As the coronavirus pandemic continued to ravage the UK, Damon Albarn has mused on the future of the live music industry.
In a new interview with Sky News, the Gorillaz and Blur mastermind has contended that he believes artists should be allowed to perform amid the pandemic.
“If people are willing to perform, they should be allowed to,” Albarn argued. “No one should be forced to do anything, but if people are willing then somehow we can make it work so everyone can feel comfortable and participate.”
Whilst recognising that Gorillaz are “lucky we’ve always had our virtual world,” Damon Albarn is anxious about the future of the industry as a whole, and the impacts that the pandemic will have on the collective mental health — claiming that the coronavirus is “medical emergency but an existential one as well.”
Albarn continued: “You’ve got to allow music to continue. We are trying to preserve everyone’s health at the moment so passionately, we mustn’t ignore live music in that prescription.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Albarn criticised the UK government’s artist retraining media campaign. Early last month, a government-backed advertisement suggesting people working in the arts consider switching to a career in cybersecurity was unveiled. Naturally, the ad incited widespread backlash with the culture secretary described it as “crass”.
The ad depicts a ballet dancer tying her shoes, with the caption “Fatima’s next job could be in tech”. Those in the entertainment and art industry criticised the ad, citing that the coronavirus has decimated thousands of jobs in the culture sector.
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The ad arrived on the same day that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that it will share £257m in funding from its £1.57bn arts support package to 1,300 organisations and venues.
“It’s sadly something that has been in the DNA of all Conservative governments since Thatcher, the diminishing of the value of the arts, it’s very short sighted and really goes against something I feel extremely proud of,” Albarn said. “Our British identity is our creative industries and our creative history.”
Gorillaz released its latest project Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez on October 23rd.
