“You’ve got to allow music to continue.” Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn expresses his worry for the live music industry in a new interview.
Gorillaz frontman, Damon Albarn, has revealed his concerns about the music industry in a new interview with Sky News, calling for live music to continue during the pandemic.
Amid discussions on Elton John and Donald Trump, Albarn argued that we are in desperate need of a “live music prescription” for the industry to survive.
During the interview, Albarn argued that artists should be allowed perform gigs despite the pandemic. He admitted that while his band were lucky to already have a large online presence before lockdown hit, smaller bands and the live music industry at large haven’t been so lucky. Albarn stated that he sees the pandemic as a “medical emergency but an existential one as well.”
“If people are willing to perform, they should be allowed to,” the artist said to Sky News. “No one should be forced to do anything, but if people are willing then somehow we can make it work so everyone can feel comfortable and participate.”
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Albarn continued to criticise the UK Government’s aid for the arts during the pandemic and their measly £257 million grant intended to save venues. As a response to the economic turndown with the creative industries, the UK Government launched an artist retraining media campaign, which encouraged creatives to consider different career options while their work was put on hold.
During the interview, Albarn drew attention to the controversial ad for Cyber First, which depicted a ballerina putting on her dance shoes and suggesting that she could retrain in IT.“I was so upset with it, it was such a bad signal to send out to people who were struggling to hold onto their dreams anyway, to literally explode them in their faces was bordering on callous I felt” Albarn stated.
“You’ve got to allow music to continue. We are trying to preserve everyone’s health at the moment so passionately, we mustn’t ignore live music in that prescription.”
