.
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
Corona restrictions in Munich (as in the whole of Bavaria) have been pretty harsh in the beginning. Practically nobody was allowed to even leave the house aside from some reduced sporting activities and the like. These have been enforced pretty consistently, too. So there has been a good month or so of strictly having to stay at home. However, this has been relaxed to some extent by now. For instance, we are now allowed to meet with “one person from another household”, which is nice (but does not help much in terms of playing together as a band).
What do you think of how the music community specifically has responded? How do you feel during this time? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Bored? Any and all of it?
I think the music community has responded in a good way, at least in Munich. There has been plans to stream concerts without audiences, and there is some solidarity stuff going on. We feel sorry for all the hardworking, beautiful people who, in normal times, organize all the concerts and other creative offerings. They are really hit hard by this crisis, and I feel that, on top of that, they are largely left alone by the government. Honestly, I’m not sure I would be able to handle the uncertainty they are facing right now. In addition, we are not sure how the ripple effects of that will affect smaller or “semi-professional” musicians and their ability to play in the long run.
As mentioned before, for Mindcrawler, our creative process moved from a collective effort as a band to more individual efforts at home. Still, I would say we are rather inspired as a whole. I guess the good side of being stuck at home is that you pick up the guitar more often, or engage in stuff you were kinda putting off for some time (like synthies or visuals).
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
First and foremost: Stay safe, practice social distancing, wear your face masks! The more responsibly we as a community act now, the faster this shitty situation will be over.
Aside from this, we miss being on stage, and engaging with all those wonderful people in the stoner/doom scene in general. We are lucky enough that the reactions to our first release Lost Orbiter have been very kind, so we are eager to give some of the kindness back to all of you. In a first step, we are very happy that we signed a record deal with Sound Effect Records, so people will see the album released on vinyl fairly soon.
In addition, we are very eager to get back together as band and write new songs, and more importantly, to go out and play them!
http://www.facebook.com/Mindcrawler/
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https://mindcrawler.bandcamp.com/
http://www.motljud.com/
https://www.soundeffect-records.gr/
