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Greg Hatem
Musician, composer, audio producer & performer
"This is a moment in history in which art is more important than usual. And a unique opportunity to create without the real-world constrictions that may normally bind us."
What are you currently working on?
For the past several months, I have been working on a solo album. It's something of a concept album about the fog and delusion of winter becoming the dew of spring by means of psychedelic escapism. It's about 90% finished.
Has your art making shifted in response to the pandemic? How?
Yes. The album I'm working on was already about escapism, but now it seems to have a new relevance. One of the tracks in particular, Shimmering Alone, was already about isolation and making a connection to someone without being physically near them. The pandemic has really actualized it in a way that I didn't predict when I wrote the song a couple months ago. It is also informing the remaining tracks on the record which are currently in development.
What is the role that art can play in helping us confront our new reality?
Art, especially solitary art, can be a form of self-care. Another mode of expression when we must be distant from each other. A way to connect to others without being in their immediate presence. It's also a way to keep ourselves centered and a reminder of our creative identities.
This is a moment in history in which art is more important than usual. And a unique opportunity to create without the real-world constrictions that may normally bind us.
Greg Hatem is a musician living in Baltimore. He also runs a well-loved gift shop called Bazaar, where he and his partner sell the most memorable selection of strange and unusual items, including antique medical equipment, tillandsias, funerary antiques and other morbid gifts. Hear more of Greg's music here.