Kevin Bronson on March 23rd, 2020

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How are artists managing during the COVID-19 lockdown? Today, Buzz Bands LA launches QUARANTUNES, a daily series in which we have a (long-distance) conversation with local musicians, find out how they are coping with #StayAtHome and ask them to share a playlist — you know, because sharing music is something everyone can still do.

THE LATEST FROM SLIP

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Brown released his debut album as Slip in November. Titled “The Cost,” it’s a work of heady alternative rock with, as it turns out, a somewhat prescient worldview. Stream it here:

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

Taylor Brown: I’ve become great friends with solitude over the course of my life, so part of me was born for quarantine. I miss, you know, living my life, but I feel like I’m doing pretty well treading water as far as my sanity is concerned. Not sure I’d be maintaining without my dog, though. And if you were on the fence before, the time to adopt or foster a dog is right now. You get companionship and at least a hint of routine all rolled into one.

If it weren’t for COVID-19, I’d be facing the long, mind-numbing road back from South by Southwest right now. Then some early April tour dates playing with Low Hum. Instead, I’m mostly holing up in my garage studio and being extremely online. My phone told me how my daily screen time has skyrocketed this week, it’s not good.

I recently bought a Wurlitzer, too, and I’m playing for a couple hours a day, so I’m hoping to come out of this indefinite slog with chops like Bill Murray at the end of “Groundhog Day.” We are basically in “Groundhog Day” except it rains sometimes.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

Taylor Brown: I’m just hoping we come out of this having collectively learned our lessons as societally-bound human beings. We’ve got to work together and help each other out more. That’s the only way we’ll keep fewer people from dying — not just during this crisis, but in the future, too. People are losing their jobs en masse, and their healthcare along with it. During a pandemic. The irony is doused in pure cruelty. Healthcare should not be tied to your employment or your income. It makes zero fucking sense. It’s a basic human right and we don’t have that in America.

The pillars that prop up our institutions are flimsy and illusory. We’re seeing them crumble in real time. We have nothing in place to make sure people will survive this — not just with their lives but also with their livelihoods. Our lives are in the hands of politicians who are now rushing to pass legislation just to set up the safety net that should have already been there in the first place. And who actually has faith in them to get it right? We’re up against the clock. The end of the month is already here, and people don’t know how they’re going to make rent or pay a mortgage. And let’s be honest, this thing has no end in sight.

So more than anything, I’m mostly looking forward to hopefully a better world after this. We need to fight for people we don’t know and look out for each other. That’s what this is teaching us. Our institutions need to be restructured towards putting people and compassion over profit and greed.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

Taylor Brown: Every song title on this playlist has some sort of cheeky aside to our present condition. If you read through the list and think about what your life is like right now, it should all make sense, I think. Some of the song titles are seemingly warring with each other. Feels like that reflects the daily battle going on in our heads about what the fuck to do with ourselves. Listen to the lyrics, too — personally, there are tons of moments that feel like they’re being broadcast straight from my brain. Yours, too, I’d imagine. I don’t think there’s been a more unified collective consciousness in our lifetimes.