As the impact of the coronavirus struck home, local audio engineer Craig Honeysett watched as the musicians he worked with lost gigs and were left without an income.

Wanting to do what he could, Craig turned his Dotted Eight Studio into a live-streaming venue, providing a virtual stage every Friday for some of our region’s best music talent.

“I was working lots with Robbie Mortimer and he, like a lot of musos, had no gigs at the moment. So, I wanted to figure out a way we could get him in front of his audience, then I thought there's a ton of musos locally who are in the same boat,” said Craig.

“So, I just started inviting artists I knew, prominent live musicians… I had the facility and the skillset to be able to do it and it has just been cool to invite them in.”

Over the past few months ‘Live from the Dotted Eight Studio’ has featured the likes of Clancy Pye, Robbie Mortimer, Lueth Ajak and Austin Logan — each playing live, intimate and interactive sets via Facebook Live.

“People have loved it, and every artist that I've had in here has just been stoked, super thankful for the opportunity to get in front of an audience again,” said Craig.

“It is just an opportunity for people to connect with their fans and because they are streaming through my system, they can have their phones or iPad with them and in between songs say hi, talk to the people watching and get that sort of 'face to face' interaction.

“And it has meant I've met a few people for the first time… people like Clancy Pye and Smith & Jones I just love their music and listen to it so this has been a great opportunity to invite them in and meet them.”

As an audio engineer, a simple video feed was not enough for Craig, who has made sure the audio quality is top notch.

“I wanted to get the sound even better than a live scenario, because you have the studio quality… we spend a good amount of time at the start sound checking and doing test streams and making sure it is sounding good. People are listening with headphones and saying it is like they’re right there,” he said.

Craig plans to continue the weekly live streams until at least the end of August and has local favourites Smith & Jones performing in the studio at 7pm this Friday.

“I've enjoyed it and if there was a market for it, I would continue for sure, but I don't know that there is,” he said.

“At the moment, while I can help artists — and it's been good to get the studio name out — that's enough for me. If the industry is strong, then I still have a job, if it's not then I don't. So I'm just happy to be helping and making sure that people have an audience and that the audience has someone to be entertained by.”

Catch Smith and Jones live on The Dotted Eight Facebook page 7pm this Friday, where you can also find all the past livestreamed acts.