GUTS PIE EARSHOT – CORONA – UPDATE – 2021
(english version )
We will not (be able to) give any concerts in 2021!
But we still dream of being able to continue: A life as musicians… We don’t want to give it up just like that.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT…
We are aware that there are so many projects that need help right now, and we are glad to know that there will hopefully be times when we can support them again through our solidarity with concerts and other things…
but nevertheless this is for the time being an „official“ call for support and help to support us financially…
but one after another…:
On 1 February 2020 was our last concert.
When we cancelled a concert on 12 March 2020, we didn’t realise that our reality would change so drastically and for such a long time.
In May 2020, our assessment was that there would be no concerts in 2020 and we decided to look forward to a new start in May 2021.
Financially, we couldn’t foresee how it would all turn out, because after the initial euphoria over the quick first Corona aid at the end of March, it soon became clear that all other aid would pass us by and that we wouldn’t get through the year without support through donations and applications, i.e. only with merchandise and some stream concerts.
Luckily for us, thanks to donations and a Berlin funding programme, we somehow managed to get through this year until the end of 2020.
But now it’s clear to us: we won’t be able to live off our concert income in 2021 either, because there simply won’t be any. And if there are, it won’t be to the extent that we can survive and make a living as a band.
Live musicians survive in these times only by trying their hand at completely different profiles: Textile salesmen, producers, copywriters, market shouters, video artists etc…. that’s all not bad, it’s fun sometimes… but that’s not what we’re good at, it’s not what we’ve been dealing with and developing over the last 30 years. In addition, we are suddenly expected to know a lot about financial tax law, application letters, etc… We have applied for subsidies and now, according to the government’s will, this should be the basis of our existence.
We are now taking the daring step:
We are not planning any concerts for this year.
We hope that we can then kick off with a tour in May 2022 and give it all back to you in the form of music and energy!
The initial shockdown in 2020 had led to some streaming requests and concerts. People booked concerts with us for the future, donations were high and the perceived lack of concerts combined with the awareness of what was happening carried us for a while.
A lot was organised by clubs that were still intact, thinking that we all just had to bridge a certain manageable period of time……
That is different now.
We are now facing an even more difficult situation than in March 2020.
Our reserves have been used up and other means and possibilities have also been exhausted. Support for artists is no longer a topic for the daily news and the government’s „New Start Culture“ offers no perspective for bands like us, but mostly only partial funding for a single project.
Many clubs are struggling to survive, there are practically no concrete requests, and stream concerts have become uninteresting. Whether festivals will actually take place and in what setting remains to be seen, we are sceptical…
If the financial support was as good as the advice we were able to get as a band, then we wouldn’t have a problem.
But even after intensive consultation, it is clear that neither the November/December aid nor the new start-up aid is an option for us.
Since we as a band are a GbR, rules apply to us in this case as they do to normal companies, so the only way is through tax offices, and by the way we also found out: we are not so-called „solo self-employed“.
And anyway, in this help jungle, the concept that people have 2 or 3 mainstays to survive does not come up, people can only apply for help for one thing at a time. And so on… There are pages we could write about this,
but others have done that very well, sometimes with sarcasm, sometimes with resignation, sometimes with sheer rage…. But as is often the case: what is communicated is not what is (or can be) implemented in the end, and despite hope, one is left empty-handed.
So the conclusion of our advisor:
Don’t wait, don’t hope for any possible state aid, it won’t come and if it does, they’ll get their money back somehow.
See if you have a community that supports you. Try to generate regular and reliable income with the help of online tools like Patreon.
We have a hard time with Patreon, which is a community based tool that promises exclusive content to registered „club members“. ….
We are looking for a simple and nice alternative that offers the possibility to make regular donations in an uncomplicated way, until then there is only paypal, where you can also make regular monthly payments:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/gutspie
(or ask us for our bank account details)
In return we will do what we have wanted for a long time and what many have been asking for:
FINALLY RECORD A NEW ALBUM!
This has always fallen by the wayside due to live performances, as well as developing new songs… this is now the opportunity! Ideas are there and the first step has been taken.
One good thing has come out of Corona: Besides the time we have for developing new pieces, we can now do it much more easily with time and peace of mind thanks to the technology we had to acquire because of Corona.
So we’ve started recording, each at our own place, we send the stuff to each other and then record more tracks, back and forth… and then we want to be ready to perfect the pieces in the studio at the end of this year.
We have already finished a first project, the piece is a kind of musical processing of the depressive gloomy mood in this time as well as the constantly burgeoning hope and longing to escape the feeling.
Among others with a singer friend #LisaGarciaVeit with lyrics to exactly this above mentioned feeling.
The song will be released on the „20 years of Lucha Amada“ sampler, but also in advance as a download in different versions on Bandcamp:
https://gutspieearshot.bandcamp.com/album/mango-stadt
We hope you like the new track and that it makes you want more!
all in all: it’s a mega tragedy and we are on the verge of despair, because there is no good way for us so far.
Nevertheless, we continue and hope to find a way through it without giving up. and look forward to a time „afterwards“.
Feel free to share this post, tell other people about it… and then we look forward to hopefully Live 2022!
Until then we will also think about other formats with interactive streams or something similar, because…
we miss you… the concerts, the stage.
All the best, stay healthy and in solidarity,
Jean and Patrick.