A bowl, spoon, knife and fork is what Joe Camilleri wished he pack as he headed into mandatory quarantine.
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The Jo Jo Zepp and Black Sorrows frontman and Victorian resident was required to spend 14 days in quarantine so he could perform across NSW, including a show at Bowral Bowling Club on November 11.
With an option of the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory or hotel quarantine in Sydney, the rocker chose the NT because it offered a balcony and a chance to go outside.
"There are rows and rows of buildings and the only reason I went there was because there were windows and a balcony. A lot of places in Sydney wouldn't have that. I'd feel claustrophobic," he said.
"I didn't know this at the time [of quarantine] but there's no toaster, there's no microwave, they bring you food - you either eat it or you don't.
"You need a knife, a spoon, a fork and a bowl, they didn't have that.
"But you could walk around."
Quarantine and COVID restrictions also posed several challenges for Joe who couldn't bring his whole band with him. Instead, he brought guitarist Claude Carranza who quarantined in the room next door.
"Police wouldn't let us go into each other's room to rehearse so I'd go out the front of my room on the balcony, he'd got out the front of his and we'd play," he said.
"We'd put on a show at 7 pm on my street [at Howard Springs]. People would walk past and they weren't allowed to stop. I just tried to have something normal that was not in a normal situation."
While incredibly thankful for the chance to participate in the Great Southern Night music event across NSW, Joe admits that the pandemic and first and second wave lockdowns in Victoria hadn't been easy for him.
"It was really frustrating," he said.
"It was like the lights went out and everything you thought you knew was taken away from you. There was nothing you could do about it.
"The worst thing for me was all of a sudden I was getting a handout from the government. I don't do that, I've been playing for 56 years.
"I love working, I love the idea that this is your chosen profession. You try to make ends meet the way you can.
"I've had a lot of hits and I'm still hand to mouth. I'm an independent artist, I don't wait around for someone to ask me to make a record. I go out, make a record and try to sell it. I've always been like that."
The inability to play gigs and work was hard on Joe who said it had devastated his way of thinking. The lockdown also meant he couldn't see his family.
"I was thinking 'what am I going to do', the idea of working in another environment [he pauses] - I couldn't. First of all who's going to hire a 72-year-old geezer to wash potatoes?" he said.
"All my gigs kept getting cancelled like everyone else and Victoria suffered the most because [COVID] got out of the box.
"I live in the country so I wasn't as affected by lockdown as much as my children were in the CBD who couldn't visit me."
Despite the lockdown, Joe has kept himself busy.
While his new album which he finished two weeks before lockdown is yet to be released, he did find time to record a further 18 demos which helped him get through the rough time,
"I couldn't do anything in lockdown. It was very difficult. I've got a new record ready to go but I can't release anything.
"What's the point of releasing a record if there's nowhere to play?
"For people like me, independent artists, if you can't play you can't really promote it unless you're on social media."
Not a fan of social media, Joe professes to be an old school kind of guy who prefers to tour instead of using social media for promotion.
"I can't bear it [social media]. Everything about who I am will not let me do that," he said.
"I want to play, and of course I want people to come and watch me. It's a trade-off."
With live music making a comeback to stages across NSW, Joe highlights how things have suddenly changed to deal with COVID restrictions.
"In the past, you get to the gig, you set up, you do a soundcheck, people come, you do the gig, everyone has a good time," he said.
"It's no longer like that. We played a gig the other night, where you could have 200 people and now it's reduced. It becomes a different animal.
"Instead of doing one show a night, you're doing two shows a night to accommodate the crowd. You have to mix it up for each show. I put this incredible amount of pressure to be different from what I was an hour and a half ago.
"I changed about seven songs in the second bracket of the show."
The one thing that Joe isn't happy about though, is the fact that he's not able to play with his bands due to COVID restrictions but fans can go to the footy.
"What I want is a kind of a consistency," he said.
"You can go to the football and share a toilet with 30,000 people but you can't get up and dance at a venue or bring your band with you.
"It does my head in. There's no sensibility.
"You can't dance and that is weird.
"But I am happy to be back working. It's joyous to be back, Bowral is beautiful part of the country."
Despite the rollercoaster of a year and an unreleased album, there is some good news for Joe.
His album with Bakelite Radio 'Rosary of Tears' has been nominated for Victoria's Album of the Year.
"It gives you some comfort, it's nice. It's an independent record up against corporate record companies," he said.
"Being nominated for something like this is beautiful, it was a beautiful record to make. It brings a little bit of joy, I wanted to do this for myself."
You can catch Joe Camilleri and his Black Sorrows duo Claude Carranza at Bowral Bowling Club on November 11, where he will be playing old and new songs. Tickets can be bought here.
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
