Pandemic Performances: Gabriel Douglas
Known for his solo work and his band The 4onthefloor, Twin Cities musician Gabriel Douglas discusses the challenges of being a musician during a pandemic and performs his song "How To Make A Home (Somebody to Call)" on his front porch.
Has the pandemic/stay-at-home restrictions changed the way you write?
The creative process hasn't changed that much, except I don't get to give the skeletons of new songs to the guys anymore in a crappy rehearsal space. It's all group text and inside jokes at this point; it's all Garageband and Logic files.
How many new pieces of music have you written?
I'm always trying to write about experiences, so a lot of this has been refining little tidbits that are still seedlings in the songwriting bed. I've been pretty successful finishing more than a baker's dozen, so I'm feeling alright. Who know what will happen after this pandemic - if they'll see the light of day - but the pandemic songs are getting finished.
How have you been staying connected with your fan base?
Keeping with the fanbase has definitely been something my management and my band have talked about a lot. I've been doing Tuesday Night Freefall. There's enough amazing, sad people with guitars in the world. I know I'm not that good at guitar. I definitely don't like being sad. I'm very good at it, but I wanted to have more of a fun show. Tuesday Night Freefall is... Well, I bought a pinwheel for a show years ago, so people can buy slices or put whatever they want on it: a song, an artist, a genre, a soundtrack, an action... They can put whatever they want, and if it lands on it, we do it, and it's super fun and it helps me get the connection that I always adore with utilizing live music with other people. I started doing late night Sunday nights as well because that was a night I'd see my service friends. So, slowly but surely, [we're] using the internet to captivate audiences.
Production Team: Eric Pagel, Mike Phillips
This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
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