Photo credit: John O'Hara
The Fainting Room
Milwaukee musician Lisa Ridgley finds quiet time for creativity during the crisis.
How has the lockdown affected your creativity?
There has definitely been a shift.
For the past few years, I have felt a bit of a creativity block. My band, The Fainting Room, would practice regularly and gig every few months, but we weren’t working on much new music and I was starting to wonder if it was time to take a break. So, this was serendipitous in that I didn’t have to make that decision. The world made it for me.
I’ve been fortunate to keep my day job in marketing, and the shift from working in the office to working at home has given me more quiet time by myself than I’ve had, maybe ever, in my adult life.
That extra time to think and ruminate and dream—and ride the rollercoaster of COVID feelings—has resulted in a resurgence of musical creativity. I have written new songs, including one inspired by the political signs and flags that have been popping up all summer in my neighborhood. I’m also fortunate to live with our band’s guitarist (and my fiancé), Ryan Elliott, and it’s been fun collaborating on those new tunes.
I’m also learning a new instrument, piano, thanks to virtual lessons from Erin Wolf, talented local keyboard extraordinaire (Hello Death, Rose of the West), music director at WMSE and an old friend from college.
Do you have a routine or schedule for staying in practice or working on new materials?
Not really. I haven’t been very strict with myself about how often to pick up the guitar or try to write new songs. I’m typically a lyrics-first songwriter, so I’m always jotting down potential lyrics or ideas in notebooks or my phone. These times are ripe for lyrical inspiration. For once, I don’t have a gig or recording project forcing a deadline on song preparations—so I am just letting the creativity ebb and flow organically, and it’s relieving that the proverbial well has not run dry.
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I’m also trying to use this time to listen to more music. To be open to taking the time to explore new songs and artists. I even listened to Taylor Swift’s new album—I had to immediately cleanse my audio palate with some Nathaniel Rateliff, but still. That’s progress for me.
Are you making plans for when you can resume playing in front of people again?
One gig that was scheduled for May had been bumped to October, and it’s not clear if indoor gigs will be viable this Fall. I have been in discussions with a few people about some backyard acoustic gigs, but those have yet to come to fruition as it may still be too risky from a virus transmission standpoint. Depending how this Fall and Winter go, I can see us exploring a recording project instead.
Even though it’s been nice to have a break from the expectation to be gigging and creating, it is bittersweet seeing Facebook memories pop up all summer, reminders of all the times we played with local and touring bands over the years. We’ve had a lot of fun doing this! I’m grateful to have had such talented, solid bandmates and to have made great friends in the music scene.
I feel for everyone in the arts whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic, from the musicians to the venues. Whenever it is that live music in crowded venues is able to return, I hope it fills us all with a pure love and appreciation for that magic – and for the unique ability of music to unite us as people. We need the power of music now more than ever.
To read more stories of Milwaukee musicians dealing with lockdowns, sheltering in place and more, click here.
To read more stories by Blaine Schultz, click here.
