Yesterday, Sunday 19th July, singer-songwriter James Bay video chatted with Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett, who is also the owner of two London music venues including the highly successful Omeara. The focus of their discussion was, as Bay put it, on the “current music venue crisis we’re facing.”
Since the spread of Covid-19 called for social distancing and isolation measures around not only the country, but the world, the arts industries have suffered, with many grassroots venues closing permanently. As musicians themselves, Lovett and Bay feel passionately about this issue, but they also worry about their teams who might not be as well off, and other artists, such as new aspiring acts.
On this topic, they reminisced about their early careers, which both began as so many do, playing in small music venues. Lovett described this, saying it’s “a place to build up a bit of a fan base but it’s also a place to make mistakes.”
After expressing the urgency of supporting music venues, the pair looked at how to remain positive during this time, and what artists and fans can do to help. Bay recently performed a solo show at Omeara which followers watched via livestream, and he explained that although it feels strange playing without an audience, it’s important for venues to have the business. Although Bay’s gig was free to watch, and is still available on his YouTube channel, he is donating all the income from the video to the #SaveOurVenues campaign. So far, over £4k has been raised.
Taking place on 16th July, the singer played his famous hits along with new single ‘Chew On My Heart’, and included a message to viewers in the description box of the video. He wrote, “We must never live in a world where live music venues don’t exist. They are as important for the artist as they are for the countless visitors and of course the dedicated staff that devote themselves to running those rooms like clockwork.”
Fans are encouraged to watch the video back, and to donate to the campaign themselves, or to Lovett’s Crowdfunder page which was set up in May to fund the workers at Omeara and prevent its closure. Furthermore, Lovett opened his new venue, Lafayette, in February, which the campaign will also support.
Despite the worry that both Bay and Lovett are feeling, they did bring up a hopeful element in their video chat, with Lovett saying, “I think hope is important and we’ve been through a lot as human beings, and through everything music has come through the other side of it.”
