Pierce Brothers

In a strange turn of events musicians and other entertainers are finding that even in this time of social distancing and live streamed performance there is stiff competition. This time however the competition is not for ticket sales or attendance but rather it’s for the technology and equipment required to produce their live streams.

Speaking to City Hub from his home studio, turned performance space, Jack Piece told us how they had cobbled together their setup.

“My recording studio at home was a very rudimentary setup beforehand. It was really only designed for laying down demos,” Jack explained. “To bring it up to a level that we can use to play live we’ve had to order new equipment and scrounge through all of our old equipment to find whatever the dog hasn’t already chewed through so that these streams can look and sound the best it can in our home studio.”

What Jack and his brother Pat would come to find during this process is that much of the professional grade equipment required was suddenly in high demand and therefore on back order.

Once these shows do begin though Jack is confident that these shows will be an experience for Pierce Brothers fans unlike any other before.

“This is really an opportunity for us to explore some new stuff and new ways of performing, which is really exciting… The great thing about going live is that you can take a second to experiment in ways that you couldn’t at a regular live show because with these shows we’re bringing fans into our living room and studio, which is a really creative space.”

In one at the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent concert shutdown have taken away the audience interaction and connection of live shows but in another it has opened up a whole new avenue for fans and artists to connect.

As Jack explained, “In one way we’ve lost a lot of the back and forth that makes our show so energetic and yet in these live streams we’ve found a more direct, conversational back and forth with the audience.”

With this new direct approach fans and artists have a really exciting opportunity build a connection in way that otherwise would not be possible. A connection which has a lot of potential to be furthered strengthened once live shows return.

“I’m really excited about the prospect of Australian fans having an opportunity to discover Australian artists,” enthused Jack. “Obviously it’s through unfortunate circumstances but this is a great opportunity for fans of music everywhere to get behind your favourite local musicians.”

Kanko single launch live stream, 7pm June 1 on instagram.com/piercebrothersmusic