Why this summer has sucked for musicians and creatives
By Becky Pepper
I’m thinking about September, and the start of school and opening of concert seasons. This term heralds the run up to Christmas, which is normally one of the busiest times of year as a musician and certainly for myself, as a brass player. This means a sense of reflection over the summer that has been; a sense of endings and new beginnings. Rebecca, the host of TMDTA recently posted about her summer had been a tough one for her mentally. This got me thinking about my summer and how everytime I am asked I feel like this hasn’t been a normal or “proper” summer break.
It seems odd to me that I am saying this in the summer of 2022, when certainly the summer of 2020 wasn’t, well, great. Everyone had a different pandemic and certaily no one was unaffected. It changed us and our society in ways that we are only really starting to understand now. Certainly us musicians had a rough deal and our freelance creative colleagues in theatre, production and journalism suffered hard too. Many of us didn’t qualify for SEISS (self employed support) and furlough only covered fully employed contracted jobs. For the 40 hours per week I had been working at the start of 2020, I was furloughed for roughly 12. Many people had to go onto Universal Credit. If they couldn’t receive that, like myself, finding another job was the only answer. This all definitively, sucked. However, here’s the weird thing. Somehow in all the adversity there was a fighting community spirit. There were some terrible lows but it was like it was the one time we could be open about it and ask the question of who we are without the instrument, without a musical career. Things were bad, but for everyone. Then in 2021, the concert halls were open but things were still socially distanced and there was a feel of, “we’re not quite there yet”. We were fully expecting things to be slow and to feel different.
Roll on this summer and it feels like the world is open for business. My family are all 100% back to their regular working lives (and salaries) and people are travelling and enjoying the world again. This is amazing and I didn’t realise how much I enjoyed travelling for work and leisure. However, besides one amazing concert with the youth orchestra I tutor for, I have had no gigs this summer. Absolutely none. It is hard to keep the faith when this summer most of my income has come from my waitressing ‘side job’. The job that was meant to be for 2020 only to cover the gap but somehow has still been a necessity. This means I and many others are still questioning whether we are ‘true musicians’ and what the future holds for our profession. Cue the imposter syndrome and the doubts. This time, however, we’re alone. Everything is normal now, right?
Some of us, however, have been busier than ever, however. My husband has been out 3 times a week, doing gigs across the country, with his own band and depping, mostly for weddings and corporate events and even Heart Radio. Many of my friends have had a lot of success this summer with “Ibiza Classics orchestra” and “party proms” style events.
This brings an added pressure of its own; to not turn down the work and “make hay while the sun shines”, to travel further to diversify more and most of all to be cheerful doing it. After two years of not having summers like this, the toll physically and mentally of suddenly taking this workload on again must be acknowledged. We well know that the long distance travel and eating on the road, as well as the ‘going for drinks’ culture after gigs aren’t exactly the best way to a healthy mindful lifestyle. The changes to your schedule and routine are enough to unseat anyone, let alone those already struggling with a mental illness or disorder.
This just highlights deeper the issues between the “popular” set and the classical traditionalism that seems to have struggled, and continues to not be adapting to the new normal. It’s hard to feel excitement and security when there are clearly cracks that haven’t been shored up in our industry. My diary is still a lot emptier than it was in 2019 and I know I’m not alone. I am hopeful for the entrepreneurs and diversifiers, who are taking music in a new direction. Podcasts, like TMDTA are so important. Uncertainty is one of the worst things for triggering mental health issues as everyone discovered in 2020. However, it’s important to remember that many of us are still living with it. Power to those who are creating their own opportunities and rebuilding our community.
Together, we’ve got this.
Becky has always been fascinated with instrumental music, especially low brass, and she is passionate about sharing that with others. This led her to create the online store Trumpet_Trombone to share resources and arrangements for brass instruments for everyone.
Becky gained her degree on trombone at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, studying with Bob Hughes (RSNO, Philharmonia, LSO) and Ed Jones (CBSO)
Becky lives in the East Midlands, with her husband and partner in the Shuebruk Duo, Sean. They share the house with a variety of pets including Buster the cat, Buddy the Giant African Land Snail and a collection of tropical fish!