As the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic continues to rock the music industry, GRAMMY.com reached out to a few musicians to see how they were spending their days indoors. Today, indie-rock figurehead Hamilton Leithauser shares his Quarantine Diary. His new live album, Live! @ Cafe Carlyle, is out now. Leithauser will stream a set from Woodstock's Levon Helm Studios this Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 P.M. ET on seated.com. Tickets are on sale now.

[6:05 a.m.] Tap on my head.  

Pause.  

"Can I have a cup of coffee?"

I don’t move. Pause. Tap tap.  

"Can I have a cup of coffee?"

My mother is visiting and she doesn’t know how to use the coffee machine. She also doesn’t know how to knock before entering my bedroom, or wait until maybe 7 a.m. to ask for coffee. I'm 42 years old. But I usually get up around then anyhow, regardless of how late I may have stayed up the night before reading or watching '90s political thrillers, or how many cocktails I may have had. 

[6:30 a.m.] Toast made. Just sitting down to see some hideous headline about the President.  

"Daddy, can I have Nutella for breakfast?" 

My older daughter has woken up first.  

"No, you need to eat something healthier before we start in on the sugar again."

"Fine I’ll have Honey Nut Cheerios."

"Fine."

[7:30 a.m.] "Where’s my phone?" I was lost in some Washington Post Op-Ed piece about wealth inequality and my older daughter stole my phone and ran to hide under the covers in her room to play some idiotic free video game with plenty of "In-App Purchases" available.  

[8:00 a.m.] "Wait…where’s my phone! Bring it in here now! No more screens today!" I'd fallen back into the Washington Post and kicked the phone-fight can down the road, but now it’s time to lay down the law. A few minutes and a few weakly stern words later, my older daughter drags herself in and returns the phone.  

"I'm sooooo hungry!" she says.

"That’s because you haven’t eaten anything yet. Now what would you like for breakfast?"

"Nutella."

"No sugar."

"Honey Nut Cheerios."

"Fine."

[8:30 a.m.] "Can I have another cup of coffee?"

“Sure mom…hold on…I gotta finish this email." I've actually just been reading about the disgraced Washington Football Team with a confused and sadistic smile of horror on my face. My Spotify has been cycling through some "Made For You" algorithmic playlist that has been eerily on point.  

[9:00 a.m.] "OK, dad’s going on a bike ride. Everyone keep it together til I get back. OK? No screens." I go out for a 20-mile bike ride on my new bike. I was lucky enough to pick it up at a shop in Vienna, Virginia right before the national bike shortage that has gripped our nation. It has a flaw in the frame, but they still charged me top dollar. When I balked, the guy smiled: "Good luck finding another one."

[9:45 a.m.] Near the beach in Long Island, I bike past an endless exhibition of unspeakable wealth.

[10:00 a.m.] A young woman in a Range Rover gets within maybe 2-3 inches of flattening me as she tries to pass me from behind. Luckily, my reflexes have been diminished enough by my hangover and I don’t even notice until she wildly swings out of the way and slams on her horn. The horn is very loud. There’s actually no one coming in the other lane so I’m kind of left wondering why she didn’t just continue to pass. I mean, if she’s in such a hurry…She kind made like a big extra effort to dramatically hit the brakes and honk. She fires a quick, icy dismissal and floors it.

[10:30 a.m.] "Hey girls! I’m home." Silence. My mom’s coffee cup is full and cold on the table. My phone is gone. There are two moving lumps under the blanket in my bedroom.  

[11:00 a.m.] "OK, dad’s going to work in the studio. You can come get me if you need anything."

[12:15 p.m.] Lunch with the girls. 

[1:15 p.m.] I am allowed several uninterrupted hours in my studio to work on a new song. I've been trying to complete it for three-and-a-half years. The Pro Tools session was created on Feb. 19, 2016. I’ve probably heard it seven thousand times. Why do I still like it? Do I still like it? I actually don’t know. The stuff I did on it in 2016 actually sounds kind of great. But the stuff from 2017-2019… Not so hot. The working time is great for the unrest in my soul, but the new stuff is not floating my boat today. Well, what are you gonna do… Pretty sure I’m free tomorrow…

[5:45 p.m.] Prepare dinner. "Girls, it actually looks like a bomb went off in this room. Please clean your stuff up." I have four beers in rapid succession.

[6:15 p.m.] My wife is working through dinner. She has a deadline for her podcast. I am the only one who eats anything. Both girls say they are "full." The older one has eaten a single bite of rice, and the younger one has eaten nothing. They both want ice cream.  

"You do not have to eat your dinner, but you will not get ice cream unless you do."

They both do a lot of swirling food around with forks and complaining. They eat the smallest possible amount.

[6:45 p.m.] The girls have run off, so I listen to a few rough demos of songs I’ve recently made. The songs are sounding decent. 

[7:15-8:00 p.m.] Dishes. We do not have a dishwasher where we are and somehow by the end of the day we have used over a 150 dishes, so this is a big deal.  

[8:00-9:45 p.m.] Battle for bed time.

[10:00-11:00 p.m.] Read some novel while simultaneously playing online chess on my phone. 

[11:00 p.m.] Listen to podcast about politics or poetry. Pray.

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