On the occasion of the Gucci Aria fashion show, rediscover our interview with the artist Lawrence Rothman, who produced the music for Allessandro Michele’s show. Most of the world has been in lockdown for over a month now due to the COVID-19 crisis. A moment frozen in time, when people are faced with solitude, grief or anxiety and see their daily lives shift for the better or the worse. In this time of extreme uncertainty, we can also take the time to reflect, create and enjoy the passing of these strange elastic days. We thought it would be interesting to ask musicians around the globe how their creative process has changed during the quarantine and if it has been an inspiring or rather daunting experience… with a quick snapshot of themselves in lockdown. Today we check in with LA-based musician Lawrence Rothman who you may remember from our issue 83. Displaying a diverse colorful palette of music genres, the gender-fluid artist creates hybrid tracks for lost souls and seekers of timeless beauty – a blend of darkened pop and contemporary folk. Discover how Lawrence has been spending their days lately… How has your daily life changed since lockdown began? Since this “quar” as I like to call it, my ADD and typical daily scatter of distraction has actually improved. I have more of a regime that I stick to than ever before. Since so many daily freedoms have been taken away I find myself accomplishing more with in regard to my art. I have highly concentrated 8 hours of the day where I am razor sharp focused on completing my new album. It also gave me a chance to finish my spoken word album it’s hard to be human that I have been working on the last few years Have you had to rethink the way you create? I had to re-think a bit my visuals as I have a large team of friends that I use to do video projects and photos. I have learned Final Cut and Photoshop. In planning my upcoming album, I have begun putting together videos on my own inside my house. It has forced me to do things I would never have done but I am really liking the results. Did you realize anything in particular during this time? Definitely! How we take for granted simple walks or grocery store runs in our normal daily life. So much fuel wasted in small car trips that were unnecessary pre “quar”. Being able to hop on a short plane trip to San Francisco to see friends which I do every few months. Re-thinking my own spirituality and my connection with the “here and now”, to stop always projecting thoughts about the future and the what if’s. Do you feel more inspired or paralyzed by the lockdown? I would say it’s 40/60, leaning more towards paralyzed as it’s a very unexpected event that has spun to a level of uncertainty about our future. We have no answers truly yet of how we are going to re-emerge into the work place, school, live concerts. So much is unclear with how musicians will be able to play live in the next twelve months to two years. Have you started or returned to any activities that you do not normally have time to do? Yes, I went back to a novel I had been writing that sat for the last few years and I finished it. My spoken word album it’s hard to be human is almost finished as well and I’m very proud of it, as it has allowed me a freedom that I don’t have in song-based projects. What do you think you’ll take away from this shutdown? How life is fragile. It’s time to slow down on the pessimistic and cynical ways of my past thinking. Appreciate being alive and living this “dream of life” to the fullest everyday. Mediation has become as important as eating for me Are you worried? I am most worried about our freedoms being taken away by abuse of power. Our leaders are not always thinking in our best interest. Profit and corruption can sometimes dilute the well-being of the people. How do you see life after this crisis? Humanity is forever changed for good or for bad. Listen / See / Discover