The Belgian band Wör usually makes folk music with passion. But in the Corona crisis Wör is also shaken by the lock-down. They have to postpone their recordings and have time for fundamental thoughts.
Culture is not essential
In Belgium non-essential jobs are on hold and unfortunately culture is consider non-essential. This means that all our concerts are either canceled or postponed.
We were actually caught off-guard when the government imposed a lockdown. We first thought that it was for a couple of weeks, but now it seems that there is no end.
Well off course all are gigs where canceled and for musicians to stay at home for so long is a huge change in our social life. The positive side is that we get to spend more time with our partners and kids.
Recordings are postponed
We are coping with the crisis one day at the time. Luckily we all have other jobs, so our income doesn’t change to much. We had to postpone our 3D CD recording which was planned 2 weeks ago. We will now record it end of may and this will give us enough time to have it ready for the initial release date which is in October.
Peoples priorities have changed. Work is no longer on the top of the list. We take advantage of this time to do things we that were repressed by work, such as gardening, long walks, exercise, …
We have several organizations here that offer help. The government gives a certain amount of money to all businesses and self-employed to fill the gap. And we cannot thank enough our health care employees for going the extra miles.
Fear and courage
We are afraid of, that this will take longer then hoped. This virus may never go away and this would be devastating for the culture scene here in Belgium.
The fact that the whole world is looking for a solution, gives us courage. We are literally all in this together and to see that so many people around the world stand by each other is beautiful to see.
Thoughts about live
The future is going to be different than expected. We will certainly change the way we behave, but we can put this whole crisis in our advantage. We can see this as a hard reboot and start over on a lot of things we were doing wrong all this time.
This crisis is asking a lot from us, but we will overcome this. And when the time is there, we will return even stronger than before. In a strange way this situation gives us the chance to reflect on our lives and if necessary change it for the best.
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