I consider myself to be extremely lucky that, despite everything that’s going on at the moment, I’m still able to continue working with relatively little change – all things considered. Instead of driving for twenty minutes to get to the studio where I work as a graphic designer with around thirty other people, I have my ‘office’ set up in our living room and am connected to my design team and our clients via video calls, emails and instant messaging. I sure am grateful to still have some sort of a routine and to know what day of the week it is (as well as still having an income, even if I don’t have oodles of free time to watch Netflix (we don’t have it anyway) or take up baking (can’t get the ingredients anyway).
Obviously, it’s weird being by myself all day – Colin is still going out to work while I work from home – but there are some pros of that: I get to pick what I want to listen to. All day, everyday! Here are some of the, mostly audio-based, things that have been helping to keep me sane in these crazy times, not necessarily exclusively whilst working but also what I’m occupying myself with instead of going to gigs or the gym…
Having more time to check out new music
I’m starting with a pretty obvious one but having more hours by myself in a day means more time to listen to whatever I want – without backlash. It also means I can try something new and skip songs or switch to something else if I decide I don’t like it. Sometimes I just stick on relaxation type music with nature sounds but mostly I listen to vaguely punk music. Some new, to me at least, artists I’ve checked out over the past few weeks include Church Girls, Cosmit, Dogeyed, Ellen And The Degenerates, Follow Your Dreams, Hi Water, Menagramo, Moon Bandits, Ratboys, Shoplifters, The Special Bombs, THICK and Trash Boy. I’ve also been getting into Phoebe Bridgers, including Better Oblivion Community Center, in the last week which I realise isn’t strictly ‘punk’ but I know a lot of punks are fans.
Taking up running
If you know me then you probably know that I am a keen swimmer, by which I mean that before leisure centres closed I was swimming 5 or 6 times a week. I’ve had to fill the hole that not being able to go swimming every morning before work has left in my life with something so I’ve taken up running. I’ve just completed Week 5 of Couch to 5K (I ran a full 20 minutes without stopping!) and music has really helped me get this far. I’ve rebooted and updated an old playlist, now titled UPBEAT, that I used in previous years to get me through gym sessions and it has become the soundtrack to my running journey. I’m always open to suggestions of other songs to add to it – it is by no means complete!
Listening to Spanish Love Songs’ and Worriers’ latest albums
Brave Faces Everyone by Spanish Love Songs and You Or Someone You Know by Worriers are probably my two favourite albums released in 2020 so far. They each tackle, among other subjects, huge world issues such as how the impact of climate change is making it literally feel like the end of the world is nigh. Guess what?! Both albums feel even more relevant in this weird old era of COVID-19 and are essential listening for everyone reading this. I Imagine these aren’t the only two albums that feel like a soundtrack to how things are at the moment but they are the ones that have stuck with me – and I still can’t get enough of either.
Listening to podcasts, podcasts and more podcasts
There are some days when I don’t really feel like listening to anything in particular music-wise but I need something on between video calls to ensure I’m not sitting in silence. Given that the main thing – at least, other than the coffee machine – that I’m missing about not being in the office is general chit-chat, it’s been really great to listen to podcasts. Not all of the podcasts I listen to are music themed – I’ve started listening to a sci-fi comedy called Voyage To The Stars which has 60+ episodes for me to work my way through – but a fair few are. Desert Island Punks is continuing to put out new episodes despite the lockdown and the new-ish episode with Kay of Specialist Subject Records is a great listen. Glasgow based promoter Dammit Presents has a new podcast with the first episode featuring Graham and Sean of Goodbye Blue Monday. I haven’t had a chance to listen to that yet but I’m sure it’s a time. Other good ones include: Lifers with Ed Gamble (heavy metal but it’s Ed Gamble so…), Superbeast Podcast (current affairs plus music) and The Wasting Time Podcast (pop punk/alternative music interviews).
Having more time to listen to vinyl
Over the past couple of months, Colin and I have built up quite a pile of records that were yet to have their first spin due to us not being home at the same time or because we were both out at a gig – who remembers gigs? We’ve now made our way through the pile, including those that we’ve bought since the lockdown began, as we have a lot of extra free time in the evenings. We’re not really ones for watching too much TV and would much rather put a couple of records on with dinner in the evening. In terms of choosing which record from the pile to play next, Colin uses a spinning wheel app on his phone. The Discogs app also has a great feature for choosing a random record from your whole collection simply by shaking your phone. This week we’re listening to records from bands that should have been at MPF 2020.
Watching livestream festivals
I’m sure everyone reading this has watched a livestream gig or two over the past couple of weeks. There have been so many that it’s impossible to catch up on them all, let alone tune in to them as they happen. I’ve particularly enjoyed the online festivals that hardworking folk such as the Specialist Subject Records gang (Distant Together) and the Booze Cruise Festival team (Boatless Booze Cruise) have put together on Instagram and/or Facebook. Not only do you tune in to see live sets by artists you know and love but you stick around to check out others that you’ve not heard of before – it’s great for the musicians involved and it’s great for you. There’s also a sense of community with the live comments alongside the streams, it’s nice to see familiar names pop up. Sure, it’s not the same as being at an actual festival but it’s still nice. Tune in to @mcrpunkfest on Instagram this weekend for all things Manchester Punk Festival, including yoga at midday on Saturday.
Cooking some different things
Bear with me here, I realise that this doesn’t sound particularly music related but I’ve really been enjoying trying some new recipes over the past few weeks. Obviously, I’m still working so I haven’t been baking sourdough bread every day or even making immensely difficult things on weeknights but I have whipped up homemade vegan garlic mayo, mango sorbet and vegan ‘halloumi’ (this one wasn’t such a great success but it was perfectly edible), as well as trying out several new curry and stir fry recipes. I also cooked some pretty darn good roast potatoes in my first ever attempt at a roast dinner – ask Colin. I have Vegan Punks, one of my favourite vegan food blogs, to thank for how the roast potatoes turned out. I recommend following them on Instagram. They share stories as they cook certain recipes and they always include what they’re listening to – punk rock, of course!
Doing design outside of my day job
Something I haven’t done a great deal of in the last few years is design work or any other creative pursuits beyond taking photos on my phone to upload to Instagram. When I work all day every day on my computer in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, I thought the last thing I’d want to do would be to spend my free time doing that as well. Then I got free reign to design the CPRW Records logo and subsequently each compilation’s artwork. This was all before COVID-19 really became a problem in the UK and it was a struggle to fit in but more recently I drew our beloved home-from-home and favourite music venue the New Cross Inn for CPRW Records’ brand new compilation in aid of Music Venue Trust. It’s nice to be able to do something, however small, to help the music venues and bands that we love so much. The comp is released next Friday, 1st May – please check it out on Bandcamp!
Non-screen based pastimes
It’s good to try and get away from your screens and devices as much as possible each day of lockdown. Getting your daily exercise (assuming you’re allowed to do so in your country, as we are currently in the UK) is one way to do this but when you’re stuck inside the house it can be difficult to know what to do with yourself and it’s all too easy to spend your time scrolling through social media or watching episode after episode of whatever on TV. I jumped at the chance to order a jigsaw puzzle from Stöj Snak when they announced that a limited number of ScreamerSongwriter Heart and ‘Pandemic’ Dinosaur puzzles would be available soon. I opted for the dinosaur and am eagerly awaiting its arrival from Denmark. With 1,000 pieces, it ought to keep me busy for many, many, many hours. I was also pleased to see that Specialist Subject included at ‘puzzle punx’ crossword in their latest Liner Notes newsletter – order some records from them! I’d love more punk-themed puzzles so let me know if there’s more out there.
Getting back on track with my 2020 reading challenge
Okay, this one is completely not punk rock related. I haven’t read any particularly music orientated books this year but I still can before life goes back to normality, I suppose. I was a fairly frequent reader anyway and had set myself a goal of reading 35 books this year (Goodreads) but had fallen behind schedule – probably because I went through a phase of falling asleep before even reading one chapter in bed at night! I’ve taken this having more free time opportunity to do something I’ve been meaning to do for years and have started re-reading the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I also want to re-watch the films (extended editions, obviously) at some point but we’ve started watching the Marvel films in timeline order instead.
What things are you doing to keep sane at the moment? What would you recommend?
This top ten was written by Emma Prew.
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