The pandemic has disrupted many industries, perhaps none as severely as live music.
International restrictions on travel and gatherings meant this year was mostly a write-off for live concerts and festivals.
Despite New Brunswick’s relatively successful pandemic response, the province was still subject to attendance restrictions and in-person distancing that prevented many venues and promoters from planning concerts.
Corey Bonnevie runs Monopolized Records in Saint John. He says the lack of social interaction had a deep impact on musicians.
“You’re not meeting new people. That’s a whole year or two that you’re not meeting new artists or new bands from outside of the province,” he said. “That’s a big reason to get involved in music.”
While many people found new outlets for creativity during various periods of quarantine in 2020, Bonnevie thinks a lack of community interaction stifled creative output.
“People get inspired by being out, and being active, and being in a community more than they get inspired sitting in their bedroom watching TV and movies all day,” he said. “It’s not the environment where your brain is really active.”
Bonnevie, who spends most of his time running the Monopolized recording studio, used the break to record an album he’d long been planning under the moniker Doctor Father Mother.
The label was also able to drop several digital-only releases, including a single from Saint John’s sadie, as well as EPs from Halifax’s Adam Mowery and Fredericton’s Jane Blanchard.
But he says very few artists looked for his services even when the province experienced a lull between the first two waves of the virus.
“I was trying to work with artists as much as I could, but the reality was I wasn’t allowed to because of restrictions and quarantine,” he said. “It felt like everyone was more or less saying ‘we’re just going to go on pause until we find a vaccine.'”
Without the ability to tour, Bonnevie says many musicians held off on releasing records. Most local bands make next to nothing from streaming services, and therefore rely on live appearances and merch sales in order to make any money from their work.
“I think 2020 made (some musicians) reassess being an artist,” said Bonnevie. “I know a lot of my peers did a lot better on CERB than if they were touring. Touring Canada especially is very expensive because every city is so far apart. It’s not easy.”
Saint John was lucky enough to see some live music thanks to low COVID-19 infections this year. Bonnevie cited shows by Quality Block Party as a highlight for local fans.
Unfortunately, he isn’t particularly optimistic that 2021 will solve all of the issues currently plaguing the local music scene.
It’s still unknown if or when venues will be able to book out-of-province acts, and the possibility remains that weeks or months of hard work planning a concert could be erased by a health zone being moved to the orange or red recovery phase.
He sees a possible best-case scenario of a future Atlantic bubble allowing local independent bands to plan limited tours next year.
In the meantime Bonnevie hopes to connect with more artists and record more projects.
“I personally wrote off (touring in) 2021 the same as 2020. For my mental health it’s just better to not plan anything until it’s for sure.”
