BUSKING Tue, 12/21 2:08PM • 28:16 SUMMARY KEYWORDS busking, performing, pandemic, people, street, street performers, hoops, pivoting, performer, online, music, performance, qr codes, money, artists, elvis, rubin, feel, summer, spoke SPEAKERS Afua Mfodwo, Peter Jarvis, Shelly Switzer, Annika Forman, Kirsten Harvey, Papa Reuben, Holly Clausius Afua Mfodwo 00:04 The pandemic has meant that people are spending more time indoors. And this is affecting the way street performers make a living. And this episode producer Annika Forman, helps us understand how street performers are dealing with these changes and what the future of this industry might look like. My name is Afua Mfodwo and this is unraveled. Annika Forman 00:25 That was me street performing outside of Christie station, it's a mild overcast day. The time is noonish. Two of my friends are there listening to me and providing moral support. One is also helping me record myself. Others are waiting for the bus entering the subway station or walking by. When I shoot perform, I have some fear and uncertainty when it comes to my plane. Will people want to listen? Do I sound okay, Can people hear me? Will people give me money or anything bad happen? I definitely have a lot of uncertainty in my mind. I hope people like how I sound and don't pass by because they think I'm annoying. when I st perform, I'm really putting myself out there. Every time I'm getting an opportunity to practice being more confident about my music, my sound and my performance a little more. But I still feel nervous. Every time I started. I like street performing because it gives me the ability to sing which I find cathartic and love to do. It also provides me the opportunity to leave the house and work in a different environment. In this way, it feels very similar to the commute patterns of the before times of leaving the house for the day. I remember a construction worker once told me that I was making his day better by playing these kinds of comments helped me feel like I'm helping others by doing what I'm doing, which is a nice feeling. In this episode, you'll find out how street performers are learning how to navigate the pandemic and work through challenges as well as what they find rewarding. We also offer what the future street performance might look like. street performing certainly has its challenges. In addition to having to perform in front of other people, which I find scary on its own. There are additional concerns. These include being robbed or during COVID-19 People not keeping six feet from you. I spoke with Shelly Switzer artistic producer at the Edmonton international street performers festival he ISPF Shelly Switzer 03:31 in the first 48 hours of the 13th 14th and 15th people were losing massive work for the next six months things were gone. In 2020 She Annika Forman 03:46 said the festival pivoted during COVID It ran workshops and a masked PR Shelly Switzer 03:50 you would see people peeping out their windows when we came down the street with at least a 10 piece brass band so people knew we were coming. And you'd see them peep out their windows and go oh my god, anti mask scissors are coming down the street and then the curtain would reveal a little bit more. And they'd go No, those are funny, fun people who are all masked, as again as we paraded unless you were playing an instrument. You were masked and then they were wanting out of their homes and just weeping with joy to have had a connection and had a moment of silly and just beautiful just incredible fun. Annika Forman 04:37 The ei SPF ran a program called street fest to you which is where artists perform at a celebration, private party or corporate gig. For performers. He usually passed around a hat as part of their performance and could no longer because of the pandemic. The festival paid them a fuller fee for their work. They also created a play at homezone continuing this year, which included a how to build A fairy finding tour. How to hula hoop how to juggle a really fun warm up video and magic workshop. People are finding a lot of ways to adapt their shows online quickly. Switzer however said in the early days she was a bit put off by the backgrounds of some of the performers who are filming in their messy bedroom or kitchen. They did however, she said work quickly to create a solid online look. Peter Jarvis is an entertainer and performance artists since 1979. One of the characters he performs as a silver Elvis as an Elvis Presley. As this character he stands frozen in a statue state and only moves to Elvis Presley songs of course when given money. He was a fixture at the Eaton center Queen Street entrance for 12 years until he moved due to construction. He told me what challenges he faces street performing. He said he has to negotiate with other entities who can be quite aggressive, such as hot dog vendors, rickshaw drivers and scalpers. Now, during COVID, he has significantly reduced history performing Peter Jarvis 06:05 busking hasn't really been viable for me out of fear in science, it's just one more reason not to feel safe on the street. There's a lot of danger performing on the street. So I just didn't need one more thing to stack on top of what I was already had to boost myself up and prepare for every day is you know, I have to psych myself up to glow. Because you are meeting addicted individuals that steal from you. I've been beaten up on the street I've been stolen from yell that I've had harassment. But when you figure okay, if I've been out on the street, if there's a ratio, I would say, for the most part, humanity is good. It's when addiction gets in the way and mental illness. Annika Forman 06:55 I know what he meant. I too had been robbed when performing at Bathurst and bore one male seem to be around high school age, approached my guitar case and sort of sweep some money from the bag. minutes later, a few other of his friends also ran past the case, swept their arms through the money in the case, lifted it out and ran away. I called after them but they were gone. Moments later, someone who had watched them get away said they had gone into the subway, and that I could call the TTC enforcement officer. But I instead took my losses a tad disappointed at myself over that I hadn't done more. I like the last round $50 Papa Reuben is a street and stage performer guitarist, singer and songwriter from Toronto. He has been making music his whole life. He is also in the cover band The entertainment that can perform at any venue anytime for any audience. Pre COVID He had to deal mostly with the fact not many people gave money. I asked him what has been challenging for him during COVID Papa Reuben 07:58 That was the hardest part is you know, finding space on the street where I wasn't blocking traffic but I still had my space there in traffic, so to speak. So like I remember what time this was in the spring of 2020 early in the pandemic and I went to read to be bluer and it's a great quarter and it's busy but I would have forced a bottleneck I would have forced people to move together which at that time was very you know we were all trying to social distance we were trying our hardest to keep our distance and so what are the hard part is finding a space where I can be both close to people and dots within their bubble so to speak. Rat is no there excuse came up we seem to be always being. Annika Forman 09:46 You were just listening to free as a bird written and performed by Papa Reuben. Holly Clausius is a singer and guitar piano and ukulele player. She was born and raised in Exeter, Ontario and has been writing and making Music for over five years. She is currently working in living in Toronto as a full time musician and music teacher. Her music has been described by the Toronto Guardian as acoustic melodies filled with raspy haunting vocals and lyrics based in pure honesty. She had her single sent me free air on CBC radio stations across Canada Holly Clausius 10:29 How are you holding up I hope you're doing fine last time I saw you still been back it's hard to believe just how it's hard to sign a birthday is when you're not in love. Annika Forman 11:18 You were just listening to set me free by Holly Clausius. Kirsten Harvey, aka Isabella hoops, sometimes known as Kiki is an actor, singer and dancer. She began her circus career about 15 years ago. Hoops is performed in a wide range of venues including cabaret festivals, on the street, in schools and children's birthday parties. She is also the owner of circus troupe North fire circus. She performs with them at the Ottawa and Toronto busker fests Kirsten Harvey 11:52 because nothing was happening in summer 2020, all of a sudden, now we were like forced to come up with something or come up with some ideas because we, you know, we desperately wanted to create, but we're having a hard time finding a stage. Annika Forman 12:05 Despite the challenges, I find busking is very rewarding and so does Clausius Holly Clausius 12:11 when you're busking, nobody has to listen like they could be just like walking by. But when they actually take that moment to stop in their day, and like listen to a song or two or give $1 Like, it just means so much more I find Annika Forman 12:25 all the street performers I spoke with continued throughout the pandemic, Elvis started booking gigs on August 18, Clausius, and Rubin were able to perform on the street while bars and restaurants were closed. When he wasn't performing. Elvis was learning how to use apps to make photos look like paintings for his friends, often other pets. He can make them look like a Monet, Van Gogh, or painting and watercolor among others. And to monetize his art, he began charging people for his editing services, hoops was creative with how she continued performing throughout the pandemic. Kirsten Harvey 13:02 You know, one of the sort of things we bought around with in the summer of 2020 was your end of July, when patio started opening again, we were able to busk if we were invited to perform on a private patio. And so that was sort of one of the ways we were able to kind of run shows, however, I mean, it was a different style of busking because we sort of teamed up with musicians and ended up doing sort of more choreographed dance kind of shows compared to just like my actual busking show. Annika Forman 13:32 As we can see, all the street performers I spoke with pivoted, Peter Jarvis 13:36 you know, on the street is every day's an adjustment. So you're always pivoting to the circumstances. So I'm kind of used to pivoting all the time. I always felt it to be a privileged view form on the street. And I never took it for granted because when it rains you have to get off the street. And I don't like that. Do I swear at the rain? And do I say How dare you? You know, oh, you've made me sick because you got me wet? Who I you know, do I feel sorry for myself? No, you pivot. Annika Forman 14:10 I can sympathize with Elvis on how annoying it is to have to get off the sidewalk whenever it starts to rain, or just brave it and then get really wet. Despite the challenges, the pandemic also provided opportunities for street performers. who've said the basis of the show chaos to calm. She and other performers created stem from the situation COVID-19 placed herself and other street performers in Clausius said she found people were their most giving during the pandemic and appreciated the music the most. She also said busking gave her an income source due to bars and restaurants where she would usually perform being closed. Ribbon found the pandemic opened up doors for him where by using streaming he suddenly was able to greatly expand his audience. Papa Reuben 14:55 Well, the benefit of passing through the pandemic was it was two benefits like what First of all, of course, as a budgetary thing as a job, you know, to go out and busk on the streets, and I literally did six to 10 hours, daily, you know, four to five days a week, all through pandemic, like, I'm pretty sure I played 80 hours a month, you know, performing and trying to make money. Secondly, be able to say be able to perform. And so, you know, I know a lot of friends, we all went down different routes, like some people went into the studio, some people didn't play at all, it just sat in front of the TV, some people just practice to practice of a natural Live Performer. And so if I hadn't been able to go out and play and smile for pretty people, and, you know, get little kids to dance along, I would have gotten crazy. Crazier, I would have gotten crazier. Annika Forman 15:51 Oh, the street performers I spoke with have been impacted financially do the COVID-19. For Clausius, who said the pandemic has taken away a lot of opportunities for everyone, a lot Holly Clausius 16:01 of venues, stopped doing shows. And I mean, we're kind of starting to get back to it. But I lost a lot of income from it. And I had to be creative busking on the street was the only safe thing to really do. So that's what I did. And that's how it's kind of been hard on me. Annika Forman 16:17 As for Ruben, he had to make st performing his living during the pandemic to make ends meet Papa Reuben 16:23 the government CRB. And I was on the I was super helpful, like thank God for our socialist paradise of Canada, but by doing 80 hours a month, I was making almost 25 bucks an hour, I sort of average as a busker. So, you know, do 25 bucks an hour for playing music, that's not bad. You know, it's not what we get paid to do studio work, to play at a theater or to do you know, events. But to make 25 bucks just playing music on the street as a blessing. Blessing was super important, I wouldn't have been able to feed my kids or pay my rent, I hadn't been able to play guitar on the street Annika Forman 17:01 hoops has found making money and collecting revenue challenging over the last two years. Kirsten Harvey 17:07 Right, thanks, things are definitely changing. And things are slowly starting to get back to normal, which is great. But yeah, prior to the pandemic, where we were all, you know, making a full time living off of busking, and doing shows and events and festivals. It's coming back now. Yeah, like definitely, you know, this summer, kind of set precedents for all of it, like, you know, we got a grant this year from Canada Council, which was huge. And just that grant sort of came out of the busking that we had done in the summer of 2020 that was the show chaos to calm that we created and so because of that grant and since since we were allowed to tour you know, this summer we started making a living again, which is great and things are really come back right now, like all the fall festivals are coming through looks like Christmas is gonna be in full swing. So it's not full on like it was back in 2019. But it's getting there, which is really exciting. Annika Forman 18:01 Elvis was also on CRB, but was taken off and for the past seven months has been having to find and borrow money to survive. He has received loaned money from the government, but because it's a loan, he has to pay it back still Peter Jarvis 18:14 in the hole. So I had to pivot train myself during that period and make drums and it's not enough to survive on business changed August 18 For me, and I started getting booked at gigs. Since August, there's been Annika Forman 18:29 almost all the street performers I talked to turn to the internet during the pandemic to continue busking. Elvis used the web to do work as a digital artist. RUBIN live streamed on Facebook Live hitting a 69 day streak and put out recorded videos on the days he couldn't perform. Clausius did a few online shows where people could tip or donate. But she mostly live streamed on Instagram hoops did online shows though it was a bit of an adjustment. Kirsten Harvey 18:56 You know, in the beginning, it was I think we were just a little awkward because we didn't know what we were doing. It was just such a different form from what we were used to, you know, just having physical people there that are smiling and laughing and clapping. And all of a sudden being in front of a camera, you know, having a monitor screen of ourselves being like, is there anybody out there? At first, Annika Forman 19:17 it felt like for hoops. There was no audience participation. Later they set up the monitor so they were able to see the news feed coming in and could see messages coming in from the audience. After a 30 or 40 minutes at Doctor job, a fellow performer, Jeff their drummer and her would sit together and watch the comments come in after the fact. Talking to the street performers is very inspiring. I wasn't pivoting nearly to the same extent they were the only COVID related precaution I take when I go out and still to this day is to draw chalk square around me to ensure I remain six feet from others. Having never been asked online I couldn't relate much to the great pivots all the street performers were making. It did get me curious. However, moving forward post COVID whether online performances would become more popular, and whether there would be a decline in in person shows Clausius reassured me in person wouldn't be going anywhere. Holly Clausius 20:15 It's funny because we had all these live streaming things before, but we didn't really use them until the pandemic, I found that I didn't necessarily feel that connection you get when you're in a room with like an audience. And you'd be talking to yourself to kind of feel like they might comment on the video, but it's just not the same kind of energy in the same space. No matter like how much online like streaming and stuff we have, I think nothing will ever be done with that live music. I think it's something that as humans, we just love when we need Annika Forman 20:48 hoops, who has now had experience with both in person and online mediums. Thanks in person shows how a lot of merit Kirsten Harvey 20:56 very important, I just think for human psyche. We all went a little crazy just being inside and being by ourselves or just you know, being with your partner or being with your partner and your kid. It wasn't easy on everyone. So I think the more we can do shows outside do performances and safe manners, like it's really really good for everyone. Annika Forman 21:15 RUBIN is a firm believer in the Genesee quad have an in person experience. Papa Reuben 21:20 That if we can't dance together and hug and be together, laugh and lift our drinks together, then what's the point of surviving by yourself no AI yet is going to do music that's the human specialty. It's so the creativity is that live aspect is that you know, you can listen to the album's or you can watch me on the video, but to be in the same room and feel the energy and then you dance a little. And then someone takes a picture of the flash goes off those elements are what makes the music Great. What makes life Great. Annika Forman 21:59 Oh, this stresses the importance of st performance as something best experienced life. He thinks although it is possible to put on a good show online. If it has high production value, it ends up being more of a movie than a busking show. Peter Jarvis 22:14 For Blusky it's about creating an atmosphere. Where's the sun? Where's your audience perspective is going to be? Where do you put your speaker? You know, there are totally different variables that you have to deal with. And you're outside, which makes it more spontaneous. We're online, it's a destination. It's outside. It's spontaneous. It's in the moment. It's unexpected. You're standing next to people you don't know. You're laughing with people you don't know. You're paying people you don't you know what I mean? It's like going to the movies. You know, you can sit on your couch and watch a movie online, or you can go to the movie theater, and it's a totally different experience. Because you're watching with a bunch of people busking is kind of like that. But even more so because you're not on a screen, the dimensional experience is much greater in a live performance. That video can never capture, it can try to simulate but can never catch. Annika Forman 23:20 It seems the future of busking is providing the public cashless options to make tips or donations and QR codes are serving as a popular way to do this. QR codes were also used in online performances to send money to the artist. Kirsten Harvey 23:33 There was quite a few busker fests around the worlds that in the summer of 2020, did virtual Buster fasts and that's kind of how everybody did it was by using these QR codes. And this was all started by friends in the UK called bus.co. So really was a great idea that they came up with and something that I think it will just keep on being used Shelly Switzer 23:53 when I asked with Sir about QR codes. A few years ago, when the QR codes actually, were becoming a thing. We designed a QR code for each artist, but nobody used it as my graphic designer really hated that. Annika Forman 24:09 It seems this is therefore something that is just recently taken off. Hoops also had the QR code on the screen. So when they performed online people could pay them that way. Ruben brought up the idea of a street performer live streaming while performing live to attract a larger audience. Papa Reuben 24:25 If I'm performing anywhere I'm performing, I can just put my phone on me and then transfer to the internet so you could be with me to be able to enjoy the music wherever you are. So come to the show. If you can't come to the show, then watch it at home. Annika Forman 24:44 Overall, my experience street performing has been positive. I don't regret the decision to try it at all. I think anyone who wants to strengthen their performance skills should try it as it really provides you the opportunity to be vulnerable and showcase yourself in a unique way. I will likely play on the street in the future here in the air. Although whether I play as much as I did in the summer, it is to be determined. I asked all this what street performers can expect in the future. Peter Jarvis 25:11 There won't be a surgeon appreciation tips will be bigger for artists also, because people are grateful to have that rich experience. And they'll feel the difference because they've been sitting for two years staring at their phones and iPads and televisions, and they'll feel the richness and they'll be grateful. And they'll appreciate the artists more they will raise the bar until we get complacent after seeing two or three years of it. People just take it for granted again, like they used to. RUBIN sees Annika Forman 25:41 a hybrid of both live and online performances. So it's said it will take a while before we see the same number of street performers out on the street like pre pandemic Shelly Switzer 25:50 artists like they were facing some real instant we knew they were going to be the first ones to go and the very very very very last ones to come Annika Forman 26:05 back. Hopefully there will be an increase in the number of street performers who will be out there performing again in the not so distant future to fill our streets with music enjoy thank you to the street performers who participated in making this podcast I will leave you with set me free by Holly Clausius. Holly Clausius 27:03 So please, just my food so free free. Afua Mfodwo 27:36 This episode of unraveled was produced by Annika Forman. Our associate producer is Talha Hashmani and our executive producer is Elena De Luigi. Special thanks to John Powers for composing our theme music, and Ben Shelley for creating our podcast artwork. Our professor is Amanda Cupido and special thanks to Lindsay Hanna and Angela Glover. - 1 - 00Transcribed by https://otter.ai