On this week’s episode of Jetlag, we talk to radio presenter Nic Shields who has just returned to Australia after a stint living in the U.A.E.
He takes us through the experience of passing through the airport in Dubai, what the flight was like, what it was like landing in Australia and what happened when they shuttled everyone away to strictly enforced quarantine in a local hotel.
We meet Nic on day 11 of his quarantine in Melbourne, just moments after he received his second Covid-19 test.
We ask all the questions that will be on the mind of anyone who might have to go through this scenario: Do you get to leave the hotel? Do you have any windows? Can you order and accept deliveries? What is the food they provide like? Do they cater to dietary requirements? How regular are the government in touch with you?
And perhaps the most important question of all: how are you coping with the isolation and what’s the first thing you’ll be doing when you get out of quarantine?
We’ll answer all your questions here in this special episode of Jetlag.
In the second episode of Jetlag’s second season, Andrew Smith and Larry Heath sit down with Kodi McKinney from Marauder, a boutique music marketing firm with a focus on developing emerging talent within North America.
While he was at home in New York, we talked about how the Covid-19 Pandemic is affecting live music venues – with McKinney revealing that up to 90% of U.S. locations are at risk of closing due to their inability to operate. In some cases – like with Boston’s iconic Great Scott, which has closed after 44 years in operations – it’s already too late.
The travel podcast Jetlag has returned for a second season, its first episodes in more than two years, to bring to light different stories from an industry at a standstill due to a global pandemic.
In this episode, co-hosts Andrew Smith and Larry Heath are joined by Liam Clifford, the CEO and Founder of Howl Around Entertainment Group – someone who normally spends his year on the road heading up the production work for international touring acts.
Based in LA, Liam has worked with acts like Post Malone, Charlie Puth, FKJ, Hailee Steinfeld, Elle King, Bishop Briggs, Sheppard & more.
Clifford talks about his busy 2019, travelling around the world, and how until early March, his 2020 was shaping up even bigger – and how the collapse of his industry caught him off guard.
“We were the first industry to go…. we thought that the touring industry was the one recession proof industry. We were always under the impression that we would never get shut down ever. That nothing could affect us. And then this happened.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that 9 billion dollars is likely to be wiped from the sector third year due to a lack of normal ticket sales. In Australia, $340 million was lost from the sector in the space of a little more than a month – and that was only counting the people who registered their losses at site called I Lost My Gig.
And that’s not from just musicians, but that includes production, crew, hospitality workers, tour managers, ticket sellers, booking agents & many more…
Looking ahead to a post-Covid economy, we ask what live music touring looks like moving forward. How long is it going to be until we can get back to seeing our favourite bands in live venues around the world? And what will a company like Howl Around do in the meantime?
For more about Howl Around Entertainment, visit their official website.
Both financial support and mental health resources for professionals in the music industry can be found in Australia through Support Act. In Canada, contact the Unison Benevolent Fund. In the UK, there’s Help Musicians for financial support and Music Minds Matter for 24/7 mental health support. In the US there are initiatives like MusiCares, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, and HAAM – which is specifically for Austin based musicians.
If you have the resources to do so, please lend your support to these organisations. And if you need the help, they’re there for you.
Photo of Howl Around Entertainment’s production work with acclaimed artist Bishop Briggs, provided by Howl Around Entertainment.
