Apodcalypse: Arts, Interrupted

 

Well, it finally happened. It only took a dangerous pandemic to make everyone and their mother think that they should start a podcast. Now, we at Arts, Interrupted would never shame those who want to creatively express themselves, but let’s all keep in mind who’s already been doing it (it’s us).

 

I hope you didn’t think we’d let a silly little shelter-in-place order keep us from making the Michigan Daily’s premier arts and culture podcast. Don’t worry, all scripting and recording took place over Google Hangouts and voice memos. If I’m being honest though, this episode might just be one for the books (if only because it was recorded from quarantine.) This episode is also apart of the very special series Apodacalypse. You can find all the episodes here!

 

In this episode, the team focused on how members of the entertainment industry, especially touring musicians, have been impacted by the pause in culture as a result of coronavirus. To get their facts straight, Sam and Emily went straight to the source and chatted with Alex Stoitsiadis of not-so-local-anymore punk group Dogleg. 

 

Stoits, as he is better known, got into the highs and lows of putting out the band’s critically acclaimed debut album Melee (give it a listen, it’ll melt your face off) and receiving praise and celebration, to in a matter of days having their tour and numerous festival dates canceled or postponed. 

 

 

Like most musicians, Stoits and the band depend heavily on touring to earn their income and fear the financial and career consequences that these cancellations bring about. Hope, however, hasn’t been entirely lost in these communities. Fans and industry leaders alike have been doing what they can to support these artists. Online music marketplace Bandcamp, for example, had a day where they waived their artist fees, allowing these musicians to profit as much as possible from any merch or music sold through the platform.

 

In spite of the stress, uncertainty, and isolation that we’ve all been experiencing to some extent, an especially bright spot has been the connection maintained through live-streamed performances. Performers from just about every genre have taken to their livestream platforms of choice and giving extremely unplugged concerts. Ben Gibbard, Weyes Blood, and Dogleg, to name a few. These shows have managed to keep live shows, one of the most magical experiences we can have, alive throughout this dismal time.

 

This episode effectively concludes this season of Arts, Interrupted, but we’ll be back before you know it in the fall! 

 

This episode was brought to you by content producers Emily Ohl, Max Rosenzweig, and Avin Katyal, audio producer Will Pederson, audio engineer Spencer Harris, music by Ben Schrier, and of course, last and so very much not least, our fearless leader, executive producer, Sam Small. Special thanks to Alex Stoitsiadis and Dogleg for providing some commentary and tunes for this episode.

 

Thanks for listening! See you soon.