A Problem Shared: How The Irish Music Community is Navigating Self-Isolation

A wise man once said, “The country’s cowped”. And you know what? He wasn’t wrong. But in strange, unprecedented times – in totally unchartered territory such as this – it doesn’t take long for the best of us to come together. Even now, as we’re all adapting to being cooped up in our own liminal little worlds, a sense of solidarity in numbers grows stronger by the day.

For many of us self-isolating like it’s nobody’s business, the last week-and-a-bit has felt more than a little dream-like. And yet, loitering in the forefront of my mind, demanding to be heeded, is a new-found clarity that was just slightly out of view. It tells me in no uncertain terms that our perfectly simple & uncomplicated desire for human connection – that same urge that up until recently meant many of us were venturing out to gigs several times a week – is what it’s all about. That essential drive to be near and to understand and appreciate others? That’s what defines us. Beyond health and a roof over our heads, almost everything else feels a little superfluous.

As things have gotten progressively more Groundhog Day (sadly sans the budget and presence of Punxsutawney Phil) a comprehensive feature that delved into the personal worlds of various Irish musicians, producers, DJs, broadcasters, journalists, venue owners, PR folk etc. started to make more and more sense. “How are all these people navigating self-isolation?” was a thought that started to crop up, again and again. Sure enough, the inevitable “fuck it” and a fair few emails later and here we are.

For me, these words (35,000+ from well over 100 different contributors) don’t just tap into the solidarity, empathy, humour and community at the heart of the Irish music scene: they distil much of what many of us love about our independent music community, right across the island. As we saw it, such heavy worldly circumstances warranted some hefty personal insight. While we could’ve easily centered on a handful of acts, capturing a broader sense of how we’re all keeping in such a trying and unprecedented moment in time felt right.

As you make your way through this feature, you may notice a few patterns emerging: baking, knitting, walking the dog, making a daily schedule, listening to Alice Coltrane, gratitude, succumbing to Yoga with Adriene and not putting pressure on yourself to be productive. You will hopefully also notice that, despite the endless variations of insight, advice and recommendations that have been very generously offered up, there is an essential fulcrum of what Albert Camus referred to as an “invincible summer” at play here. This too shall indeed pass.

It’s important to underscore the fact that what works for the following artists and industry individuals may not work for you during self-isolation. It’s what works for them, and it might just work for you. See how it goes. By the same token, this isn’t something to necessarily be read in one sitting, but if you manage it, major respect. Rather, it’s a resource of personal accounts to dip in and out of, as and if you so please. After all, we do all have a bit more time on our hands at the moment.

All artists linked to social pages with links to the music. Please, if you can, support some of them during this time by picking up a record or some merch. And remember: Ctrl+F is your friend. Onwards. Brian Coney

All images are copyright to their respective owners. Please e-mail info@thethinair.net if you would like specific photo credit added or for the photo to be removed

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Terri Hooley

I would like to take part in your article but I am struggling with finding anything interesting to say. I spend half the day in bed and the other half watching shite on TV! You can use that if you want. One love.

Therapy?

I’ve been spending the time at home trying to get things in order. My son had to come home from Uni early so his life needs to follow a routine lest he drift into ennui and re-runs of Family Guy. The online lectures start soon. 

I’ve tried to use the time to write new material, try out new guitar sounds and catch up on those half-written riffs and lyrics I’d always meant to get back to. I’ve given myself a regime of getting into my workspace at 10am and staying there until lunchtime and then maybe returning for a couple of hours later.

We were supported to be on tour in Europe at the minute but we’ve had 12 gigs postponed until later in the year and we’ve yet to hear how the festival circuit will be hit. As a working band we have to be careful. Our last show was October 2019 so we can’t afford to go too long without any touring. Everybody will be experiencing the same dread, and many more in worse circumstances.  

Lethargy and depression has to be avoided at all costs so a morning run soundtracked by Rainbow Grave, Minutemen, Petbrick, Soakie, Arvo Party, Lalalar and Luminous Bodies helped. I’ve got a lot of books I’ve yet to read, albums I only listened to a few times, movies I’d intended to watch. These can all wait until the evening. Get into the workspace, switch on the amp and keep playing until I’ve finished something. Keep in contact with my friends via text and email and Family via FaceTime.

I’m lucky that I’ve got my family around me and a room full of musical equipment. It’ll be unusual times ahead but people are homeless, unemployed, desperate and terrified. Those of us who are capable should be helping out in responsible ways. I’ll make the most of the free time, the isolation to play more music, write more music, and listen to lots of new music. I’ll also avoid writing a song about the virus itself. Andy Cairns

Fears

Seeing my family – from a distance. I’m currently self-isolating in my bedroom in my Mam’s house, as I left London on the 15th March after seeing Boris’ ‘herd immunity’ approach. I’m looking forward to being able to hang out with my family when my 14-day quarantine is over, but they’ve been great and keep me company sitting on the stairs outside my room at dinner time.

I’ve been doing radio broadcasts from my bedroom over the past week, on The 343 Radio and Dublin Digital Radio with my dog Poppy. The idea is to create a sharing circle of stuff we’ve all been working on lately. People have been sending me amazing demos and new songs and it’s created a lovely community in the chats attached to the shows. Because it’s new music, I don’t post the shows online after or anything, just one play, we all listen once, and have a nice time. The current schedule is Wednesday 8-9pm on The 343 Radio, and Sunday 6-8pm on Dublin Digital Radio. Send me ur tunes.

Yoga. YES I’M A CLICHÉ and I don’t care. The incredible CMAT set up a small group of amazing women getting back into practicing yoga (or starting for the first time), where we encourage each other and trade videos and photos of pets. I got pretty into Yin Yoga last year as a way to maintain my mental heath, and I’m very glad to be back at it. I highly recommend setting up a similar group with some pals. Constance Keane

Junior Brother

Being based in Dublin, I was very lucky to be able to come down home to Kerry fairly early, so my isolation being spent with rarely-seen family is a silver lining. My heart goes out to people who are on their own, or who can’t see their parents and loved ones due to their vulnerability to the virus.

I’ve been focused on keeping the blood flowing by executing odd jobs around the house, these odd jobs being rewarded occasionally by an alcoholic beverage or two. I’m lucky not only to be with family in isolation but to be in “the country” too, with lots of space around me and little in the way of people to come into contact with.

I’m also trying to write songs and practice the guitar, learning harp and trad tunes, ballads too. It’s great to see so many musicians live streaming sets for people, I particularly enjoyed the Mary Wallopers one, which I believe will go down as legendary in the years to come.

The main thing I think we are all trying to do of course is to stay positive and optimistic. Staying inside all of the time toys dangerously with one’s mental health at the best of times – even more so with a virus pawing at the door and people’s livelihoods being put on hold. But the light is just around the bend; to get there quicker we just need to stay a little bit longer in the dark. Ronan Kealy

MuRli

I’m working on some very intricate handshakes for the post-corona era and everyone I know is going to have to learn it! On a more serious note, I miss hugs A LOT. I’m finally sick of looking at my phone so that’s a positive. Anyway here are three things I’m doing to cope with this temporary predicament.

First off, I try to look at this self isolation as a service to my community rather than a punishment. When done right, it is an effective way of protecting yourself and a lot of folks so I remind myself everyday. And I’m using the time I have to try and undo what seems like a lifetime of procrastinations. I’m doing about 20 minutes of Spanish everyday. That’s a start. Muy divertido!

Do something, regular if possible. In my case, it’s music. So I do something music-related every day as I would usually do anyway and that helps me maintain some semblance of normalcy. I still get hyped over my own punchlines as usual. And I’d be beaming after it. Keep doing your thing!

I feel it’s important to stay connected with the “real” world as much as possible and continue to laugh, cry and whatever with those you usually do that with, whether it’s over the phone or during a little stroll in the park once in a while, staying within the recommended guidelines, of course. Myself and a few of my friends have a Bible study group we attend once a week but since that’s no longer possible for now, we decided to have a zoom meeting every other night just to chat and check in on everyone and see if there’s anyway we could help anyone, somewhere. It gives you something to look forward to. When it gets boring we’ll improvise. The key is to stay connected.

Robocobra Quartet

I’ve had a handful of moments over the past few weeks where I felt that what little career I had in the music industry is over. In a way that is terrifying but it has also given me perspective: it can be really easy to forget about the verb to ‘play’ music. Thinking about lining up release dates, tour dates and pitching singles for premieres on The Thin Air feel a little futile at the moment and in a sense it has given me a feeling of bliss because the pressure is off. (Brian, please review our next album though…).

Of course, it’s worthy to take this time to do something outwardly productive but maybe the world doesn’t need your podcast? I’m trying to take some time to turn off transmitters/receivers and spend time with myself. It’s difficult; we all spend a lot of time and money every day distracting ourselves from ourselves and it can be tough to stare down who you are. But what better time to explore your own mind, identity, gender, sexuality with some thought experiments and introspection?

I’ve resigned to the fact that the world has changed and instead of clinging on to everything maybe it’s better to let some things go that really don’t matter. Many of the things that we’ve lost have been privileges and in a sense it was just nice to have them in the first place. I know that sounds sanctimonious as fuck but I think I’m just at the ‘acceptance’ stage of loss here after seeing all my work dry up in a matter of days back in the first week of March…! My mum is doing alright and staying safe so really what have I lost? Chris Ryan

Maija Sofia

Reading: It is probably a surprise to literally no one who knows me to learn that I’m using this time to do as much reading as possible; today I’m reading Can’t and Won’t by Lydia Davis which is a collection of micro-short stories that I extremely recommend if you, like me, often have the attention span of a goldfish, it’s funny too. Yesterday I was reading Square Haunting by Francesca Wade which is a group biography of five women writers/academics (including Virginia Woolf) who lived in the same square in London during the two world wars and the years in between, it’s really interesting to read excerpts of their letters/journals describing being bored, staying inside, being anxious about the apocalyptic state of the outside world and comparing it to now – not that a war is really a comparable condition to a global pandemic but the anxiety persists all the same!

If you want some book recommendations, DM me on Twitter and order over the phone from independent Irish shops, like Books Upstairs in Dublin or Kennys in Galway.

Dancing: Never have I been more grateful for the fact that pop music exists. I’m not very good at exercising, but I love dancing perhaps more than anything. Every evening I’ve been putting on an 8-hour playlist I’ve made entitled ‘Quarantine Bangers’ (again, DM me on Twitter if you want access) and dancing around my bedroom. Really cannot stress the importance of this enough, dancing is my no. 1 cure for when I begin to feel depression and despair seeping in.

Gardening and growing things: I love plants more than I love humans, I am very lucky to have a small backyard here in Dublin city where gardens are rare and I’ve been making raised beds and filling up pots with flowers. If you don’t have a garden, a sunny windowsill is a great place to plant little baby seedlings, you can grow lettuce, basil, coriander etc from seed on a windowsill, and it’s never been a better time to grow your own food! If we go into total lockdown, make sure you can still eat salad! You can cut old milk cartons in half and make seed trays. Gorgeous. It’s so cute to watch them grow. Also sprouting mung beans by soaking and rinsing overnight is a good, quick way to grow fresh food full of Vitamin C. If you’d like some vegetable or flower seeds and don’t want to leave the house, again, DM me on Twitter with your address and I’ll post you some!

Angela Dorgan (First Music Contact)

At First Music Contact, we are doing a weekly questionnaire for the sector to assess losses, we have a list of tips and resources that we will continue to add to. Aside from that, we will then be working to see if Government and Industry can contribute to a fund where these losses can be clawed back and have taken our free consultancies online and have doubled the amount of days so artists and those working in the industry can have a virtual meeting by filling this out.

Rising Damp

Set up an incredibly scary disinfection zone at your front door. Lay plastic everywhere. Get your roommate who works in a lab to steal isopropyl for you. Get a hand pump and medical grade chlorine tablets. Spray everyone. If you live with immunocompromised people, it is your DUTY not to bring it home and your duty to protect them. There are many immunocompromised people in the rev who must be protected AT ALL COSTS. Help the community! HSE and crisis cover Pirate a load of software, chat to people on Zoom. Make nice food. Keep a schedule. Stop leaving the fuckin gaff!

Larry

 

Write a song a day: It doesn’t have to be a good song and it doesn’t have to be fully finished. I just grab an instrument and start noodling away until you start playing something I like. Then just hit record on the phone and busk away at it – 90% of it may be pure gmibberish or a rip off of someone who I’ve been listening to that week, but then in the 10% there is usually a little gem of a lyric, melody or an idea I really like that I can focus on. It’s a great way to get the first draft idea’s down. I’ll listen to it a bit, maybe write some better lyrics around a theme that may or may not have come from the scratch demo, practice that and then do another demo with some more focused lyrics & melodies – and there you have it, your song for the day.

Give your instrument some TLC: This is a great time to do a little bit of work on the guitar you have that you love but it’s fucked. I have a few of these (and one of my friends guitars which I’m helping him with) weird guitars that I love but just aren’t stage worthy yet because of the intonation, dodgy pickups, dirty pots etc. It might even just be a case of taking the strings off, getting the polish out and get it shining – but I find it very therapeutic & also helps with my songwriting as some of these guitars might not have been picked up for a while.

Don’t force your creativity: If you wake up and don’t feel in the mood to write a song or fix up a battered guitar – ask yourself what you want to do today. Maybe this is finally the time to invest a solid amount of time in watching loads of Kung Fu movies, reading books you haven’t got around to yet or simply lying on the couch doing sweet fuck all. Whatever it is you’re doing – be kind to yourself and remember that either way, you’re good enough! Joey Edwards

Rebekah Fitch

There is so much pressure to “Use this time!!”, “Learn all the skills you always wanted!!, and “Be productive!!”, but we need to remember that we have no more hours in a day than we did before. As creatives, we are always fighting that little voice that tells us we should be working harder, and now it’s coming from external sources too. Pick just one or two things you want to grow in over this period, and put in a few simple measures to get there. Pick two books to read, and give yourself an hour a day. Set aside half an hour a day to get better at guitar. Manageable things with practical steps in place to get there. Don’t overwhelm yourself!

I’ve decided that I’m not going to watch TV/Netflix until after 6pm each day. Otherwise I’d start watching something over breakfast, finish the series over lunch, and then hate myself.

Human connection is so important in this time, especially from a mental health point of view. I’ve gone through times when the idea of not being able to spend time with friends and family would have been terrifying. Sometimes that was the only thing that got me through the day. If you are struggling with your mental health, it can be these things that you schedule into your life to make sure you’re not getting caught up in your depression/anxiety, so you don’t cut yourself off and just allow yourself to get worse. You have something to look forward to and people checking in. It might feel like this lifeline has now been taken away, what with the distancing and detachment. Choose a few friends you can check in on everyday, even just two or three. They can then do the same for you. Make a list of other people you’d like to catch up with, and book in a FaceTime call. I’m trying to do one every day or two, you know, just to stay sane.

Joshua Burnside

First of all, I’m smoking a lot more. I’m not necessarily advising this, but if you’re like me and you don’t smoke in the house, then it’s a good excuse to sit in the back yard for a bit. Plus all the VAT I’m paying on the fegs is a good source of income for the government right now, so in a way I’m doing my bit to support the economy in these uncertain times… right?

As disturbing as it all is, I’ve been getting a feeling I haven’t had in years, it’s a bit like when you got off for the school holidays when you were kid. No more deadlines, or timelines and you have all this mental space to try new things. When I start to feel stressed or anxious about what’s going on, I try and bring myself back into that frame of mind.

Ray Wingnut

The Internet

We used to slag off technology and the net all the time but look at us now! The net carries so much emotion. It is our arena for coping mechanisms like communication and humour. And then there is the commerce. As a music fan, The Mary Wallopers streamed gig on Paddy’s night was a thing of pure joy. Last night I tuned in to Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and John Francis Flynn of Skipper’s Alley singing and playing in their living room. Really beautiful gigs and the donate buttons are easy to use too. The sound on the stream tends to be shite though, somebody sort that out and we’ll be flying!

Composure

This has been one of the most surreal times of all of our lives. I still need to have that little conversation when I wake every morning; “Is this actually happening? … ok, yes it is happening.” In that respect I try my best that I react positively and in a way that helps others. I don’t know what to say when people tell me that their livelihoods are gone. I just say, “Look, everything is up in a heap, let’s just survive for now …” With that said, I do have hope. I certainly do not despair. Sometimes I get irritable and I know that it is from worry about the people that I love. But I’m trying to be calm.

Dogs

I had been hiding out at my Mam’s house in the countryside in North Cork. We have two dogs named Jessie and Dunphy and I’ve been spending some quality yard-time with those two. What I do is I gather up around ten balls of various shapes and sizes. There are rugby balls, sliotars, squeaky toys, burst balls, all kinds. Then I go to one end of the yard and the dogs go to the other. Then I blitzkrieg all the balls one after the other up high and lob them down on the dogs. They go nuts and try to make up their minds which ball to chase. Then I run down shouting and also grabbing balls. Then when it all calms down we re-set and do it again. Ray Cuddihy

Denise Chaila

Protecting Your Peace in Quarantine

Sleep Sweet

I think one of the most important lessons we will learn as we step into this next period is not how to work more effectively, but how to rest more effectively. An important part of that is protecting your sleep cycle. Do your best to stay out of your bedroom during the day. Designate yourself a place of rest you can look forward to returning to, then create a comfortable space somewhere else to tackle the day. Your sleep hygiene affects so much. Loss of sleep can be the cause or the result of things like anxiety and depression and currently we’re all vulnerable to both, so please prioritize this. You are better equipped to handle emotional upheaval, change, improve your memory and boost your immune system if sleeping means true rest instead of putting yourself on standby for 3-8 hours. If you find sleep hard try cutting out caffeine and sugar and winding down your screen time in the two hours before bed.

Be Picky About What/Who Can Reach You

Yo. Set and maintain boundaries for yourself. Please. You’re allowed to say no to things that hurt. You don’t have to constantly be accessible to everyone whilst in survival mode. Whether that means limiting media intake, making yourself available or unavailable to whoever, or acknowledging that you’re not ready to ‘be productive’ yet. Loneliness, anxiety and boredom will have you running to spaces of familiarity or indulging in coping mechanisms that aren’t always safe. Instead of answering loaded phone calls or eyeing the cans in your fridge, this is the time to lean into your safe spaces. Family, good friends, unambiguous relationships, people you can express yourself to freely and without reserve. If you’re in a non-verbal space; writing, throwing on a playlist and head banging for a while or painting with some background noise are good ways to acknowledge the emotion without running or becoming too overwhelmed. Most destructive behaviors come from avoidance, and just because the world seems like it’s on pause doesn’t mean your life is.

Establish a Routine

Structure will give you the anchor you need to do all of the above. Whether you need rest or to work or be creative or to play or connect with other people— having a loose structure will help mitigate some of the fear that the uncertainty of this transition has us feeling. Treat yourself like a houseplant. You need light, you need water, you will wilt or wither with prolonged neglect, and putting down roots is essential to survival.This doesn’t mean chores necessarily. It’s just all the stuff you care about given form so you can start to understand how to shape your world better. Many of us will perform care-taking functions in some capacity over the next few weeks and it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse of your emotional world and find your solid ground. Easy, repetitive tasks that you can depend on can give you the foundation you need to help regulate your emotions and remain aware of your own needs. Maybe burrowing underground for this season can be an opportunity to cocoon and nurture before your next growth spurt.

Problem Patterns

Show love and compassion to your bandmates and yourself. Isolation is a scary word and something most of us dread. Problem Patterns are a close family and one thing that has helped us is to keep in contact often. Video calls, messages, sharing our experiences, virtual band practice and most importantly spreading love. Additionally, trying to reflect on all the great stuff that we’ve done rather than dwelling on what we can’t.

Cut yourself some slack. Step back and realise the context of the situation we are all in. Take a break, breathe. Create music if you want but reading a book or cleaning the kitchen is just as cleansing. Don’t let guilt set in, you’re only human. You will be okay and music will be there for you with a big warm hug when you’re ready. Or, write that lo-fi bedroom album you’ve always wanted to. Reply to the emails you’ve ignored, clean & detangle your leads and pedals & be safe.

Exercise real solidarity with your music and art pals. I’m gonna tell you a secret… Local D.I.Y music is not all money and cars. Any money we make (outside of gigs) comes from the love & support of lovely folk buying stickers & digital tracks. So, a great way to support your pals is to buy their merch & records. Whether it’s a £25 album or a £1 single, every little helps. However, if you don’t have a penny to spare, a quick share of a band page can mean the world. Shout from the digital rooftops about your mates class band. Share their socials and send messages of love & support. Tune into live streams. Kindness is the real cash money. Go spend it. Ciara Nic An Rí

Dave Hanratty

It’s crazy, this thing happening in real-time. Everyone’s experience of this, how it applies to them, is valid. If you’re productive and finally writing that novel then cool, fair play. If you’d prefer to just stay in bed, that’s fair enough, too. Create your own reality as best you can, basically. It’s a scary time, so act accordingly.

A couple of weeks into this new normal I’m finding that there’s something of a sanctity in turning the living room into an unofficial cinema in the evening. Point Break really fuckin’ holds up, let me tell you. Throw on a classic wrestling match or two afterwards – that WWE Network subscription I meant to cancel is a sudden lifesaver – and you’re laughing, hopefully.

I’m no expert. None of us are. This current moment is a heightened, troubling exercise of the cold hard truth that every single fragile one of us on this rock is just winging it. But hey, fail we may, sail we must. Anyways, here’s a few things getting me through:

FILMS: Phone off, lights out, popcorn at the ready. Draw up a shortlist and add to it so you don’t lose an hour remonstrating with your housemate on what to watch. Plan your day around it, make it a reward.

TV SHOWS: I don’t know why I find myself catching up on Mr Robot when I’m either really depressed or the world is on fire but here we are. Good time for a box set, innit. Hannibal, Rectify, Deadwood, Justified, The Shield, The Leftovers. Watch ’em all.

GAMES: Doom Eternal and the upcoming Resident Evil 3  Remake seem perfectly timed but I’d add Dead Cells, Hotline Miami 1 + 2 and Death Stranding to the mix.

MUSIC: Make playlists, hit up your mates for recommendations, soundtrack this thing.

PODCASTS: Old episodes of your go-tos sound pretty good right now. Oh, and listen to NO ENCORE. It’s funny, I swear.

YOUTUBE CHANNELS: YMS, Lindsay Ellis, Hbomberguy, Folding Ideas, Every Frame a Painting, Jenny Nicholson, Jim Sterling, Noclip – all worth a look.

NEWS: Follow trusted sources, try not to glue yourself to a rolling feed if you can help it. Keep informed but take breaks.

THE OUTSIDE WORLD EXISTS: Not to go all Bressie here but a good – safe, responsible, socially distanced, government-approved, et cetera – walk or run or cycle is kind of essential if still an available option. Clear the head, stretch the legs, be sound to any retail staff and pharmacy workers you encounter.

CREATE SOMETHING: If you can. No pressure. You have worth, you have talent, you have a voice. Small personal gesture, big livestream event, whatever. Just enjoy it.

CHILL: Do you miss being on a bus stuck in gridlock and knowing that your boss doesn’t care about your valid excuse for being late yet again? I sure don’t. I’m also highly wary of framing this situation as hugely beneficial given the colossal damage and tragedy sweeping the world right now but, like I said above, everyone’s experience is valid. Hitting the pause button on life, on paper, isn’t the worst idea ever conceived. We’re forced to right now and there are positives. Recharging batteries is one.

TALK: The most basic of basic advice but people need communication. Talk, listen, be honest, be kind, compassionate and respectful – for real, not the bullshit hashtag trend.

TEXT: A mate that you haven’t in a while. They’d love to hear from you.

DON’T TEXT: Your ex. Not like it can really go anywhere, right?

Squarehead

So to preface this I am still working 3 days a week as a wholesale florist. We supply a lot of online gift shops so Mothers Day was quite busy but I dont know how much longer we’ll last. Shame as it’s a family business that’s been going over 100 years. Anyway, I digress.

With music in the live/group environment put on indefinite hiatus Squarehead have had to cancel whatever gigs we had planned and stop our weekly practice.

This headspace away from the performance/social side of music has reminded me a lot of when I was just starting out. When I would write songs just for myself not knowing if anyone would ever hear them. So this leads me to my first pointer.

Positive imaginative visualization: anyone who plays music in the semi-professional/professional sphere knows how unpredictable it can be. It takes a lot of positive tunnel vision to get through frustrating songwriting, bad gigs and no gigs! So use this talent to imagine positive outcomes. However hard things are, keep fooling yourself that they will work out. They can and they will.

Play along with/cover songs: today I took an hour to play along with an album I knew in its entirety as a teenager. It really gave me a boost. With every album ever available online and tabs/tutorials there’s no excuse to not learn that whole Rush/Grateful Dead album and thrash it out with pure joy.

Don’t play music: Music is so much more than a job or hobby. Don’t set up an “office” and expect a perfect end result from a “days work” like you’re entering data or something. Do everything else on your to do list, go outside if you can, read that book, cook a meal and then see what’s left in the tank. Don’t push it. It pushes back. Roy Duffy

Gross Net

The future has gone out the window, so focus on the present and don’t think about what’s happening too much or project on what may or may not happen. You’re probably self-isolating and washing hands appropriately and not touching your face, good, you can stop worrying about catching it so much. Your biggest enemy now is time, so fill it. Watch movies, indulge in all those video games, tear through box sets, practice that violin you got but never learned (you’re gonna find lots of videos on youtube etc to help), start that new album, start a whole new solo musical project different from what you normally do. Learn to meditate. Indulge in alcohol and your favourite ‘legal smoking herbs’ at the weekend. Don’t overdo it, alcohol can lower your immune system and mind them lungs. If you smoke habitually, really really try not to.

Eat well, I’d even order in some supplements if you can too, try and keep that immune system in tip top shape. Mix up what you eat, if you do, you might find something new to look forward to every day.

Don’t worry about not being productive. Try not to stress, and just use this as some sort of downtime to recharge your batteries, everyone is normally overworked and over-stressed anyway. Skype friends and family to keep in touch. Skype pub on a weekend night anyone? Philip Quinn

Gadget and the Cloud

Don’t Feel Like You Have To Be ~Productive~

This is a really big challenge for creatives but also for everyone who lives in a capitalist society that defines people’s worth based on their productivity. Some people will take this period of time to write their magnum opus and that’s unreal for them but it doesn’t have to be the same for us all. Social distancing is hard, uncertainty is hard and, for many people, we’re not living in a time that is conducive to creativity or learning.

For the first couple of days of this situation, I was stressing about spending all of my time making music or writing. It was making me miserable because I felt like I had no excuses to not be productive. However, we aren’t machines that exist to develop services and outputs – we’re all just folks trying to survive in a rubbish situation. If playing PS4 for 12 hours straight makes you feel better, get comfy on that couch and don’t let anyone make you feel like less for that.

Keep showering and getting dressed

Maybe this will seem obvious to most but it’s one of the most important ways to keep myself on track. I have long used socialising and keeping busy as a tool for preserving my mental health and being inside or on my own for too long can result in a spiralling situation where I just give up on myself. Making sure that I shower as I would if I was heading out every day and not just living in my pyjamas is a preventative measure against becoming completely out of sorts with routine. It can also be a great way of getting my own little bit of self-care in.

Make sure to stay in contact with people

When I’m feeling my most isolated is typically when I find it the hardest to talk to people. It’s very easy to lose all motivation to reach out and to start ignoring message notifications when you’re lost inside your own head. Conversations might not initially flow well when your answer to ‘any news?’ is that you’ve been sat on your couch for nine days now, but take time and persevere. If this battle we’re facing has any lessons to teach, it’s how reliant we are on everyone around us and the importance of stripping back individualism to focus on building connections and community. Take time to remember the preciousness of the people you love because those people are all that really matter. Kelly Doherty

Documenta

It’s OK to be idle: Our society has us feeling so guilty about doing nothing so deprogram, if you just can’t be bothered for a while don’t fret enjoy it.

Read books: Oet lost in another world and keep the synapses firing. We remember more information from the physical structure of a book apparently and any chance to get your imagination working has to be positive.

Learn to cook/cook better: It’s fun and tasty to cook you’re own meals and it’ll keep you away from the news/internet. Jack Monroe is great if you’re a novice or like a disturbingly large amount of us now, skint!

Safety first, then teamwork. Stay well everyone. Joe Greene

John Barker (Totally Irish 98 FM)

Music: I’ve been listening to lots of music lately and have rediscovered my love for albums such as Bob Dylan’s Desire and The Beatles’s White Album. I’ve also bought new music on Bandcamp from the likes of Windings, Ailbhe Reddy, Kobina & Daithí. I miss going to gigs but have loved watching the likes of Kojaque, Paddy Hanna, The Mary Wallopers, The Scratch & Daithí performing online. Look to your favourite acts to give you inspiration.

Running: I swear to God running has helped me so much over the years and no more so than the last couple of weeks.

Being creative: Like most people my life has slowed down a lot and one advantage of this is being able to try new projects. Am hopefully starting something new called Lemon Tree which will feature live online interviews with musicians/industry people and am also working on a new radio documentary. Like, wouldn’t it be great to come out of all of this having started something new or achieved something that you normally wouldn’t have had time to do?

Wynona Bleach

1. Don’t do all your nothing’s all at once, spread it out and keep that one movie, book, game (or whatever) something to look forward to tomorrow.

1a. Watch the news sometimes. Don’t get too sucked in if you start feeling your anxiety kick off, so if you find yourself constantly freaking out over stats, do something else. Its too scary to think about all the time.

2. We usually rehearse like crazy, like three/four times a week crazy, at the same times every week. So one thing we find really useful to at least feel like we are being productive is to keep that routine to an extent is do a group video chat and just hang out, because half of rehearsals for us is bonding time to talk shit. So we do that and we always feel better right after. Set up a regular time with your pals to get together and just hang out as usual! Also be wary of said pals maybe having mad anxiety about it though and maybe talk about something else for a bit of relief if you get those vibes.

3. For the musicians out there: deep down no matter how we fight it our band are music nerds, so challenging each other to learning a cover or something and sending a video of it into the chat was a way to keep the “chops” up and also have a laugh. Pick up your instrument if you can and use the time to do what you love!

The toughest thing is not being together making noise, but making sure everyone is on the same page is for the greater good. So Wynona says; Be safe, wash your hands, STAY HOME if you can and don’t fuck it up for others!

The Mary Wallopers

We’ve been dealing with the isolation by doing the things we can’t when we’re touring so much. We’ve been learning new tunes and are in the process of clearing out our shedc and turning it into a studio. On top of that, we took the oppurtunity to start streaming from home, which is great fun and fills the void in our hearts created by not doing gigs. It works especially well when you build a pub in your sitting room.

Aside from that it’s been a great time for us to write songs and get better at Red Dead Redemption and GTA. We hope everyone stays safe and enjoys being stuck at home, it’s much better than spreading or getting coronavirus and can be a good oppurtunity to do the stuff you never have time to do. Andrew Hendy

And So I Watch You From Afar

Get up and get dressed: As Joe Strummer once said “Like Trousers, Like Brain”, don’t lie around in your underwear just because you can. Between tours I used to feel like life was void of purpose, Id start to feel my self get into a slump. Right now everyone’s metaphorical “tour” has been cancelled, so we’re stuck at home wondering what life is all about. Get up early, make your bed, get dressed, eat breakfast, attack the day like it was just as important as any other.

Partition the day, both chronologically and physically. Don’t work where you eat, don’t relax where you work. Take breaks, moves around, when the working day is done, switch off, relax and enjoy the quiet.

Slow down: If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing slowly. We’ve time to do all those things we couldn’t justify before, and even better we’ve time to do them properly. Emails, rearranging your cupboards, watering the plants – if its important enough to be in your life then its important enough to do properly. Enjoy making that first coffee of the day, make those recipes that take all day, finish that thing that’s been hanging over you or start something brand new, absorb and perfect. Imagine the impact we’ll all have on the world when we immerse from a few months of self-improvement, empowered with a whole host of new talents and most importantly an immeasurable appreciation for getting to show them to each other again. Rory Friers

Jack Brolly

Instagram Live/Livestreams: I’m sure this will probably be mentioned elsewhere in the article but watching everyone’s Instagram Live streams have been helping me feel connected. The Robbie Kitt Show (every weekday at 6) has been greatly lifting any malaise that may have befallen me in my new solitary lifestyle. I have also taken to streaming although I am aware that I shouldn’t be. I have nothing to say, I just do the washing up.

Video Calls: I have taken to video calling everyone I possibly can from people I saw last week to people I haven’t seen in year. It has really made me start wondering: why didn’t I do this all along?

Nintendo Switch: If you don’t have the greatest console ever made then I am sorry. I bought mine last Summer in what may have been one of the greatest decisions of my life. (I’m nearly finished a game called Celeste which I would highly recommend.)

Moustaches: Take from this what you will but a bunch of my friends have moustaches now. I don’t really have much more to add to this.

Shave Your Head: Same as above but I have yet to do it. I will, though and then you’ll be sorry. Oh you’ll all be sorry.

Think About Your Past: I’ve found being locked inside has really helped me focus negatively on my past. I have been overthinking past interactions and worrying about pretty much everything I possibly can. I’m looking forward to going outside and making new mistakes.

Arvo Party

I am currently sat at my computer writing for a different project from Arvo Party. Working is one of the few things that keeps my mind busy and at a time like this I would say that’s pretty important. I’ve also been reaching out to other artists to ask about collaborations and/or remixes. Granted, all of this isn’t so different to my usual day to day existence but it somehow seems more important right now.

I’ve also been trying to get into more of a routine with my days. As an artist it’s easy to let the discipline slip but this week I’ve been setting time limits on tasks and making sure that my bedtime routine is relatively disciplined otherwise I would just work all night and eventually go mad. A cup of tea and Grafton Tanner’s ‘Babbling Corpse’ is doing the trick at the moment.

One of the things I’ve really let slide is listening to new music. I don’t drive currently so I usually spend a lot of time walking or on public transport and that’s where I listen to new music so I’ve taken to putting headphones on and standing outside (I live in a relatively isolated area) with a cup of coffee and my headphones, listening to new stuff to find inspiration.

More than all of this, I’ve been reaching out to friends and family to see how they are. This is the most important part of my current routine. And it is a routine; every day is the same for me right now as I’ve been isolating since I returned from the states. Maybe I have IT, maybe I don’t but I’m not going to risk the health of someone else just because I’m lonely. I hope everyone else is looking after themselves and those who may need a little love. Herb Magee

Slomatics

I certainly don’t have any revelatory ideas here, but in these unprecedented and worrying times here are a few things I’m doing to preserve sanity:

Balance with media

It would be easy to spend all day glued to the BBC/internet, but I think that can just add to confusion and fear. Of course it’s important to stay informed, but knowing about idiots going to Nutts Corner market is just an extra stress we could maybe do without. After the last UK election I stopped watching the news, reading about politics online and in social media for a few weeks, and although this is obviously different, I found that allowing my brain to spend more time thinking about fuzz pedals and less time about Jacob Rees-Mogg was probably a good idea.

Learn something new

It doesn’t matter if it the Rubix cube or playing piano, giving something new a few hours of dedicated focus occupies the mind and gives you a sense of achievement, a rare positive emotion in these dark times.

Revisit old music/books

We all have books or records we quote as being favourites or inspirations, but in reality maybe haven’t actually gone near for years. It’s an opportunity to re-evaluate lost gems/stinkers – I found out that The Stand by Stephen King is awful nonsense with weird religious overtones, whereas Population II by Randy Holden is even better that I remembered. There’s an awful lot of Hawkwind records out there, maybe now is time to delve into those forgotten years. Stay safe! David Majury

Ciaran Lavery

Remember that impulsive fashion purchase you made way back when?  The sweater/pair of leather trousers/knee boots/suede jacket with unnecessary fringes that exists in a special drawer, neatly tucked away out of sight & never to be dawned in public? The item that you cannot bring yourself to donate to another home because you keep telling yourself that “maybe one day…”? Well, that day has arrived my friend. Dust down that old garment and wear it freely, with pride, with style, with any other item of clothing at any time of the day. People don’t wear stetson hats with silk pajamas? They do now.

Work on your fright game

By the time this pandemic cools down, spooky season will be fat approaching and you for one don’t want to be a slouch when it comes to the holiday of the ghouls. You’ll have ample time to improve/develop such things as your stealth game & creepy ghost noises that are sure to put the willies up even the most hardened trick or treater. On top of that, you’ll be able to develop your own craft & makeup application skills when designing & creating your outfit(s) of choice. What a time to be alive!

Write your memoirs

Isolation can be a particularly self indulgent time so why not redirect that angst into a captivating tale of heroics in the face of adversity, or generally name & shame all of those particularly arsey people in your life that you don’t have to face every day & the subsequent time alone has given you the space to reflect on just how shit they are as a person/persons. Make it interactive by asking whoever you’re in isolation with (if you are with people) to critique your work and upload their review onto a nifty WordPress page that you can later dissect around 1am over a prematurely-opened easter egg. Then later, your growing feelings of resentment toward them will lead to frosty encounters at the kitchen bench where the kettle is situated or when the talk of putting the bins out comes up. Or, if you live alone, feel free to lavish yourself with praise on a deeply honest exploration into the human condition and play out many fantasies where you pick up mass critical acclaim and the likes of Taika Waititi begin to follow you on Instagram.

Strange New Places

Self-isolation can be tough, especially for those of us who are already dealing with underlying mental health issues. So, here’s some things I’ve been trying to implement into my life to make each day a little brighter.

Turn off your phone for wee while!

As someone who suffers with quite bad anxiety, the constant barrage of negative headlines across all social media platforms has been a bit overwhelming, to say the least. It’s important to stay aware of the situation of course, but don’t feel guilty for not wanting to be exposed to the harsh reality of things 24/7. Take a break! You’ve earned it.

Attempt a routine

If you’re like me and have the ability to sleep for 23 hours a day if not stopped then this one’s for you. As a recently unemployed uni student with too much time on his hands, it’s so easy to just waste away the day doing absolutely nothing. It’s fun for the first few days, but then the purposelessness hits. Seemingly simple things like setting an alarm, showering and getting drhanessed can make an honest world of difference for your mental health! From there, accomplishing small tasks like a of housework or coursework can then be awarded by playing Animal Crossing late into the night.

Call your mates

Sometimes we can forget to reach out in the simplest of ways when we are separated. Just hearing someone’s voice for a bit can drastically reduce the loneliness that comes from self-isolation. Check up on each other, Skype, play an online game or even watch a film together through Netflix Party! You don’t have to be alone, just because you can’t be in the same room for a while. Caleb Roberts

Pillow Queens

Be creative: We’re in the mixing stages of our debut album so thankfully that’s taking up a fair bit of time and creative energy which is nice. We’re also in the midst of choosing artwork and the title for the album so plenty to be doing. I also plan to write some music that isn’t about being stuck inside very soon.

Set yourself challenges: I’ve been setting myself little challenges, like learning to cook different things but ‘ready steady cook’ style so I don’t have to venture to the supermarket too much. I made a recipe video for Guinness stew the other day and that took a solid 5 hours. I made bread with flour, milk and salt, which was understandably dry. Today I challenged Cathy to learn a load of new riffs while I did weights using tins of chickpeas.

Get into new things: Generally speaking I’m a pup for not getting into new things. I have my faves that I don’t tend to stray too far from but having endless free time has ensured I’ve watched/read/listened to loads of new things. I’ve been having really weird dreams as a result but sure look at least it’s something to talk about. Pillow Queens have been getting really into group video calls too. Pam hung up the Irish flag the Ivory Coast way around so it would look like the Irish flag to us. Rach has been having digital games nights and her family just got a new puppy so that’s maybe the best thing in the world. Sarah Corcoran

Kitt Philippa

Acceptance and perspective: This is a particular moment in time where circumstances have changed, in order to protect life. It’s not something that is just about us – or the people we know – but it’s about the people we don’t know (that’s a lot of people). ‘All we have… is here’ is a lyric from ‘Human’ – now is all we have ever had.

Know yourself: We are all different in terms of how we function best; areas such as routine, stress, joy, humour, social needs are adaptable and manageable for self-isolation. Of course, even for the most introverted among us, lockdown is challenging. It’s important to be honest and gentle with ourselves, being aware that it takes trial and error adapting. A special note for our mental health: reach out. Physically being the only human in a perceived and constructed space does not have to mean you are alone. I also think the Samaritans phone line is still in operation and they have an email address you can write to.

The doing: We can all still ‘do’ and ‘be’: creating, moving and attempting to laugh, to help our morale. KP

Casavettes

It’s important to busy yourself, and to do so without this looming notion that the busyness has to be considered productive, or conducive to the greatest Irish novel or the best album that anyone has ever heard. Take this one day at a time. Find some solace in the fact that everyone is as unsure and anxious as you are, and have that conversation with your family and friends.

A couple of things I’ve been doing that may or may not help you too:

Block the click bait “journalists” on Twitter who want to scare you and your granny into a heart attack.

Follow wholesome accounts. There’s this account on Instagram I’ve been following for a while called Pergola Nurseries Garden Corner. Every single video is this lovely Cavan man with a lovely Cavan accent tending to his shrubs and plants and veg. Every now and again he’s joined by a robin named “Peter” that he speaks to. Soul food.

Take up that hobby you’ve been pushing away. I’ve been brushing up on guitar playing techniques & telling myself I don’t have to learn everything about music theory in these few weeks/months/whatever. Adrianne Lenker, Sibylle Baier, and Linda Perhacs are particular influences at the moment.

Find community. There are a lot of resources out there if you look in the right place. One that has stood out to me in the past couple of days is ISOLATE/CREATE. A number of American musicians have uploaded digital assets such as stems from their tracks, or custom fonts for fans to get creative with. Resources like these provide ideal opportunities to immerse yourself and interact with your favourite artists. I’m sure there are more out there that are similar.

Walk your dog and listen to Sinéad O’Connor. Diarmuid O’Shea

Jake Regan

Read

In Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron’, ten Florentine citizens quarantine themselves in a villa to escape the Great Plague of 1348, which is ravaging the city outside. They pass the time by telling each other stories: 10 per day for 10 days, some only a couple of pages long, others intricate moral tales that would go on to find counterparts in Chaucer and Shakespeare. I’ve been using this time (sort of) similarly, while trapped under admittedly less severe circumstances. I’m trying to read stuff that I always put off because of time restrictions, or mood, or basically any excuse I could come up with that would get me out of ever having to pick up Don Quixote. I’ve run out of those excuses now, though, and it feels great to do nothing but read. Michael O’Loughlin has put together a reading list of Plague literature on the Dublin Review of Books site, which will work like a kind of group reading exercise with a plague-themed work up for discussion each week. For the morbid-minded.

Learn

I think I’ve been getting about the same minimal amount of physical exercise as I ever did before the quarantine (maybe more, if you include the anxious pacing and fretting), so I haven’t been overly concerned about that. But I have started to feel a weird effect of the monotony and boredom induced by the household, and it’s almost making me wish I was in college, or at school. I guess I haven’t learned anything new in a while. It’s a really good time to start something, or to return to a former passion. I’ve been brushing up on my Classics with courses on Roman art history and literature over here (all free lectures on a huge range of topics).

Fender are also offering three months of free online guitar classes, which is an amazing resource, especially for people like me, whose guitar playing plateaued at about age 15 with the discovery of the power chord.

Knit

Knitting is the real game-changer here. I was taught how to do it last year, and I’ve been annoying people with it ever since. It’s a great way to keep your hands occupied while binging a TV show, as it stops you from mindlessly devouring too many snacks, or from downing too many cans. Plus, by the end of it, you have something to show for the otherwise wasted time. Usually a bit of a scarf. I expect to come out of this quarantine having knitted myself a full outfit, complete with surgical facemask in an array of colours.

Tuath

This past two weeks have given us hope, not having to deal with the stress of organizing gigs has opened us up completely. Now our release schedule is obliterated so we are just going to put things in the wild for the craic instead of cause we felt we had to. Now we’re even more productive than we ever were because the superfluous capitalistic pressures are no more. Funny that.

The global economy is 80% smaller than it was 12 weeks ago. Capitalism has nowhere to hide anymore. Our politicians have shown us the things for which they care and we are not included in this. Think about ways of organizing when this levels out a bit. I hate to sound crusty but the earth is trying to tell us to move the bad cunts out of the way.

If this pandemic has taught me anything its that our culture has been destroyed by instantaneous content and greed. People were too greedy to socially distance themselves, They wanted their share of the virus RIGHT NOW, delivered to them in notification form on a screen so that they could see it to believe it. If you’re not distancing: wise the fuck up.

P.S Northern holidaymakers: could you please get the fuck out of Donegal. We are in quarantine. Rob Mulhern

Stefan Murphy

I live in a two-bedroom house with my wife and eight-year-old daughter. There are certain days where the small space we have feels more than adequate. I could be bashing a set of drums in one room and they could be working and schooling without being phased by it. Other days It feels like the world is closing in around you. It feels like its all dependent on perception and mood. Main thing is, everyone is getting to go what they normally do, to some degree and we are safe and well.

To keep myself busy work-wise I have been doing admin stuff that has build up over a three year period that I’d previous been to sick or lazy to do. I’ve also been doing some little online performances and trying to write some new songs. In the first week of self containment I didn’t write a single song, but my daughter wrote one [in about 8 minutes] called ‘Lockdown’ that she asked me to put music to. It’s a punk song in the vain of The Clash and her heroes The B52’s – I’m going to try and help her finish it this week.

I’m finding it difficult to sleep at the moment, which I need to work on and If you were to ask me how I felt about being on house arrest, in general, I’d say I hated it – but here we are! Living in the US there is no clear-cut directives from the government about whether we are locked down or not but we are treating it as if we were in Italy. I hope everyone else out there is being safe and feeling ok.

Jenny Wren (Body & Soul)

So far I’m a quarantine failure! I can see the idyllic vision of exercise, homeschooling, meditation inspired productivity but the reality is just the other day I added ‘get dressed’ to my to do list and realised this would be yet another thing to beat myself up about. There’s a lot to process right now; collective fear and sadness. Let’s not make ‘isolation’ another thing to win or fail at.

The ‘world’ is asking of us to stay home, to simplify. I’m aiming to follow the inspired words of Timothy Leary” “Turn on, tune in & drop out”!

By nature, I’m a messy creative who could easily live in a suspended reality of daydreaming for years. Thanks to some recent life coaching I had an “Aha!” moment: creativity without a deadline is procrastination. Set a deadline then work back from there scheduling all the tasks that need doing for ‘the thing’ to happen.

If you feel yourself spinning, you are traveling in some future fear, bring it back to now, in this moment everything is ok. Do not feel pressure to create the best album, write the best song. I feel we have an opportunity in this “dropping out” of society to actually reconnect, with ourselves, with our local communities and with our shared human existence (man!). How that manifests itself for each of us will be different.

Scribble the semblance of schedule, nothing to beat yourself up with but something that gives shape to your day, modify as needed. Accept the days you are productive or inspired and accept when you are not. In practical terms: call someone every day, be grateful for our messy creative brains as we are much more able to adapt to change than others. Lean into any darkness with gratitude, not fear. Music will lift your mood. Find nature. Get dressed!

Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies

Streaming: I’ve enjoyed live streaming from The Mary Wallopers and Paddy Hanna whilst getting involved myself. I did a live acoustic stream last Sunday in which I played some songs and violin pieces to an overwhelmingly positive response. I plan on doing another this Sunday at 8pm on Instagram.

Reading: I’ve been reading ‘Patrick in his Own Words’ by Joseph Duffy which features Patrick’s very own writings on Christianity and ‘Anger is an Energy’ by John Lydon, which is a very honest account of his life. Both captivating in their own unique way.

Knitting: I’ve got into knitting socks and jocks whilst complaining about everyone from Idles to Inhaler in equal measure.

Cian Ó Cíobháin (An Taobh Tuathail)

I’m self-isolating at home alone, which is no huge shock to the system as I typically tend to spend a lot of my days, happily cocooned from the world. One could panic if one begins to consider the bigger picture, be it what’s happening globally, or projecting yourself into imagined futures, so the way I’m approaching things is simply by taking it day-by-day and focusing on what I do with my time. I’m one of the extremely lucky people that can – for the time being, at least – work from home, so I guess it’s as middle class a form of self-isolation as one could envisage.

Sure, all upcoming DJ gigs have been postponed, but I still have my radio show, which I’m enjoying hosting more than ever before, especially as I’d never broadcasted from home before. Hosting my shows is the best form of therapy I can imagine – sharing the songs that tugged on my heart-strings, or made me smile, or dance today – with you. In the past week, I’ve found that rather than listen to a Spotify list, I want to hear a DJ introduce and talk about the music, a DJ who sounds like he/she cares about what’s happening and that you can hear that in their song selection. Might our future post-Covid19-Age slow down the rate of the automation of our societies and make us focus on what’s ‘human’ again? It’s certainly made me appreciate anew the importance and power of radio.

So I find that focusing on just the day in hand is the approach that works best for me and breaking it down into: what will I do this morning, this afternoon, and tonight?

1. Exercise is crucial for me, be it going for a run (early, in a quiet spot, where I rarely might see people), or doing a home full-body work-out, followed by pilates or yoga or mediation (not very good at this, but I’m working on it). So after a glass of warm water, that’s how I kickstart the day. 60 minutes focus on the health and mind. Then breakfast. After, I settle down to reply to mails and listen to promos and start gathering tunes together for the night’s radio show. I will allow myself a glance at the day’s news to make sure I’m in tune with what’s happening, but I won’t dwell on it. I can’t control what’s happening in northern Italy or in New York. All I can do is look after myself, focus on staying away from people, focus on my work. If I didn’t have my show on RnaG, I’d probably be making mixes, sharing them online. Doing something creative that makes me happy. Then it’s lunchtime.

2. After lunch, I might do some more admin work, prepare social media updates etc, but the last few days I’ve found myself getting in touch with people and having long chats with them. I might spend an hour and a half catching up with family and friends, or friends I haven’t spoke to for a while. So, communicate. Reach out … like The Four Tops. While we need to stay apart, more than ever we need to keep in touch with one another (“together we’ve got power, apart we’ve got power” …. the Reverend Jesse Jackson said it best) . Pick up the phone and ring someone, especially if you’ve been alone all day. We’re in The Matrix, there are those in other Pods that would love to hear from you. I also love to read, so it’s also a good time to catch up on books and perhaps half of a movie (the rest can wait till later, or tomorrow), or a TV show. I’m in a cocoon, so I’m going to make it as pleasant a place as possible. Also: ignore spending time on Twitter, it’ll just make you anxious. I just mainly check my notifications and ignore the anxious news-feed.

3. After supper, it’s almost showtime. Then, two hours, locked in, surrounded by my entire music collection for the first time in all my years on air. Playing from the heart, having Eureka moments as I dance and waltz around my studio. If I think of a tune that sounds / feels appropriate as next choice and find it in time, I’ll play it. This is almost a revelation to me as before I’d be 30 miles away from home and lamenting that I didn’t have a particular track with me. I’ve had a few emotional moments on air, listening to old songs through a new filter (we’re at the dawn of a post-viral Age), reading new meanings into old lyrics (listen to ‘City Sickness’ by Tindersticks, or ‘April Skies’ by The Jesus & Mary Chain, you’ll find within them a new word, that previously didn’t exist). If there’s a lump in my throat, you’ll hear it. If you’re not fortunate enough to be able to work, I would recommend doing something creative with your time at some stage during the day. Whether it’s making a big pot of vegetable soup, or learning to bake, or learning to sing a song, or writing. You’ve always wanted to have more time on your hands? Here’s your chance to use it.

In short, my tips are (a) exercise, (b) stay in touch with people and (c) do something with your time that you’ve always wanted to do, or that makes you happy. And take it one day at a time. Don’t panic. The next breath is all that matters. Tabhair aire x

Hilary Woods

A few things that are helping me negotiate self-isolation that you may find helpful too:

Jana Winderen, Chris Watson and Deathprod. Listening at the moment to Jana Winderen’s Energy Field, some Chris Watson and Deathprod’s albums Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cunha and Morals and Dogma. Non-song music I find soothing, cleansing of nervous energy, and drowns out the news when it all becomes too much to digest.

MUBI. When you’ve exhausted Netflix and just feel groggy dipping back into it knowing there’s nothing left to watch, there’s Mubi. There’s been a lot of Ingmar Bergman films up on the site of late and some great independent cinema from all over the world. Recent inspirations include Bong Joon- ho’s Mother and Claire Denis’ High Life.

Meditation. Now that all has slowed down or shut shop, I’m finding a little more time to meditate in the morning. Slowing down and quietening the breath and mind has helped stave off anxiety and grounds me in my day. If you have the opportunity to do so, would recommend giving it a go.

Malojian

I have a couple of kids and as we’re all at home at the minute I’m trying to find ways to entertain them. One thing we’re doing is listening to records while doing art. I let them choose a record (my son Henry is 6 so it’s usually dictated by the album cover) then we chat a bit about the music and it gets them away from screens for a bit. I think that’s a healthy thing for anyone to be do. Anything that gets you off the screen for even half an hour. Henry has just discovered The Cure because of it and he loves them so happy days!! As much as I love The Beatles, I’ve been listening to Revolver nearly every night for the past few years because Yellow Submarine is, or was, his favourite song. It was getting to the point where I was going to have to warn him “with peace and love”. Sorry Ringo!

Try not to put pressure on yourself to be productive. It seems like everyone is flat-out doing livestreams etc. which is class, especially if it’s helping the artist and the audience but some people won’t be in the right frame of mind to do that at the minute and that’s cool too. Don’t be stressing if you’d rather binge on Netflix instead of recording a concept album about the end of days! I find that something good always comes after a quiet spell.

I try to stay away from the news. I’ve been doing that since the economic crash in 2007. It’s everywhere anyway so I get whatever I need from various sources and from chatting with friends but I avoid mainstream coverage as much as possible as I find it always has an agenda and I feel myself getting depressed if I’m exposed to too much of it. Stevie Scullion

Woven Skull

Willie: So far the most noticeable difference to our otherwise very, very quiet lives in rural Leitrim is the amount of people now walking up and down our road with their families and dogs. It’s nice to see people, but it is strange. Social distancing has been on our road for centuries. I’ve been waking up earlier than usual since this all began. I think it is important to maintain a routine. A walk is always first after coffee. Followed by some outdoor work: planting trees, cutting wood, clearing stuff and getting ready to build new things. These things must be done before going near a screen or computer. Maybe just the odd update, but nothing more. I also pick two friends at random on my social media to say hello to and check in on. Everyone is in a different situation and coping with things differently. So far, all the people I am in touch with are all self-isolating (to a point) and it makes me feel like I’m part of a larger community.

There has been lots of healthy meals being cooked, some great books and films being read and viewed, and some great jams going on in our music room. Before our after-dinner walk with Rooster (the dog) we listen to some very loud early dub and dance around the living room. This seems to be Rooster’s favorite and he always passes out on the couch after the walk. Adapting to this new way of life has come quickly to us and we are making the most of it. We are very lucky to be in the situation we are out in the countryside, but I believe everyone, with a few changes can still have a lot of fun, stay healthy and not go out of their minds… and I just found out today that my favourite Irish beer (White Hag) is now doing free delivery!

Natalia: When I wake up I make sure to change out of my pjs straight away. Even if I’m just getting into a tracksuit and watching cartoons with my coffee, it just makes me feel like it’s a new day. During the day, I turn off my phone and internet for hours at a stretch to keep myself from constantly refreshing all the mad updates, cause, lordee, is this all fascinating second to second, but if I don’t consciously turn it off, I’m lost down the rabbit hole. Since I live rurally and can get out without seeing anyone, I’ve been planting loadsa trees everyday. I’ve been planting trees on our land and also on the clear-felled forestry land around us to try and eventually restore the health of the soil there. At night, we’ve been meeting up with friends online for dinner or some drinks which has made me more social than I usually am when I’m at home. To keep fit I’ve been watching dancehall dance tutorials so when we all see each other again my dance moves will be out of this galaxy.

Aonghus: Current isolation strategies: making quesadillas and watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. Practicing guitar lots and lots and lots. Frequently putting away my phone. Push-ups in my room listening to Ghettotech mixes. Running and cycling. Dancing to Throbbing Gristle, DAF and Psychic TV drunk in my kitchen (subsequently getting the fear and convincing myself I’m infected). The novels I’d been putting off. Scramble some eggs or scramble some tofu? Writing music. Not being a bozo when I have to leave the house. Dancing in the Street Silent music video. Long stints of time spent with Eliane Radigue, Alice Coltrane and Sandy Bull.

Mango

1. Don’t worry if you don’t have a home set up. There is no pressure to create right now. We are like everyone else and this whole thing can be distracting. So if you’ve nothing to create, enjoy other music. Just sit around and listen to your favourites, get inspired. It can be a good time to turn off and reset.

2. Don’t just sit on the phone or at the telly all day. I’m not saying write a song a day but attempt writing something or note down ideas you have. Just for your own process. I find for me the less I write the harder it becomes to get back into it.

3. Self-isolation as shite as it is without loads of us are losing jobs and opportunities. But think of it like when ye didn’t do your homework and your teacher wasn’t in the next day. Go back perfect something you wanted to do. Maybe learn more about how to master/ sell/ market your music. Also, shout more people because we’re all at home and looking for distractions if you’ve any questions but don’t go to mad with badgering people all the same as they may just need to tune out of things for a while too

Villagers

I’m currently dealing with the isolation and (perhaps?) mild symptoms by watching this video. It’s incredibly informative and alleviates anxiety. Before the virus hit I was starting to self isolate anyway so personally my life hasn’t changed at all. I’m still spending most of my days working in my studio. Conor O’Brien

Louise Bruton

Big fucking bangers

As someone who usually operates the “save the best for last” rule with everything, I’ve decided that now is the time for indulgence and I am diving in deep with my favourite songs. Bangers are the songs that hit like a karate kick against your stomach, stopping you in your tracks and making all the hairs on the back of your neck stand. That’s what we need now, to remind us that fun and passion are things that can exist in small doses no matter what our circumstances are. In no particular order, these are the songs that make me feel like I’ve just snorted a line of life: Robyn’s Call Your Girlfriend, Dua Lipa’s Physical, The Blaze’s Places, Janet Jackson’s Love Will Never Do (Without You), SZA’s Drew Barrymore, John Talbot’s Oro Y Sangre, Jon Hopkins’s remix of Daniel Avery’s Glitter. You’re welcome.

A playlist, if you will:

Structure

Before all of this… became what it is, I saw a tweet from some self-isolating in China and they advised people to get up early. It doesn’t matter what you do with your day, just get up early. As my workload shrinks every day, I can’t live as if I have nothing to get up for so I wake up around 8 or 9 every morning and create chores to make the day feel worthwhile. I’m not reaching Shonda Rhimes levels of productivity – or making sourdough – but I’m reading the book that’s been sitting on my nightstand for the last three months, walking the dog for a little bit longer each day – he’s having the best time, btw – or joining in on #CovideoParty each night on Twitter. With less work to do, I can give whatever piece I’m working on my full attention. It’s funny when money is taken out of the equation/ bank account, how quickly you can reset the pace of your work. This is probably the pace I should always have been working at so I’m going to try and enjoy this weird silver lining before capitalism returns, and I really, truly hope that it doesn’t.

Appreciating what I have and thinking ahead

Knowing just how many gigs, festivals and parties that have been cancelled for the foreseeable, I can’t help but appreciate how much fun I normally have with my friends. I’ve been in constant contact with them and it’s agreed that the sesh we’ll have when we’re reunited will be incredible; swinging bottles of Buckie, licking each other’s faces and dancing like our lives depend on it. If we ever get to go to a festival again, I can’t wait to feel the clap of cold air that hits your body as you emerge from a sweaty dance tent, helping us cool down like we’re thoroughbred racehorses that have just crossed the finish line. Oh, and I hope that we all get that shift we’ve been dreaming of in contamination. Put in the groundwork now and gracefully slide into the DMs of whoever it is that sends your tongue wagging.

Phil Kieran

Our situation has changed today because myself and my wife Carla have developed sore throats so we are now socially isolating rather than distancing but up to now, here are some things I’ve been doing to adapt:

My ‘go to’ is always to get busy in the studio, so I set myself a goal of creating 10 tracks that reflect what’s going on around me right now. It’s essentially an imaginary film score. I’ve called it ‘Endless Suspension’. It’s my attempt at capturing the moment and how I’m feeling rather than a commercial endeavour. I think we all feel a bit surreal right now, like we’re merely characters trapped in a film. Time has been suspended. Health and financial concerns aside, slowing down does allow us time to really live in our lives and it might open up opportunities for positive changes too. We can control how badly this plot plays out, by staying home as much as possible and supporting our NHS staff to get on with saving lives.

So here are some other things I’ve been doing to keep physically and mentally healthy

Belfast City Marathon has been cancelled but I’m keeping to my running regime. I get up really early to avoid crowded paths and also to get some me-time. Running is like my meditation time. Now I’m self-isolating I’m going to miss it and wish I’d bought an exercise bike or something for the garden.

I’m a fan of audiobooks. I’m listening to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’by Mark Manson and relistening to Sam Harris’s Waking Up. It’s great, it explores how meditation is a rational spiritual practice devoid of religion. It could probably help a lot of people cope in these uncertain times.

It’s my birthday today. It’s strange not going out or meeting up with friends and family. Instead we celebrated by cooking special meals. It’s a good time for getting out the slow cooker or handmaking pasta or other recipes that usually take too long in a busy household. Eating together as a family is something I hope to continue doing more often when life gets back to normal.

Careerist

To Binge

Some of you may find comfort in practicing mindfulness during these times of isolation but I’m practicing living like a little goblin and it’s honestly way better but ultimately unsustainable. I’ve enjoyed whiling away the hours watching King of the Hill for the first time. Still like 200 episodes to go, hopefully that’ll take me to the end of the month.

If sound and colour is too much to stomach during your hermitic period then literature could be the answer to your prayers, poindexter. I just finished My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh which is fantastic although the idea of a self-imposed hibernation might hit too close to home for some.

Gamers Rise Up

Now is as good a time as ever to delve in to the world of gaming whether board/card/video/mobile/mind/love/war. A lot of these can be enjoyed alone or online with minimal social contact. If you live with people and you all wash your hands then trading in screens to argue about board game rules for a hot minute can be beneficial. Personally I’ve been playing too much Solitaire on my phone and channeling a lot of Flowers On The Wall energy but that’s sorta my whole existence anyway.

Creationism

One of my friends made a playlist for every person that messaged them, I did a trade and we both ended up discovering new music that was outside of our own personal Spotify bubbles. This was a nice way to feel connected to the outside world and whet my appetite for content.

If you’re a musician who subscribes to the myth of productivity but suffers from creative block try experimenting with your set-up. Rearrange your pedalboard, try alternate tunings (D-A-D-F#-B-e is really fun), watch tutorials about the music theory you’ve been ignoring for years. Also do some maintenance on your instrument. Clean it, restring it, change the reed whatever.

If it’s more fun to play you’re more likely to pick it up. Listen to albums you like and play along with them. Jam over the King of the Hill theme song. Don’t try to force something just because you feel you have to in a period of extended downtime. Carl Eccles

ELLLL

The majority of my time has been spent working from home for the better part of the last decade or so. Whether that has been teaching piano or writing and recording in a bedroom studio, i’ve gotten pretty used to being disciplined and creating routines in small spaces. You could also definitely categorise my personality as the more hermit-y type, so having to stay home for long periods really hasn’t been that bad for me so far.

Creating routine

I’m very fortunate to have a four-legged friend who doesn’t hold back letting me know when it’s time to get up and go outside in the morning, and again throughout the day. It’s easy to slip into feeling like every minute has to be productive when you’re spending large chunks of time at home and punish yourself when you feel like you’re not doing enough. It’s important to step back from the desk / computer / drum machine etc. Go outside and get some air at regular intervals. I’d definitely go insane from too much screen time if it wasn’t for the dog walks. I don’t listen to music and try my best to not look at my phone during these outings and focus on my surroundings instead.

Likewise I find it helpful to block off my time to it’s not just: sleep – get up – try and feel productive – fail – sleep. Making a list the night before of what you’d like to achieve the next day and mark off a realistic time frame in which you think you can achieve it. Then you can binge watch watching Hairdresser Reacts with Brad Mondo to your hearts desire and not feel quite so crippled with guilt.

Get dressed!

Sure there might be some novelty to the initial lounging you’l experience, but personally speaking, every day feeling like a Sunday wears off fast and I start to feel pretty G R O S S. Get dressed, go for a walk (see routine) and eat something that isn’t trash.

Turn off social media

I was doing this sporadically pre-social isolation but i find myself doing it even more now. Being constantly bombarded with news articles and the general feeling like the world is going to implode is not conducive to feeling good. Sometimes i feel like it’s really hard to have any sort of clear thoughts with all the outside noise. I sign out of all my accounts (including email!) on my laptop and try to either put my phone in the opposite side of the room or turn it off completely for a couple of hours and focus this time on doing something productive; arranging a track that I’ve been putting off, recording something new etc.

On the flip side of this sometimes my head is so melted I can’t even focus on the task at hand to i try and do something mindless for a bit like prepping my food for the week, paint my nails or serenading my dog. I usually feel better after a while. Screaming into your pillow is fine too.

It’s ok to not feel productive and/or motivated right now

This kind of ties into the social media part and the feelings of not doing enough but now more than ever I’m seeing so many posts about people working on that album they’ve been putting off, doing that collab, recording that mix etc. This is all wonderful of course and hell yeah, seize the day! But there are also many others feeling overwhelmed or paralysed with fear and anxiety, and that’s ok too. There’s so much uncertainty in the world right now but there’s one common thread; no one is alone in this, we’re all in the same boat. It’s the perfect time to reach out to that friend you haven’t spoken to in a while or check in a bit more regularly with folks you think might need it. The last couple of weeks have oddly been a very good period of ~re-connection~ for me, I’ve had several lovely video chats with friends I haven’t seen in years! Ellen King 

Extravision

1. Eat crisps, order back-up crisps online. Find fun, fresh places in the gaff to eat them. While you’re at it, style your outfit to the flavours. Savage x Fenty and green Walkers salt and vin.

2. Mute your favs. Don’t watch your friends do their own terrible version of social distancing. They are wonderful but they are DUMB and it is stressful to see. Link up on apps and have a delayed chat on a bad connection. It will feel like you are pissed in a club and keep talking over each other, like the old times.

3. Move your body. Now, follow step 2 because the internet is weight-obsessed and the news is stressful enough that I don’t need to start competitively squatting for clout. Wear a mask and gloves and get some air in the dead of night.

Finally…

Adopt a Teresa Mannion state of mind. Don’t make unnecessary journeys. Leigh Arthur

Rían Trench

Composers for the most part work in solitude as it is. This hasn’t changed. What has changed, through the slowing of various infrastructures, is the potential for outside distractions. Creation can achieve a beautiful fluency when uninterrupted. I’ve been really enjoying this of late and finding value in previously discarded works that didn’t get the time to blossom fully.

Socially, music’s changed quite a bit of course. I deeply miss playing with my musician friends. Connection is achieved through a vast multitude of electronic media channels however. It’s producing novel results and surprising collaborations! That is a truly wonderful thing.

A lot of people I work with are career musicians whose love affair with music has become deeply distorted as a result of wanting music, as a tool, to springboard them into desirable lifestyles of various forms. This is an obvious and natural desire to have, but now more then ever, we’re given the opportunity to look deeply at our personal relationships with music and sound. Focus on primitive elements of sensory experience. Remember what your early sound experiences meant to you as a child for instance and reestablished a connection with music that is yours alone. Challenge yourself to be content with that. There are endless adventures to go on.

Olivia Furey

Create

I usually practice in a studio and I don’t have much music equipment in my apartment, so I am putting together sounds with what I have around me and using silence as a tool in the pieces I am making. I am trying to treat some of this time at home as a DIY residency. A buddy of mine in Leeds told me he recently put on a live stream gig and half of someone’s set was just them making ice cream. This goes to show we can use this time to explore new ways of coming up with how we can perform by making use of what we have. I hope that a lot of artists are getting time to create work in this period, but we have a lot on our minds right now and it is important not to put ourselves under pressure to get loads of work done just to feel like we’ve been productive. If you are struggling to make work at the moment, it can also be a good time to take a break from making and to get inspired by others through reading, online courses, listening to records and learning about other artist’s work.

Live Stream Gigs

It is a tough time for lots of musicians. January and February tend to be quiet enough months for gigs and a lot of artists would have been spending the last couple of weeks gearing up to get back gigging and going on tour. Musicians all over the world have been coming together online and putting on live stream gigs, that people have the option of donating to if they can. It’s been inspiring to see and a nice way to do something with your friends when you’re social distancing. I normally try to limit my use of social media, and in these times it is important to take breaks from social media, yet I am getting a lot of comfort from it in a way by seeing how everyone is doing their bit to support one and other. Be it simply sharing their music with a friend, buying merch or having some banter in the live stream comments – it’s also good to still be able to laugh with your friends!

Reflection

I am starting to appreciate a lot of things that I would not normally take as much time to appreciate, things like going outside for fresh air, nature, cooking or being able to go for a coffee with a friend. It is a good time to think about what we can do for the planet when the self-isolation period is over. For example, our carbon footprints, how frequent we travel by plane was a factor in how quickly the virus spread, and this also makes an impact on the environment. It is also going to be unimaginably tough for healthcare workers and frontline staff to get through this, it is important to do what we can to show gratitude and support for how hard they are working under these circumstances. I live in Scotland and made the decision not to go home to Ireland during this time, phone calls from family and friends have been keeping me at ease. Keep checking in each other, it might help a friend more than you would think.

The Altered Hours

I can only speak for myself here and don’t feel in a position to give general advice or words of comfort during al of this, because as much as everyone seems to be going through something so similar globally, peoples living situations, savings, no savings, debt, regrets etc. still play such a huge factor into how this is affecting everyone individually. As a musician and songwriter I must say the self-quarantine is something I have at least touched on before in my life. Holding onto every penny while trying to maintain some sense of belief in my values, all the time carrying a sense of dread around in my back pocket is not necessarily something my new for me.

Artists and musicians are losing gigs, cancelling tours and taking an immediate financial & spiritual hit with this crisis. I sometimes find myself thinking about the fact that this community of people are often the ones who have had some ‘extra time‘ to think, to analyse capitalist systems, to wonder whether it’s worth giving up the NEVER lasting dream of being an artist with integrity while paying the rent. I’m really feeling for people in other sectors who’ve had their entire life structure suddenly pulled from under them. It takes years to build up such skills as planning your own day, setting your own goals and creating some sense of purpose.

In regards to how I’m coping, I guess I’ve been doing what I’ve always been doing, counting my money weekly to see if I’m doing “ok”, creating new music and wondering how long this economy is going to climb before the next big tumble. I’ve been really enjoying live-streaming DJ sets from my living room, saying hi to friends in the chat rooms and staying connected with music & songs. Now I’m doing some morning slots on DDR too which I’ve never done before and I just love spinning records & sending out some good energy into the world whatever way I can.

Everyone’s going to have a different reaction to this pandemic and the follow-on effects economically and socially will vary greatly as much as they will be shared. The best thing we can do is allow people to feel how they feel right now, accept some frustrations and take each moment as it comes. Cathal Mac Gabhann

Michelle Whitehead (Aiken Promotions)

Routine

The one thing that has saved me in all sanity levels is a daily routine. I’ve had to change it up slightly just like the rest of the world – no more 8AM Luas trips!

I realise I am very lucky to be in a position that allows me to work from home, so I get up at my normal time, get a coffee, shower and then start my work and actually get dressed (I know, shocker!) It wasn’t easy at the start, it took me a few days to adjust but I realised that I needed to treat my day like I’m in the office and refrain from opening the fridge 40 times an hour.

I created a space for me to work within my normal hours, taking my normal lunch break. Writing all my tasks for the day down but I’m finding a bit of breathing space to come up with new creative ideas for upcoming projects.

Excerise/Meditation

By excerises, I don’t mean learning Tik Tok dances….

One of the things I’ve realised especially during this time, I hold onto a lot of stress in my body and I wondered why I’m completely drained all the time! I found running every couple of days is good for me, it releases extra energy, makes me feel good and gives me mental clarity, practicing social distancing, of course. I’ve only started doing yoga the last couple of months, so I’m starting to research YouTube videos that I can use. I have the calm app also, which is great to do daily meditations when things get a little too much.

Connect with people

My job is a very sociable one which relies heavily on being connected with people, nothing has really changed from this prospective, only the location. I’m still picking up the phone and to speak to people professionally and personally.

I’ve had my good and bad days in these uncertain times, I’m seeing the words “rescheduled show” a lot more than I would have hoped for 2020 but generally, I’m feeling positive that this will only bring the music industry together.

There’s a lot of good faith towards people in music right now and it should continue, we’re all in this together. Help support each other.

Rachael Lavelle

Morning Pages: This is from Julia Cameron’s course ‘The Artist’s Way’. To start your day, write three A4 pages of stream of consciousness. You can write about anything; your worries, fears, breakfast, hopes and dreams – just write! It is a great way to quieten the mind and the collective anxiety we are experiencing in these extraordinary times. Excellent for working out creative problems too.

Yoga/Dancing: YouTube has a large library of free yoga classes (the infamous Yoga with Adriene or try other Vinyasa Flow ones). The Space Between (located in Dublin) have announced free livestream yoga classes. CMAT is streaming live videos of her learning different dances. Get back into your body.

Cooking/Baking: If, like me, your days are revolving around eating, cooking or baking is a great way to relax and get out of your head. There is something about the movement, focus and time management in cooking that always seems to help me write lyrics.

New Pagans

As far as offering practical advice on how to deal with this. We don’t know if we are doing this the right way or the wrong way. But so far we are all still sane-ish.

Cahir: The House Party app is a necessity. We all met for a drink in the virtual club last night.

Conor: Cooking healthy meals, meditating, reading books about Buddhism, stretching/body weight resistance exercise. Fighting the urge to drink wine at 5.30pm.

Claire: I’m trying to make sure I do some exercise in my tiny yard everyday and am slowly making my way through the Criterion Collection in an effort to elevate my status as “movie nerd” to full “movie bore”. Escapism is everything at this point.

Allan: Whisky is essential and the odd Jane Fonda workout.