Julia Jacklin discusses the state of the music industry in the age of Covid-19
From the moment Julia Jacklin broke through with her debut album Don’t Let The Kids Win in 2016, the Australian singer-songwriter has been amassing a following of devoted fans. Meshing the influences of Leonard Cohen, Billy Bragg, Fiona Apple and golden age performers such as The Andrews Sisters, Jacklin creates a heady form of indie capable of stirring multiple levels of emotion.
Jacklin has continued to build on the foundations laid by her debut with the release of her 2019 album Crushing and, earlier this year, Pre Pleasure, projects that have seen her up the ante considerably. From the truly heartbreaking ‘Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You’ taken from her sophomore effort, to ‘Lydia Wears a Cross’ on her latest opus, Jacklin has confirmed that she is one of the most exciting talents in rock music, possessing a divine voice and knack for songwriting.
Jacklin has recently completed her mammoth tour in support of Pre Pleasure. In September, it saw her check into the studios of legendary Seattle radio station KEXP to perform a short set. Unsurprisingly, Jacklin and the band were fantastic. However, the Australian’s comments during the interview section were more vital.
The host, Evie, briefly touched on the fact that many prominent musicians have recently cancelled tours, citing economic pressures and the strain that it is causing on their mental health. She used Santigold’s recent decision to cancel her tour due to the “immense physical, mental and economic” challenges that the post-Covid-19 landscape has brought as an example.
Asked by Evie how touring has been for her, Jacklin delivered a lengthy response coloured by the wisdom that is so prevalent in her songs. She said: “Yeah, it’s like, it’s hard, and it’s strange, and like, I do question if it’s a good idea every second day. I think we as a band are all kind of working through those feelings every day, and it’s kind of nice to do it as a group as musicians, to see how we are supposed to do this job going forward.”
Continuing, Jacklin added: “This is my first tour in years. I mean, I got pretty sick recently. I got the flu – influenza – in New York, and you know, then I had to postpone some shows and cancel some shows, and it’s pretty financially scary, and it’s hard to not feel like you’re letting everyone down. I think people are simultaneously very understanding at the moment, but also, I think everybody has a lot of feelings and a lot of needs – especially on the internet. It just feels like a raw nerve right now, touring and being a musician and being a fan. I don’t really have any answers on that, I think I’m just trying to take it day by day.”
The most vital part of Jacklin’s answer came shortly after she was probed on what consumers can do to support indie artists during this testing time. Her thoughts are something all musicians and fans could do with hearing, with Jacklin ultimately suggesting that the music industry is not configured to look after artists’ mental and physical well-being. She expressed: “That’s a tough one, because as well, we’re still in a pandemic, and I don’t think it’s fair to say to people, ‘Buy tickets, come to the shows’, at the moment, because I totally understand people don’t want to come to shows at the moment, and that’s totally fair. So yeah, I don’t know. Just try and be nice to us on the internet.”
The ‘Lydia Wears a Cross’ singer concluded: “Just be like understanding that everybody’s navigating a pretty different landscape at the moment, and this industry is definitely not… it is just not set up to look after people’s physical and mental health. I think we give a lot of lip service to that, but I don’t think fundamentally it’s baked into the infrastructure of this job. So that’s something I know that I have to be very vigilant (of) myself, which I didn’t used to be. I’m really trying to be kinder to myself this time, but it’s also difficult, because the job isn’t set up in a way where you have much room to be kind to yourself. So yeah, I don’t know, just look after yourselves, be nice.”
For more information on the severity of the crisis live music is in, read our in-depth piece, how an essential tradition threatens to kill music.
