It’s no secret that we’ve had better days than lockdown days. Naturally, the whole situation has left us all feeling down in the dumps. However, one thing that most people agree on is that music could uplift us all. Many people, us included, have been seeking salvation from Spotify. 

Perhaps you want to make getting up to a new day in lockdown more bearable with popular classics such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Country Roads or Here Comes the sun. Or rather workout with an aggressive series of Rap and DJ sets to provide you with that Monday motivation. Whatever the struggle, make everything better with music. 

We caught up with local University band Wazelles who were due to perform at the student’s union on 20th March to their usual crowd of fans. However, Coronavirus had other plans for this aspiring 4 piece. Annie Graham, Sky Jules-Arnaud, Sofia Said and Cameron Swales, all York St John Music Production students showcase their talents at most open mic nights to let their creative juices flow. The coronavirus outbreak might have stopped concerts and live events, but the music world fought back offering concerts from the comfort of your own home.

Here the Wazelles perform a Billie Eilish cover. 

Wazelles Self-isolating suggestions:

We asked two of the members of the band what music they would listen to while in lockdown and what other activities they would do. 

Annie Graham: “I study Music; I don’t think I could pick a particular song, but I think it would have to be something by Jack Johnson because it’s nice and chill.”

Sky Jules-Arnaud: “My names Sky and I’m studying music. I think I’d say maybe any Cyndi Lauper song but probably time after time because it’s a classic, I could probably see myself listening to that for hours and not get bored.”

What activities would you get up to in lockdown? 

Annie Graham: “I would try and do some more writing, get some more songs written and things, maybe do a bit of drawing.” 

Sky Jules-Arnaud: “Probably drawing, maybe get a bit more into digital art but drawing like any type of medium like water colour or sketching anything. Everything is accessible to me at home I’ve got paper and I’ve got a pen so it should be pretty good.”

Recently, some of the biggest names in the music industry joined forces to cover Foo Fighters song ‘Times Like These’. The single features artists such as Dua Lipa, Bastille, Chris Martin and Foo Fighters member Dave Grohl himself.

Internationally, organisation Global Citizen created a virtual concert ‘Together At Home’. This saw music artists from across the globe singing to raise funds for the World Health Organisation. Performances are available on YouTube, and many music streaming platforms.

Lockdown listening recommendations:

To keep you entertained during this lockdown we took to the streets of York to find out what songs people would listen to whilst self-isolating and this is what we found: 

Bogdan Lescinschi: GUMMY-BROCKHAMPTON 

Chloe Davies: Castle on the Hill-Ed Sheeran 

Ciara Clarkson: Sally Cinnamon- Stone Roses 

Ellen Barnes: Breaking the Habit- Linkin Park 

Emily Porter: Love Yourself- Justin Bieber 

Ethan O’Brien: Toxic- Britney Spears 

Hannah Sloane: This Love- Maroon 5 

Jenel Spence: Church-Fall Out Boy 

Katie Preston: Thunder-Imagine Dragons 

Mia House: 22- Taylor Swift 

Thomas Metcalfe: Sail Away-David Gray 

By Megan Eccles, Georgia Jones, Natasha Judge and Luke Davis