Musicians left without work due to tours cancelled by coronavirus have taken matters into their own hands and set up an inventive Saturday morning TV show, giving fellow artists up and down the country a chance to perform in a unique setting.
Broadcast online every week and attracting hundreds of viewers every time, ’Beans on Toast’ is filmed and produced in a home-built studio in a terrace house in Pitsmoor, Sheffield. The show is created by bands on Sheffield label Bingo Records and is presented by acts from the city Mr Ben & the Bens and Potpourri.
It takes the form of 90s morning television like ‘Live and Kicking’ and features music, art, cartoons, sketches and even a parody soap opera segment – either created in the studio or sent in by contributors from their homes all over the UK. The show recently aired its sixth episode, and with a steadily growing base of supporters tuning in every week, it looks set to keep entertaining people and filling the gap left by the lack of new television being created during the pandemic.
Director Tom Diffenthal, whose usual work as a camera operator and touring musician has stopped during lockdown, said: “The whole industry has come to a halt. With COVID-19 at the moment it’s not possible to create television in a safe way. “We’re very lucky we all live together and all enjoy making things like this as a group. It’s become a perfect opportunity to use a DIY approach to make live television. “It’s really helping us to have something to focus on and we hope it’s offering some light relief to people.”
‘Beans on Toast’ comes as part of a wide offering of DIY entertainment options created by musicians and artists in an attempt to reach audiences they are otherwise unable to connect with while public events are not going ahead. Many bands are performing gigs live via Facebook or Instagram live videos, and YouTube-based curation from the likes of Quarantunes have provided bands with platforms to perform their music to the masses from the safety of their homes. ‘Beans on Toast’ aims to take it a step further. As well as including a wide variety of different styles of performance and art under one roof it welcomes content sent in by audience members and fans. People are encouraged to get involved using whatever they have to hand to make their contributions.
All this is presented in a light-hearted and self-effacing fashion to bring humour to people’s weekends in lockdown as well as high quality creations. Evie Garner, one of the presenters, explained: “The eclectic nature of the show makes it quite different; we’ve got all sorts of segments that invite people to contribute which I think really makes people feel a part of something.”
‘Beans on Toast’ is broadcast every Saturday morning at 10am on their YouTube channel ‘Beans on Toast TV’. For more information, or to arrange interviews, you can contact beansontoasttv@gmail.com or bingorecs@gmail.com. You can watch the show here: beansontoast.live.
