#TogetherAtHome: Staying Creative and Connected
Music helps us all stay connected during these uncertain times. So Shure opened up our Instagram channel to some amazing performances created #TogetherAtHome.
These are difficult days for a lot of us right now. But we all need to do our part by staying at home whenever possible. With many public gatherings currently on hold around the world, it’s been especially hard on musicians who rely on touring and performing to earn their livelihoods. We’ve been inspired by their response: recording and streaming impromptu performances straight from their own living rooms, kitchens, balconies and bathrooms. It just goes to show that creativity never stops.
Shure wanted to show some support for those musicians and creators out there helping us all stay connected, so we recently promoted some at-home performances tagging @shure with the hashtag #togetherathome on our Instagram page.
We’ve already received a variety of great videos, from a live sax jam to drum beat tutorials – thanks for sharing your extraordinary creativity!
Feeling inspired, we wanted to keep the communication going and discover how other musicians are using this time to reflect, refuel and find outlets for their craft online.
Max Buettner, for example, is an up-and-coming songwriter, producer and session drummer with two albums already under his belt. Ordinarily found tucked away in the studio or teaching lessons in his spare time, Max is now doing his bit to stay at home. We caught up with him to see how he was doing, and he sent us this lovely little clip telling us how he’s staying creative.
Brunke is another musician in Germany learning to cope with our collective situation. The 23-year-old singer and multi-instrumentalist spends most of his days in his home studio in Berlin. Coincidentally, his latest singing is titled "4 Wände", which means "4 Walls" in German. LOUDER spoke with him about his new routine.
How do you feel these days?
Brunke: At first, it was a strange feeling to think about the fact that some of our personal freedoms had been taken away so suddenly. But we know we all have to face these new challenges together, even if it means that we have to make sacrifices ourselves, in order to protect the people in our society. At the same time, I always believe that you should make the best out of every situation.
Normally I would be on tour right now promoting the release of my new single "4 Wände". I wrote these lyrics months ago because I experienced feeling alone in my own home, so it’s about self-reflection and processing all the emotional phases that you have to go through in order to enjoy being alone. Coincidentally, the song addresses exactly this feeling of being trapped in your own four walls...crazy, right? If someone had told me that almost simultaneously with the release, a lot of people will be forced into this exact situation, I would never have believed that!
How have you been staying creative at home?
On the first days of self-isolation, I spent my time doing "nothing" but Netflix, podcasts and food. But I soon realized that the world was still turning, and that this was not good for me at all! So I created a routine; I’ve been writing to-do lists every day which I share with my followers via Instagram livestream. I let people participate in my everyday life as "live" as possible, and I tell them about the current status of my productions or how I clean the apartment! By sharing my day, I was also hoping to motivate a few people out there to use their time productively.
This was enormously helpful for me to bring structure and rhythm back into my everyday life. Interestingly, this made me realise how little my week has actually changed due to the current situation. There was always something to do and, as a producer, I am often on my own producing music on my laptop.”
How has your music been affected?
What is currently no longer possible are studio sessions with other musicians on site. But thanks to my current publisher, completely new opportunities emerged: online sessions…
Just last week I had a session with a songwriter from the UK. We didn’t know each other before, but we immediately found common ground in wanting to collaborate in this new way. All we then had to do was find our flow to work online and write a new song together. A great advantage was that she had her own small recoding setup and was able to quickly bounce over good vocal takes. We could send tracks back and forth all the time. We exchanged thoughts on chord followings, lyrics, vibes and general directions and it all worked surprisingly well! I just played a few chords and she looked for vocal melodies at home. I could continue working on the beat in parallel, always considering her input. In the end, we worked on this song for 12 hours and we received very positive feedback.
What are your plans for the future?
For me as a producer especially, it was super cool to work with such a talented artist. We're already working on the next tracks - ha! Under "normal" circumstances we would probably have never met. It’s amazing what good can come out of such a situation. We need to stay positive and creative and we’ll get through this. The more carefully we deal with the current situation, the sooner we will hopefully be able to go back to our usual everyday life. When all of this is over, I am really looking forward to working on new projects with local artists and to hope to see my fans in real life during my upcoming ALLE JAHRE WIEDER TOUR 2020 in November!”
We'll back back soon with more musicians discussing how they're staying creative. In the meantime, check our tips on building your own home studio. Remember: You might be stuck at home, but you’re not alone. We are #togetherathome.
