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The Rotanas

The Rotanas are a gritpop group from Cardiff, South Wales. Much like many other music artists the pandemic has affected them in both positive and negative ways.

"We hugely benefited because it's given us a chance to slow down and write new material which we really needed. We needed time to discover ourselves and mature musically and the pandemic has given us time to do so.

"Hopefully attendance will go up across the board for bands at a grassroots level and not just for the first week that gigs are allowed back but at a sustained level for years to come. Going to gigs is really good for you too, so it's a no brainer!

I think gigs will be really emotional. Hopefully the industry as whole profits from people's newfound love and appreciation for the return of artists to techies to roadies to photographers"
Many artists have found it quite difficult to book gigs, especially as venues will look to prioritise the "bigger" acts and try to make their profits back.

"Not as such for us no because I think we had stuff that's carried over, but I can appreciate that it must be very difficult for bands just starting out because everything's getting rescheduled. If any bands that have started out during the pandemic and are finding it hard, drop us a message and we might be able to get some bands on support.

"The jealousy of seeing some bands get priority I think is firepower that should be used for good. Use that emotion to your advantage and punch above your weight. That's what we have always done"