In a Pandemic
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: Shows Are Still Canceling
How are things going for you since we last talked? We had our third break in at (my restaurant) Life on Mars. I now have an alarm. The funny thing about me not having an alarm, is that when I moved to Washington in 1991, I sold burglar alarms for three years. I know how shitty they can be with false alarms and everything, so I was like ‘I don’t want an alarm.’ But this time we had a pro job. They came in through the back door, got into the office, took our portable P.O.S. devices and multiple laptops. The other times people broke in, they didn’t get much. This time they got us bad. We’ve got insurance and all that but there is still a deductible. It’s not cheap. It is a pain the ass and I am still dealing w...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: No-Show Rates Are 20-30%
What were your thoughts when you saw Bonnaroo was canceled? That was so brutal because that’s not even COVID that f–ked it. It was mother nature. People talk about Bonnaroo cancelling and are like, “Oh yeah. That sucks.” But they don’t think about the ripple effect. It’s massive. Bands are all routed around Bonnaroo and this impacts all those shows. They just got pummeled too. All the bus drivers, the lighting rig techs, and everyone lost jobs. It’s Manchester, Tennessee. That’s probably a huge economic driver for that city. It’s devastating. There were bands that were looking at that gig and thinking, “That’s going to pay my rent.” All those people are on-site building it out and they just got pummeled. Putting somethi...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: Delta ‘Just the Beginning’ If Vaccinations Don’t Improve
How was Record Store Day? Much, much better than June. That wouldn’t take a whole lot, but it went smoothly. There were very few hiccups. There were a couple of titles from June that were bumped to July that the distributor missed, but I caught that early enough thanks to some of my coalition friends who I quickly asked, “Do have these titles?” And they all resoundingly answered yes, and so I realized I had a problem and they were able to fix it. So that was good. And compared to June, it was a minor blip. It sounds like everything went really well. Were you able to do sort of the full enchilada, in the sense of offering all the fun stuff for people waiting in line? For both the June and July date we poured beer and we had either doughnuts or bacon outside, so that was de...
Event Designer Bobby Garza In Austin, In a Pandemic: Cash-Poor Venues Have Decisions to Make
When the concert business shut down in March 2020, Bobby Garza abruptly shifted from putting on live events to tearing them down — his company, Austin-based Forefront Networks, had to cancel the California food-and-music festival Yountville Live later that month. In early April, his life changed even more dramatically: Forefront furloughed 30 percent of its staff, including him. As part of Billboard‘s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Garza, a 44-year-old former Forefront creative team leader who used to be general manager of festival producer Transmission Events, every other week to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. As of early January, he is now vice president of programs and community ...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We Have Decided Not to Apply’ for Federal Assistance
Now that cases are going down, we’ve had a lot of states lifting restrictions, including in California. I’m wondering if you’ve seen any restrictions on retail establishments being lifted or relaxed at all? Nothing for retail, but there have been quite a few modifications of some of the gathering regulations, as well as some initial conversations about reopening schools. So there’s certainly some movement towards reopening, but nothing that specifically impacts us. Last time, we talked about government assistance, and you said you might qualify for something. Have you figured out what you might be eligible for at this point? We’re eligible to apply, [but] so far, we have decided not to apply because we don’t need it as much as others do. So for now, that...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody Realizes We’re at a Critical Point for Retail’
We talked last time about how December is a really important month for you. How has business been the last couple of weeks? It’s been good. Madison has a very strong ‘buy local’ spirit, and we’re really feeling that love this year. In addition, so many customers, either on the phone or in person, are asking how we’re doing with genuine concern. I think everybody realizes that we’re at a critical point for retail and restaurants and local establishments, and everybody is hoping that their favorites will stay. That’s really heartening to hear, especially now with the pandemic, when it’s a lot more convenient and, I guess, safer for people to buy online or on Amazon. We definitely feel that in our business. I hesitate who I say this to, but the ...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody’s on the Extreme End of Being Tired’
How did Record Store Day go on Saturday? It went really well. The same sort of pattern that we had with the first date worked well and seamlessly, and people were happy. And we did a give away five cases of New Belgium beer, [which] made people happy as well. What were some of your big sellers? Brandi Carlile is this year’s Record Store Day ambassador, and she had a 12-inch that had two covers of Soundgarden songs. That was a really big seller for us. The Bill Evans was a big seller. There was the release by the Yardbirds that did really well. One of the last times we spoke, we talked about how we couldn’t see businesses including retail getting shut down again given that people are so used to having more freedom now. But Wisconsin is becoming a really big hotspot for the ...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘People Are Cautiously Optimistic and Pleasantly Surprised’
Store owner Angie Roloff says her store and other independent record shops have done better than expected during the pandemic. In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened the store. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover th...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We’re Only About 10% Down for the Year’
In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened Strictly Discs in a limited capacity. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Roloff regula...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: It Can Cost a Venue $60,000 a Month to Be Closed
As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Severin every two weeks to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. (Read the last installment here and see the full series here.) {“nid”:”9430226″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Indie Venues and...
Audio Engineer Kesha Lee in Atlanta, in a Pandemic: ‘I’m Getting to the Place Where I’m Wanting to Create’
Lee was planning to travel for audio engineer work when her car broke down — now, she’s collaborating with a local songwriter on her own music. Since getting her start through a chance meeting with Gucci Mane, Atlanta-based audio engineer Kesha Lee has worked on chart-toppers like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and is now the go-to audio engineer for rappers including Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert. She spent the past two-and-a-half years working on Uzi’s Eternal Atake album in the artist’s native Philadelphia, before it was released on March 6 — mere weeks before the near-national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus began. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover ...
