Pentagon Tales * Trasmissioni dal lockdown

Daoud Popal (Kikagaku Moyo)
Japan

1. Where are u right now?
Osaka, Japan

2. What’s happening in your country/city at the moment?
Are there any restrictions?Are venues/shops/bars opened?
The government don’t force but ask people to stay home.
So there is no legal restrictions but most shops are voluntarily closed.
Just recently, some of them are restarting their business.

3. Did u have any tour/gig planned before this Thing started?
Yes, two festival gigs were scheduled.

4. How this situation is reflecting on your everyday life?
Many of my musician friends have more time than before and that makes it possible to try a new ways of collaboration.

5. How the Music Community in your country/city is reacting?
Venues are launching crowd-funding projects. Musicians are seeking ways to make money from live streaming.
Promoters are throwing small outdoor parties. These are just a few examples but many people seem to think that it won’t be back to the way it was as some famous venues and clubs already went out of their business.
In short, the music community are learning through trial and error for the coming era.

6. Do u usually have any help from the Government if u’re
a musician in your country?Do musicians get money if they tour?
No. Not at all.
If you’re playing traditional music, maybe.

7. How the Government reacted?Did they think about the economical
loss and disaster the musicans are facing?
Traditionally, there is a lack of personal responsibility in Japanese politics.
There may be the positive side of bureaucracy, but it moves too slow in the time like this.
And I don’t feel they think about musicians’ loss.

8. What’s the social situation where u live?How people in general are
living these days?What’s the percentage of your friends that right
now is not working for this reason?
People are walking around local towns with social distance but downtown areas are close to empty.
Like 60 percents of my friends are suffering from reduction in income.
Some people enjoy working from home. I see many people, families and young couples, in parks. In my wishful thinking, this stay-home period improves the declining birthrate.

9. How’s reacting the Society and do u think after this will be over something will
change in the everyday life?Do u think people will change anything in their life?
In many ways, this thing just accelerates the already-existing changes, like remote working, streaming entertainments and dependence on e-commerce.
Furthermore, I think this will cause other kinds of irreversible changes, but I don’t know yet.

10. Is there anything u would raccomend to the people of the music world
during these hard times?
Learning new instruments. Hang with DJs if you are a band musician, or hang with instrumentalists if you are a DJ.

11. Is there any book/lp/movie u read/listened/watched recently that u would raccomend ?
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I read this a while ago, but it reveals mass psychology that becomes apparent in the time like this.