March 17th, 2020.
Six Months ago,
Pause.
It isn’t the official date, but it’s the date that’s stuck with me. The date that the Pause button was pressed on the entire industry. Six months ago, the months, summer, and year that I was looking at ready to make some major steps in my career, came to a screeching halt. It paused, and nobody knew how long it would be paused for.
I ended 2019 on one of the highest notes I have ever ended a year. I was a part of the Decadence Media Team getting to experience a full-scale music festival from behind the scenes for the first time. On December 31st, 2019 I was on stage and in the pit with Arty in front of thousands of people ready to celebrate the new year. A couple hours later, I’m patiently waiting towards the back of the crowd at Rezz’s set, 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It was 2020. And I. was. Ready.
Two months into 2020 I was feeling good. It started off slow, but I got to shoot and meet some really dope artists like GG Magree, Cheat Codes, and was almost set to head off to EDC Las Vegas. Then, after a weekend shooting Dombresky and Cheat Codes on back to back days with little sleep, it started to get real. The next week I was ready for another show, but things were unfolding quickly. Gathering sizes were being limited, and before I knew it, my first show was cancelled due to COVID. March 17th, 2020. And soon thereafter, the stages around the world, were silent, venues empty. The world had gone quiet, the dancing had stopped, the rails were bare and the headbangers necks were safe.
Six months later, after watching on Instagram as shows are being rescheduled for 2021, there is still no end in sight. Six months that have felt more like six years have been tough. There is an emptiness inside of me that I’ve never felt before. Who would’ve thought that I would miss squeezing through a sold-out sweaty crowd at Church? Cautiously trying to avoid knocking people in the head as I meander through them holding my Camera in the air. One of the things I was looking forward to the most, as small and simple as it is, was coming home from a shoot at Temple, posting up on my balcony and editing away until the sun rose on a Summer Sunday morning. This year, it never happened.
I know I am not alone here. I know there are 10s of thousands of others in the exact same boat as me, if not 100s of thousands or millions. From bartenders to bouncers, opening DJs and lighting technicians. Everyone in this industry is sitting there, waiting, watching, hoping and praying for the light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully, that tunnel leads to a field of people, in their finest rave-fits, rocking their best candy, strapped with their camelbaks, ready to grab that rail, feel the bass rush through their bodies, the heat on their faces from the pyro, and vibe. The fuck. Out.
The pause buttons was pressed, but eventually someone,
Will press play.
Sincerely,
An Introvert.