Gemma Lawler: It’s been a sharp shock after our collective decades in the music industry. I don’t think anyone is handling it very well - not just us but across the board. Music is such a lifeline to so many, both on the stage and off, and having it pulled out from under our collective feet has been just devastating.
Adam Harris: It’s strange when live music is all you’ve strived towards for half a lifetime, and suddenly it’s just not an option anymore. It’s now been well over a year since Dakesis has played live, which was unthinkable in the runup to the Fractures launch.
MoM: Were there any gigs/shows/events that you were particularly gutted to have missed?
GL: Losing our album launch was definitely the most difficult, along with UK and EU tours and festival dates - but as fans we also had tickets to so many really special shows - Nightwish in Amsterdam, Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air, Amie spent a small fortune getting me tickets for the MCR reunion show - we were taking the WomenOwaR drummer Josh to see Jethro Tull. It’s a lot. Life is very different without live music.
AH: This was the first year we haven’t been to Bloodstock in at least 13 years, and missing out on our pilgrimage to Wacken was very sad. So it’s been a tough summer! We’d all been looking forward to Mew’s ‘Glass Handed Kites’ tour, and I was off to see the Genesis reunion. Then, of course, there was our own tour with Fury, and some great shows planned on the continent.
MoM: What did you have to do to adapt to the pandemic situation, i.e digital releases, videos, live streams?
AH: When it was clear we couldn’t go ahead with our album launch as planned, we pooled all the gear we had to put on a multi-cam live stream of the performance in full from our studio. Since then we’ve offered this as a service to other acts to continue connecting with fans, and keep live music going in whatever way we can.
GL: We’re looking forward to getting the Livestreams up and running again in the new year (lockdowns permitting!), and bands interested in putting on a show from our studio can find out everything they need to know at www.capsaarxstudios.com/live-stream/
MoM: You were organising the Power Metal Quest Fest Online this year for the first time? Tell us a little about that and how it differed to the normal festival itself?
Amie Chatterley: With the inevitable cancellation of this year’s Quest Fest, we knew we had to do something to celebrate. It takes a whole year to organise behind the scenes and so much time and effort goes into the festival, that we didn’t want to just cancel it entirely. The big difference with our Virtual Fest, is the obvious in that the bands weren’t on stage, but it’s been great to see how creative bands have been in getting together a pre-recorded set for the lineup. Not only that it was super fun being able to broadcast this live from the studio and allowed us to connect with our fantastic community.
AH: On the plus side, it helped us realise we could pull out some hidden broadcasting skills and adapt to the situation. Also, it allowed us to include more international acts that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
MoM: What are the plans Dakesis/Power Metal Quest Fest going forward in 2021? (Obviously as far as the pandemic allows)
GL: I suppose we’re finally making peace with the “New Normal”, and setting up for whatever shape the music industry is going to be in by 2021. We’ve all got little studio set-ups at home so that we can keep working on things and writing no matter what. So yeah, there are plans for new material.
AC: As Gemma mentions, now we have recording setups at home as well as our dedicated studio, we can be creative wherever we are and it makes it easier to adapt to how things are currently. As for Quest Fest, we’ve moved 2020 to 25th September 2021 and we’re forging ahead with plans despite the future of events being uncertain at this point.
Adam Harris: It’s strange when live music is all you’ve strived towards for half a lifetime, and suddenly it’s just not an option anymore. It’s now been well over a year since Dakesis has played live, which was unthinkable in the runup to the Fractures launch.
MoM: Were there any gigs/shows/events that you were particularly gutted to have missed?
GL: Losing our album launch was definitely the most difficult, along with UK and EU tours and festival dates - but as fans we also had tickets to so many really special shows - Nightwish in Amsterdam, Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air, Amie spent a small fortune getting me tickets for the MCR reunion show - we were taking the WomenOwaR drummer Josh to see Jethro Tull. It’s a lot. Life is very different without live music.
AH: This was the first year we haven’t been to Bloodstock in at least 13 years, and missing out on our pilgrimage to Wacken was very sad. So it’s been a tough summer! We’d all been looking forward to Mew’s ‘Glass Handed Kites’ tour, and I was off to see the Genesis reunion. Then, of course, there was our own tour with Fury, and some great shows planned on the continent.
MoM: What did you have to do to adapt to the pandemic situation, i.e digital releases, videos, live streams?
AH: When it was clear we couldn’t go ahead with our album launch as planned, we pooled all the gear we had to put on a multi-cam live stream of the performance in full from our studio. Since then we’ve offered this as a service to other acts to continue connecting with fans, and keep live music going in whatever way we can.
GL: We’re looking forward to getting the Livestreams up and running again in the new year (lockdowns permitting!), and bands interested in putting on a show from our studio can find out everything they need to know at www.capsaarxstudios.com/live-stream/
MoM: You were organising the Power Metal Quest Fest Online this year for the first time? Tell us a little about that and how it differed to the normal festival itself?
Amie Chatterley: With the inevitable cancellation of this year’s Quest Fest, we knew we had to do something to celebrate. It takes a whole year to organise behind the scenes and so much time and effort goes into the festival, that we didn’t want to just cancel it entirely. The big difference with our Virtual Fest, is the obvious in that the bands weren’t on stage, but it’s been great to see how creative bands have been in getting together a pre-recorded set for the lineup. Not only that it was super fun being able to broadcast this live from the studio and allowed us to connect with our fantastic community.
AH: On the plus side, it helped us realise we could pull out some hidden broadcasting skills and adapt to the situation. Also, it allowed us to include more international acts that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
MoM: What are the plans Dakesis/Power Metal Quest Fest going forward in 2021? (Obviously as far as the pandemic allows)
GL: I suppose we’re finally making peace with the “New Normal”, and setting up for whatever shape the music industry is going to be in by 2021. We’ve all got little studio set-ups at home so that we can keep working on things and writing no matter what. So yeah, there are plans for new material.
AC: As Gemma mentions, now we have recording setups at home as well as our dedicated studio, we can be creative wherever we are and it makes it easier to adapt to how things are currently. As for Quest Fest, we’ve moved 2020 to 25th September 2021 and we’re forging ahead with plans despite the future of events being uncertain at this point.
No comments:
Post a Comment