With one tweet, musician Brendan Maclean encapsulated what many artists feel is the Australian government’s attitude towards them:
*australia catches on fire*
— Brendan Maclean (@macleanbrendan) March 14, 2020
GOVERNMENT: Let us turn to our artists, performers and song makers to raise funds for the masses.
*pandemic spreads to australia*
GOVERNMENT: Here everyone, have a stimulus package. Except artists, fuck you guys lol.
The Australian arts industry has called for an emergency industry support package in the wake of tens of thousands of lost events, from book launches to art show openings to tours. In the meantime, artists such as Maclean – who has a Patreon account through which subscribers can receive exclusive content without leaving their isolation pods – have come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to promote their work.
The artists acknowledge that these endeavours have little chance of bringing in any real income beyond the odd grocery shop. But they also don’t want to see months, or even years, of hard work wasted. Here are some of their solutions.
Batts: make bespoke things for your fans
Singer-songwriter Batts saw her autumn dates – including a potentially career-changing showcase at SxSW – fall through, as well as her casual job as front of house at a theatre. Now, she is taking requests to record cover songs. For a minimum of $20, she’ll send you a file. One kid requested a cover of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army because his birthday party was cancelled.
“Ninety per cent of the songs I’ve been sent I haven’t ever heard,” she says. “So I’m learning them from scratch.”
Batts is doing this through her email – contactbatts@gmail.com – but another avenue would be OnlyFans – the subscription service intended for musicians, but which has become more associated with adult performers. Then there’s Zoom: cartoonist Brett Bower is using it to connect with events or individuals, to draw caricatures of them in real time.
Fuqpablo: film your show and host it online
Regional drag night Queer Space is shooting eight episodes of Queerantine, to be released weekly.
“If this is something that people find interesting, and it hits our intended goal of breaching the gap between regional people and artists in larger cities, as well as (hopefully) providing income to our artists, then it will most definitely continue,” says founder Fuqpablo.
They’ll shoot in a Sydney warehouse, inviting performers from the east coast to perform to camera, and isolated people to send in their own tapes. “We’ll then edit the footage together,” says Fuqpablo, “so that it’s just like being in a small bar watching an independent artist perform.”
Simon Hughes: livestream comedy – and make do without the laughs
Live comedy is reliant on laughs. Some artists are producing comedy that isn’t stand-up – such as Jenny Wynter’s new podcast Talk to Me that’s monetised via Patreon – while others, such as Melbourne’s Kings of Comedy, are offering to perform shows to strictly limited live audiences (with plenty of space between seats), and then livestream that to a much larger online audience.
King of Comedy founder Simon Hughes says, “Our main motivation now is to help people with laughter from the safety of their own room.”
Livestreaming is a popular approach for all genres: Tim Ellis’ nightly chat show will feature magicians from around the world (you can donate via the tip jar), amd Iranian-Australian band Gelareh Pour’s Garden’s free gig on April 2 will give punters the option of supporting the band (whose tour was cancelled) and donating to Unicef, by buying albums.
Surry Hills Live were funded by the City of Sydney to create and promote local live gigs in the suburb’s pubs – which have been cancelled. “Instead of depriving the artists of their fees, we have decided to run the event online as a live streaming experience,” said publican Dean Francis.
Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, meanwhile, is selling tickets to weekly concerts that will feature Melbourne classical artists such as Greta Bradman, Calvin Bowman, Stefan Cassomenos and Zoe Knighton.
For anyone considering livestreaming, artist and writer Madeleine Little – who has made a video about the effects Covid-19 has on disability arts – reminded the Guardian that people should caption their videos or provide Auslan interpreters and image descriptions.
Kirsten Krauth: launch your book online
Author Kirsten Krauth’s second novel, Almost a Mirror, is out in April, and took seven years to write. “This is usually a time to celebrate,” she says. “Watching those dreams evaporate has been tough going. I felt despondent and then realised so many people are in the same boat. Why not channel that disappointment into a Facebook group where people can promote their work, do virtual book launches, invite readers and celebrate with each other?”
Within two days, Authors Go Forth. Launch. Promote. Party had 725 members. “Bloggers and podcasters have already called out to authors,” she says. “With self-isolation, online communities will be at the fore, a place to feel nurtured. All of this also will mean more time to read!”
Skill-swap with your community
Facebook communities are also springing up to tackle the devastation head-on. Take these two communities going by almost identical names: ArtsTasker started by dancer/choreographer/director Leah Howard, is for artists to offer their other skills, from baking to driving, Air Tasker style; and Arts Tasker, set up by theatre producer Leila Enright among others, which is a networking site for artists wanting to use their enforced downtime to develop their work with each other’s help.
Then there’s Australian Arts amidst Covid-19, in which artists share useful information such as how to livestream, and how galleries can get art online.
Brendan de la Hay: create how-to videos
Performance artist and costumier Brendan de la Hay lost all his upcoming shows and TV gigs. “I am lingering in complete limbo, so I’ve started creating ‘how to’ videos for the socials, encouraging people to complete procrastinated tasks at home, from furniture renovations to hat building, costume creation to makeup tutorials” he says.
“The series is called ‘Build it Like B’ and I’m aiming to release a video every few days. I’ll then be selling these creations, plus my usual costume/fashion collection.” This will take the place of his outrageous bi-annual Sydney Costume Sale, which has a committed audience, but which this year won’t be able to go ahead.
Start workshops, or become a teacher
Conductor and music educator Ingrid Martin’s YouTube channel Conducting Artistry is catering to the thousands of music students and teachers in isolation. She’s posting free #rehearsalhomealone content. It’s not designed as an immediate income generator but she says it will help build her audience and subscribers.
After losing $15,000 worth of work in four days, author and journalist Catherine Deveny spent one hectic day learning how to create an online writers’ course – she already hosts in-person writing workshops. She’s releasing one lesson a day with a pay-what-you-can afford model.
Deveny is already astonished by the amount of donations, but her motivation was not money. “It was to be useful during an unsettling time. ‘Do what you can, where you are, with what you have’ is the saying.”
Turn your festival into a virtual festival
The annual IronFest Gothic Festival was to be held in Lithgow in April. Now it’s moving online – and there’s even a Facebook marketplace for the vendors. “We had expected to attract in excess of 20,000 people,” says one organiser, Macgregor Ross. “We’ve taken a very big financial hit.” He estimates that they’ll livestream about 60 per cent of their program on Facebook. “We’re unable to see a way that we can monetise the event, other than maybe having a ‘donate’ button,” says Ross, “and as we don’t really know how much we’ve lost at this time we can’t pay any of the participants or organisers.”
One artist on the bill, choreographer Annalouise Paul, says their efforts are appreciated. “I’ve had three festivals cancel and have lost my weekly teaching, which amounts to $31,000 in lost income. The impact is financial but it’s also about building a sustainable career. If there are insufficient ways to build visibility and capacity for independent arts practice, then this can be seen as another setback.”
Elsewhere, Anywhere Festival was to be held across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa in May. Now organiser Paul Osuch is using the website to promote livestreamed performances, with a focus on local artists. Yarra Valley writers’ festival will be livestreamed in early May.
Kira Puru: lobby while you wait
Singer-songwriter Kira Puru used Twitter to challenge radio stations to prioritise Australian musicians – and individual presenters tweeted back that they would indeed alter their playlists.
A CHALLENGE to Australian radio stations to play mostly/exclusively Aussie artists to jack up our royalties while we wait for our gigs to pick up again! 1 small, literally free way to aid local artists?
— Kira Puru (@kirapuru) March 17, 2020
Who’s in? @triplej ? @TripleMSydney ? @fbiradio ? @kiis1011 ? @DoubleJRadio
Puru, who had a festival tour fall through, says the response is uplifting. “Even if big changes can’t be made to radio programming, I do believe that it’s a poignant time to be centring the work of local artists and small businesses. Thinking local is a simple and easily implemented change that could have a potent ripple effect.”
Bek Lambert runs Freelance Jungle, with many of its 6,000+ members working in creative industries. “When the stimulus came down, people were in a state of disbelief,” she says. Lambert started a petition, now with more than 5,000 signatures, which aims to get freelancers and sole operators recognised in the stimulus. “Bluntly, if we don’t get serious support of some kind, I have no idea what will happen next,” she says.
Julia Robinson from the Australian Festival Association and Emily Collins from the Australian Music Industry Network launched I Lost My Gig for Australian artists; so far, it has tallied $150m in lost revenue from cancelled events. Those who leave details of their gig losses will be connected with funding opportunities and other support as they come. ILMG will also supply the stats to the Government.
Maybe a quarantined nation will be a nation that turns to the arts. As dance artist Tanya Voges, who has lost all forthcoming choreography work, put it to the Guardian: “I’m hoping that those who are able to work from home with their regular income are able to get a taste of art in new ways, as it will not only have the potential to enrich their lives but support artists in their community.”
