Rock Monsters Romania

The quarantine was a really hard period for bands and artist. We talked to some bands from all over the world to see the real effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in music.

Today we talk to Keep Up!

How can you describe the changes generated by the pandemic in the band’s activity?

(Ian) We’ve taken the shutdown really seriously. We’ve used the time to really buckle down and practice, write, connect with our fans virtually. We turned the pandemic into a band-demic!

(DJ) This time was used to generally get closer as a band. We have spent a lot of time in a van traveling all over the country, but it’s nice to get together and mess around. Without having the pressure of playing live shows back to back, we can relax and have rehearsals loosely structured while maintaining productivity. We love playing live, but we absolutely love being smelly idiots that make loud noises out of our instruments.

What daily activity did you miss the most during quarantine?

(Chris) Day drinking at bars without a mask (kinda kidding, but seriously). The feeling of leaving my house without being anxious about spreading a viral sickness to my friends and family.

Were there any pluses for this period without concerts?

(Ian) For bands in general, I’ve seen more music being released in all genres. It seems that because bands and artists can’t tour, they are home recording their next hits. This will be a time I look back on in 20 years from now, for sure.

How does it feel to return to some normalcy?

(Chris) It hardly feels normal anymore. The way venues go about hosting bands will be changed forever. On the flip side, we plan to use these virtual tools to continue reaching out to new fans and followers to gain a bigger audience. I think as the community works its way back to normalcy, we should take advantage of new technology and reevaluate the way we conduct our band; Keep up.

What plans have you got for the rest of 2020?

(DJ) Survive.

(DJ) With a new EP release — Win Some, Lose None — We plan to drop a few more music videos to follow. The new tunes we’ve written are some of our greatest works of art and hope that it can help shed some light on the rest of 2020.

Do you have any message for the bands or artists who are still in lockdown/quarantine?

(Chris) For the bands and artists still in lockdown, don’t let your creative minds come to a stall. Challenge yourself to find new ways of creating original content that others can relate to.

What message do you have for the people who are going to read this interview?

(DJ) If you’re reading this, thank you! We appreciate all the music lovers who actively care about original music. Please give Keep Up a listen, a follow and share our new tunes if you love what you hear. On top of that, we’d love to offer you an exclusive discount code, enter “RockMonster15” at https://keepuporshutup.com/shop to get 15% off your next online purchase!

Interview by Radu Mihai