When COVID stopped the world in its tracks, the music industry, like many others, was hit hard and fast.
For Newcastle musician Rachel Maria Cox, the timing could not have been worse.
After working on their new EP for all of 2019, the alt-pop artist was moments away from releasing their new tracks.
"Then 2020 happened and … we were like OK, so maybe not 2020," said Rachel, who prefers non-gendered pronouns.
"2021 was really, really difficult.
"There was a lot of back and forth in my head about what to do, because things would open up and then they would shut down, and then one state would open up and then it would shut down."
Rachel spent so long waiting that by the time they next performed, they'd forgotten their own songs.
"It had been that long and so I had to go back and relearn them all and listen to them all again and be like, how do these go?" they said.
Now, three years on, live music is settling into a new kind of pandemic normal.
Rachel is one of the artists based around Newcastle who are finally back on stage, and taking advantage of a thriving and more diverse live music economy.
Back on track
For many performers and revellers, the Newcastle scene post-pandemic is as good as it's been in the last 20 years, when local icons like Silverchair and The Screaming Jets were at their peak.
Part of this is down to music promoters and organisers like Dylan Oakes, who always believed Newcastle could be a live music hub again.
He got his start in organising gigs in Sydney, but is now the co-owner of the Family Hotel on Newcastle's Hunter Street.
He recently organised the local music festival West Best Block Fest, which showcased more than 70 local artists.
For Mr Oakes, making opportunities for up-and-coming musicians is a no-brainer, even if it isn't profitable right now.
"There's obviously massive development here at the moment, but there's a community building here," he said.
"There are a lot of artists here and they're really good.
"At the end of the day, they're young people that want to express themselves.
"If you give them a safe space or if you give them a platform to do so, then that encourages the next generation."
Rachel said what fans wanted was changing, and the local music scene was breaking away from the pub-rock that Newcastle had been known for.
"I see myself with a lot of the drag performers around Newcastle, a lot of the drag kings and queens, and burlesque performers," they said.
"I see them as my contemporaries … we play a lot of the same shows.
"It builds connection, but it also makes the community more sustainable because there's only so many times you can go out to see, say, a drag show and … the same for performers."
The diversity of communities of musicians and artists sprouting across Newcastle has Dylan Oakes excited for the future of the local industry.
"My philosophy on this whole thing is if they're paid really well, they go into a studio, they record a new single, the studio then gets work and then they have to go out and tour," he said.
"Artists would have … come out of that pandemic really keen to either start the band, or get that band out of their history and onto a stage. That's probably the biggest thing."
