Musicians turning their merchandise into masks to fight the pandemic

A lovely article in Pitchfork about bands being humane in this time of coronavirus pandemic. Post-hardcore band Thursday had their tour cancelled, which left them with lots of T-shirts stockpiled to sell on tour. They began donating the fabric to grassroots sewing collectives to make face masks. They also started selling factory-made Thursday-branded facemasks on their website, with proceeds going toward masks for frontline healthcare workers. Emo band Taking Back Sunday put together its own benefit initiative, selling various merch items from their inventory at discounted prices to raise money for masks. Together, Thursday and Taking Back Sunday have funded over 4,500 masks for medical professionals. Psych-folk guitarist and songwriter Kendra Amalie turned her merch inventory into cloth masks, doing the cutting and sewing at home herself, and sending them to people who needed them in her local community. My Chemical Romance is selling fabric face masks to benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund.