The pandemic sweeping the nation has had a disastrous impact to the livelihood of many U.K citizens, specifically those in the music and entertainment industry.

With no gigs to play and no crowds allowed to gather to support, young and aspiring musicians are struggling to find a way to make a career.

Moving their career digitally is just not an option for some and the lack of creativity stemming from being confined to their homes is starting to take its toll.

Molly Gribble, aged 21, singer of the upcoming band Fuzzy Lop, has experienced these struggles first hand.

When asked how they are coping with putting out their music online she said:

“We have tried a couple of live streams, but we don’t have the technical ability to deal with it.”

With no help and support from the government, Molly, like many other musicians, is angry and looking for answers.

Following the release of the new Government posters encouraging people in the arts to ‘retrain’, Molly said:

“How dare they! During lockdown, I dare everyone to go a month without watching Netflix or listening to music.

Everything people turned to in lockdown was art and music.”

There has even been a quiz released for people working in the arts to take to give them new career options: https://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/central-government/direct-employer/?CMP=PPC_JOBS_GGL_&msclkid=1b3abb2da937164b91cddb39d03a4305&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UK%20%7C%20Sectors%20%7C%20Gold%20%7C%20Government%20%26%20Politics%20%7C%20BMM&utm_term=%2Bgovernment%20%2Bjobs&utm_content=UK%20%7C%20Sectors%20%7C%20Gold%20%7C%20Government%20%26%20Politics%20%7C%20Government%20Jobs%20%7C%20BMM

Paul Michael, a 21-year-old pop and R ‘n’ B singer/songwriter from Glasgow has sang music from the age of four and is now working his way into a music career.

Paul has had to be creative throughout the pandemic to keep himself and his career going and has not found it easy, Paul said:

“I think the hardest part of lockdown is having nobody behind you.

I’ve been wanting to get into a recording studio for months and I’ve just had to learn how to produce on my own and figure out how to do these different things.

I’ve noticed a dip in my energy since I stopped [singing live] just because of the energy you get off of a crowd, knowing they are there to see you.

There really is so much you can pull from a live audience.”

Paul has not found the transition to doing his work online easy, so, has turned to producing, he expressed:

“The themes of the songs I’ve been writing are very dark.

But, a lot of the stuff I’ve written post lockdown, as come into a more Charlie Puth style whereas before, it was more acoustic guitar.

Throughout lockdown, I’ve done this myself so it actually has helped because I’m learning and starting to produce more.”

Lockdown is also making it hard for newer artists to expand their career.

Upcoming bands, like Fuzzy Lop, rely on live music venues hosting smaller artists so that they can build a wider fan base, Molly told us,

“Festivals are the best place to find new bands because you might not pay to go and see a random band in Glasgow but you’ll go to a festival because you like half of the line-up and you discover a bunch of bands you love.”

Regardless of the unsupportive Government and the trials a pandemic makes; musicians are not turning off the microphone just yet.

Molly and her band look forward to playing live gigs again, hoping one day to be the next big festival headliner.

 Paul is working on producing more of his own music for his next Christmas project, look out for ‘Paul-mas’!

Click here to go to the full interview to hear more on Paul Michaels Story: