When did you first realise that COVID-19 was going to have an effect on your band?
Hey everyone Youssef here the frontman for Random Ties a heavy hitting rock band based in Detroit.
I remember February 27th we just finished recording our EP Believe and things were starting to slow down, shows getting cancelled but we also saw this as an importunity to work as individuals on our craft & write some new material.
Initially, what was that whole situation like, and how did your band overcome/react to it?
There’s still allot of unknown because the venues are struggling to open their doors for people to rock with us so we played in as many open air shows as we could & became more active on our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/randomtiesofficial/ to connect with our fans
How has your creative process changed as a band over the last couple of months?
There is so much going on around us globally good or bad and what better way for us to express our views or raise our voices against these issues via our music.
We released our latest single “Thawra” last month inspired by the deadly explosion that happened in Lebanon on August 4th that rocked the nation, leaving over 300,000 people displaced & thousands still missing or dead.
This humanitarian crisis really hit me hard, the blast is only second to the Hiroshima bomb, this prompted me to write “Thawra” & work with the uncredible Layal @Ipr1ncess who produced the video with the most authentic shots. We hope this song will shed light & raise awareness of what’s going on down there.
All proceeds will go towards supporting the Lebanese Red Cross so if you do decide to contribute would be to purchase the single via our Bandcamp page https://randomties.bandcamp.com/track/thawra & you can watch the video on https://youtu.be/fv9cC_iLZk4
What bands/artists have you been listening to over the last couple of months?
I’ve been listening to Chevelle & Stevie Ray Vaughn love the energy they bring to the table & two totally different styles.
So, what do you think you’ve learnt the most from being a band through COVID-19?
Never take anything for granted
What kind of effect do you think that it’s had on the music industry all together, and how excited are you to see it return to normal?
I think the music industry is the only one where if you consider us musicians as workers have a hard time getting paid for our music, we have no insurance no pensions while everything is streaming online for free & that’s great but we hardly see any money coming our way from these channels to cover our cost to make music while some of these platforms are worth billions today
What tips/advice would you like to give to other bands who are also going through this?
Be smart, manage your finances, take care of yourselves & family this too shall pass.