7 ways to occupy yourself and help musicians while self-isolating

Live-stream everything

So, Glastonbury has been cancelled and nearly all clubs have shut. But that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to enjoy ‘live’ music and club culture – we just have to shift musical experiences into the digital realm instead. No more trekking to the club, no more queueing and certainly no more of those cold, concrete walls. Say hello to live-streams from the comfort of your couch.

Several clubs and festivals have mobilised to host digital versions of their programmes. Discwoman posted their own stream, and clubs like Nowadays are making their line-ups accessible for all on the internet. No, it won’t quite be the same as the IRL experience but it’s certainly more interesting than staring out of your window for the 100th time today.

Host your own live-stream

If you’re a musician or promoter yourself and want to host a live-stream but don’t know where to start, then look no further than Cherie Hu’s guide. As well as offering vital tips for first-timers, the guide includes a list of upcoming virtual events and information on emergency resources for musicians. This has proved to be a brilliant resource for many in and around the music industry. Give it a read and donate if you can.

Read about club culture

New York zine Love Injection has been chronicling the city’s historic nightlife for years. The team who run it recently made their entire archive available online, so if you can’t go clubbing you can at least read about it. The archive is free but their zines are still available to purchase. If you read something you like don’t forget to grab yourself a physical copy, which will help them continue to document NYC nightlife once it starts up again.

Learn the recipes from Yu Su’s cookbook (once it’s been released)

OK, this one hasn’t been released or created yet. But over the next few months, Yu Su will be working on a cookbook and during the wait, she’ll be dropping some recipes online. The first – a Sichuan/Taiwananese beef shank noodle recipe – has already been shared, and it includes instructions on how to make hand-pulled noodles too. Isolation doesn’t have to taste so bad; brush up on your culinary chops and learn some new skills from your own kitchen.

One-on-one Ableton lessons from Nightwave

DJs, producers and musicians are coming up with novel ways to keep themselves in work and share their talents with the world. Alongside daily lectures from music scholars and live-streams from some of your favourite clubs (more on those later), artists like Nightwave are offering one-on-one lessons for aspiring DJs. Support independent talent and learn your way around a DAW – win-win!

Learn an instrument

Got a guitar lying around that your flatmate never plays? Decided to use your self-isolation to learn how to sing? Cafe Oto’s Fielding Hope has compiled a list of experimental musicians who are currently available to teach lessons – online, of course. Your new calling as a soundscape artist may just be a Skype call away.

Buy music!

We’re stating the obvious here, but nonetheless it bears repeating: buy music. If you’ve got the funds to do so, consider supporting artists who’re losing out on their main streams of revenue. What’s more, you can simultaneously support independent record shops too by buying from spaces such as Bristol’s Idle Hands. Perhaps use this time to broaden your scope too and dig deeper. Support up-and-coming artists with new releases on Bandcamp – a platform that waived its fees last week – buy music for your plants whilst you have the time to nurture them, or cash in on some tunes for your indoor yoga session.