Hallucinogenic Bulb interview on Live Streaming in the COVID-19 pandemic

Kitsch Magik is doing a series of interviews with artist about  Live Streaming in the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first addition in the series Dave Michael (Hallucinogenic Bulb) is kind enough to answer a few questions.



check out Hallucinogenic Bulb here!

https://hallucinogenicbulb.bandcamp.com/

KITSCH MAGIK - What's your project name and how long have you been active?

Dave Michael - Hallucinogenic Bulb is my project. I technically started it in 2016 but didn't really honestly start doing things with it until the summer of 2017.

KITSCH MAGIK - Where are you from? How did the pandemic effect where your living right now?

Dave Michael -I grew up in edge-of-civilization South Jersey, but have been living in Philadelphia since 2013. Philly, a major city, has many more positive cases at the moment than the town I grew up in currently does. Like pretty much everywhere, Philly has shut down most places and people are staying home, like they should be.

KITSCH MAGIK -How are you doing during this pandemic? Has it made you more creative?

Dave Michael -  Overall, I'm holding up in quarantine better than I thought I would. I don't feel like it's made me more or less creative more than it's made me kinda shift focus (and maybe rest a little more often). Starting from the end of March and going all the way through the summer, I had/have plans for shows (both at home in Philly and out of town) and tours that I've been extremely excited about! Most of those have been cancelled (or soon to be cancelled). The time I would've spent on those is now going towards livestream shows, working on new releases and finishing up stuff I already had going on (and, for once, not running myself ragged in the process).

KITSCH MAGIK - There has been a sudden peek of live streaming of performances since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Have you watched or played any? What was your experience if you did?

Dave Michael -  I've played 4 livestream shows so far, including one last night. They're no replacement for a true live show where you and a bunch of friendly faces are in the same room together, all feeling the same energy and having a great time. BUT given everything going on with the world at the moment, they're the next best thing. Other than my gear acting up on stream the other night, I've had nothing but positive experiences.

I, like many other people, were launched into a pretty bad place mentally when it became clear that COVID-19 was a serious thing and that we were all going to be locked down for a while; Being able to see my friends play shows on livestream, as well as being able to shoot the shit with them in the comments as if we were all in a venue together was a huge help in bringing me back to earth. Most of my social schedule outside of work is going to shows, so being able to see my friends in those spaces is a very good thing for me, personally

Another cool thing (which I've only just now started to see) is livestream shows with people from different parts of the country/world all in one bill. The last show I played was with someone also out of Philly, a duo out of Massachusetts, and someone based in Arizona. Those kinds of shows don't really happen in person and can make "dream lineups" happen much sooner than they would in person.

KITSCH MAGIK -When did you notice people start to organize live streaming events? 

Dave Michael - They started popping up pretty quickly, actually - I played my first one on March 20th, before stay-at-home orders officially came down in most of the US.

KITSCH MAGIK - Why do you think it took a global pandemic for a shift like this to happen? You would think the noise community would have jumped onto this beforehand, right?

Dave Michael -  You'd think it would've been a widespread thing before COVID19, especially since many noise projects are one person, and it's relatively easy for a lot of people to start livestreaming on social media to begin with. Like I said earlier, there's nothing like going to a show and seeing and playing with all the homies, both in noise and other types of music. Even though I've had the technology to do so the whole time, the idea of livestreaming a show just wasn't anything I felt the need to act on - especially since I was playing out a TON before all this happened.

KITSCH MAGIK  - Do you think that a need to live stream performances has helped the noise community in a way, compared to other genres?  

Dave Michael -  Since so many projects are just one-person operations, it’s way easier for them to just keep doing the thing, especially compared to full bands that can’t get together because they have several people who all live in separate places. I, personally, have gotten to see some awesome livestream sets that I wouldn’t be able to see in person because of physical distance, and I’m sure that’s the case for others as well.

KITSCH MAGIK - Do you think we are going to see more artists host live streaming events after this is over?

Dave Michael - We’ll probably see it more often than before this whole COVID-19 thing, but I don’t think it’ll really be a replacement for actual in-person shows when this is all said and done. I could see it being a common thing, especially for people who don’t play live shows regularly but still want to share their stuff in that kind of environment.

KITSCH MAGIK - How do you think this will change the landscapes of heavy/noisey acts?

Dave Michael - In the long term, it’s tough to say, especially since we don’t know yet when this whole thing is going to be over. But in the short term, the first couple weeks of shows are going to see a lot of pent-up emotion being let out, and I can’t wait for those shows.

  KITSCH MAGIK - What is the first thing you are going to do after this whole thing is over?

Dave Michael -I’m hanging out with ALL the homies I haven’t been able to see since this thing started.

  

  KITSCH MAGIK -What release of yours do you think best to listen to during all of this?

Dave Michael -I recently put out splits with Grave Blankets, burnt-feathers, and Glass Spitter in the last two months. Tapes of the burnt-feathers/Glass Spitter split sold out pretty quick, but Orb Tapes still has copies of my split with Grave Blankets (and you should buy other tapes from there, too). They’re as good for pandemic listening as anything else I have out.

      KITSCH MAGIK -  Any other acts that you should we check out during this time?

Dave Michael - Zombieshark, Regrown, Lambeth, Yuckmouf., MOYOGASH, Mara Maple, Wormtooth, Brook Pridemore, Burial Fog, Alpha Boötis, Glass Spitter, Schotzi, Lástima, Malevich, Nilserver, Cemetery Bastard, Niku Daruma, Hyve, Westward Journey, A Death By The Seaside, Knife Friend, Viscera, Nowhere, Countdown from Ten, Cop Jokes, Hotflakes, Bison Squad, Actual Entities, Steve Kallay, Cycle of Abuse, Codex Orzhova, Mikau, Midwest Lust, Bodyache (REST IN POWER), and Listless Spirit (to name a few!)