Camille Renner

JOUR 3162

Professor Spainhour

Mylane Bella-Smuts in 2020

Mylane Bella-Smuts is a lot of things. She is an Ohioan, accountant, daughter, friend,

singer, feminist, spin class regular, and above all, a lover of music. Due to the COVID-19

pandemic, Mylane left her apartment in downtown Cleveland, Ohio and settled back into her

childhood home in suburban Kent, roughly 30 minutes south of the urban epicenter in Northeast

Ohio. While COVID-19 forced everyone worldwide to alter their daily routines, Bella-Smuts

describes her time back with her family in the suburbs as a complete lifestyle change. She is no

longer navigating the urban streets every morning on her way to work, living alone in her 500

square foot apartment, and, most heartbreaking to her, spending nights at Cleveland’s House of

Blues or small indie venues for live music.

When asked what she has missed the most during the global pandemic, Bella-Smuts

quickly answered that she missed going to concerts. She had already bought tickets to see Harry

Styles, The 1975 and Phoebe Bridgers, and various artists at a local musical festival, all of which

have been cancelled. Though it was upsetting to miss these artists, she added that she is

impressed with the creativity of musicians, such as Tropidelic, a reggae-funk band that did a

drive-in concert, and has been enjoying artists doing live streams online. One indie rock band in

particular, Jukebox the Ghost, provided a two hour streamed concert for fans who donated to a

charity they chose, and Mylane enjoyed it, although it wasn’t the same as the real thing. “The

vibes were different sitting in the living room with my family,” Mylane reflected while sitting in

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her childhood bedroom, a bright pink wall with purple curtains in contrast behind her, something

you would never see in a music venue. Her dirty blond hair was straight and unstyled, and her

signature winged eyeliner was nowhere to be seen, something she would have worn to a concert.

Bella-Smut’s life has changed drastically due to the pandemic, but she remains hopeful for the

future of live music. With smiling eyes she states, “I’m looking forward to the day live music

returns.”

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