Me, on one hand, last played live on stage back in January 2020. It's crazy. I only remember it as yesterday but an entire year has flew past just like that. I could almost see the end of this pandemic, being able to fly free on stage, expressing my every desire to live life fully.
I'm a very practical person. If I'm not in tune constantly with what I do, then touch and feel will slowly retreat from my life. And that's the case for 2020. A very sad and regrettable case.
2020 started off pretty well actually. That period was the beginning of the end. Nobody knew the real tragedy that was about to befall the world. Everyone was living their life normally. January saw the exit of my first ever Gibson Les Paul Standard. Heavy heart but no regrets. January was also the very last time I played on stage. Since then, I can barely remember the feel...
February was rather empty due to work. With live music slowly disappearing, I made way for work. And the grand introduction of my newest motorbike in my life. Trading one hobby for another, I devoted most of my February into doing up my new bike. Little did I know that this one month of not playing much guitar is gonna snowball for the rest of the year...
March was a little better. With my bike stuff more or less settled in, I went back to music. Got myself a new pedal in like forever because the price was right. Originally wanting to build a colour-coded pedalboard, the idea disappeared when I couldn't find the teal variant of a Mad Professor dirt pedal. Also covered my first secular song in March.
April was the month everything changed. Singapore went into lockdown due to the pandemic. Shows and events all around the country were cancelled and everyone was ordered to stay home. Live music went dead in this month. This was the beginning of the tunnel that the world is still stuck in. Needless to say, my guitar lifestyle is on the decline too.
In May, I told myself that I have to at least cover one song a month to not lose my sanity. I was going to work only every alternate day so I literally have twice as much free time as ever. Still, the feel to play wasn't really there and to me, feel is very very important. I have very much achieved work-life balance, but without the feel.
One of my music journey's most significant moment happened in June. I finally gathered enough funds to purchase the MacBook Pro for my production needs. I'm so happy that month because this is a huge step ahead for my music needs. Being able to record all parts and mash it into one single video is insane!!! Loved the month of June for what it brought amidst a global crisis.
July was super happening. I managed to find an online deal regarding two particular pedals that has been in my sights for a while now. Jumped the gun and got them. At the same time, I sold off a few other pedals to even out the space. That's actually it for July. Not much but still enough.
August was crazy. I actually went to purchase an entire electronic drum set on the thought that I could incorporate that entire thing into my covers. I was quite wrong actually. I have zero knowledge and interest about drums even after so many years. I guess I could only say I bought the set for my brother to practice and hopefully one day fulfil his dreams as a drummer.
Literally the only thing that happened in October is the purchase of a Pedaltrain Metro 16 from another Carouseller. But that's literally it. I didn't follow up with a build, neither did I do anything else. The Metro 16 has been in its case ever since I bought it. Sigh dreams can wait. Pandemic gotta go first.
November was quiet. I only covered this song called Battle Belongs because it has been stuck in my head ever since it was released. Quite a fun song to play but slowly becoming lazier and lazier. Basically at this point I had close to zero feels to touch the guitar. I already forgot what its like to fly free on stage.
This month started off decent, with Line 6 updating both the Floor and Stomp for polyphonic pitch and 8 blocks respectively. This is the single most useful update for me ever. The Stomp has become my essential equipment. I cannot live without it anymore. So many nights spent just whipping out the Stomp alone to practise. Wanted to cover more songs for Christmas but only managed to do one.
And yeah there you have it. Poor 2020. My life has never been so mundane. The pandemic really sucks for musicians like me. The only way to keep the feel is to watch more YouTube videos. And that itself has its limits. Sigh hope 2021 will be better...
Edwin Ang
31st December 2020
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