by With quarantine in full effect, many students are spending their free time trying in vain to fall asleep at a reasonable hour, and when they’re not doing that, they’re expressing themselves artistically.
The music scene around Northampton is absolutely booming when there isn’t a pandemic, and how NCC’s musicians are coping with the sudden shift in routine.
“We play[ed] shows all around the Lehigh Valley, like One Center Square, Sokols, Allentown Artsfest, art galleries, bars, and house shoes in Lehigh,” Miles Hiebsch, a Media Production major who’s been with NCC for the last two years.
Hiebsch had been heavily involved with the local music scene, playing at open mics and doing concerts at local venues with his band, Food Truck.
“We’ve recorded some live videos at NCC with the Media Production program, actually,” he said.
With quarantine in effect, Hiebsch can’t perform at local venues, but he and some other NCC musicians have found a workaround.
“During quarantine,” he said, “I’ve been watching and performing live streams on Instagram and places like that to keep interacting with members of the local music scene.”
The transition, Hiebsch said, has been pretty weird.” Most of the streams that Food Truck participates in the feature only Hiebsch performing to his camera. “It can be a little awkward sometimes.”
However, “This has been great for new musicians to try out stuff they’ve been working on,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to play a song on your phone than it is to a packed venue.”
