BENGALURU: Think concerts and you immediately think of crowded spaces filled with smoke, an air of nonchalance and the constant buzz of a restless audience. Sofar Sounds, a platform for music lovers and artistes alike, tries to change the game to give you an experience like no other.So far, or songs from a room, started in 2009 in London when two friends Rafe Offer and Rocky Start, tired of the regular concert scene at nightclubs and bars, invited some friends over for an intimate gig. “They shared a drink and sat on the floor listening to the music. What started out as a hobby in London soon spread into a global community for artists and audiences coming together in such spaces to share, discover, create and hopefully make a friend or find their new favourite band along the way,” says Rohan George Mathew, one of the city leaders of the Bengaluru series.
Today with intimate events being held across 398 cities worldwide, the series has slowly grown into a community of artistes, fans and volunteers, dedicated to the art. The Bengaluru chapter was started in 2015 by four friends. “One of them found out about the concept while studying in the UK and volunteering for a team there. The original team has since changed, with 10 volunteers currently, helping to grow the movement here,” Rohan adds.
Anyone can volunteer to open up their space to hold a gig. He states, “It is quite heartwarming to see that there are so many people open to the idea of strangers coming together in their living rooms to experience and celebrate art.”How does the series sustain itself? “Primarily crowd funding since we are not interested in profits but rather ensuring our artistes and the production team gets a split of the revenue and cover basic costs,” Rohan says. “We are open to paid sponsorships, as long as it fits with the concept.”
For the artistes, the experience and audience they play to are like nothing they’ve come across before. Sreejith Sreekumaran from The Beard of Harmony, has played at Sofar a number of times and finds the experience refreshing. “In a bigger space, people don’t listen much. Most are just focused on their drinks and conversations. But, when you play to a smaller audience, everybody is listening. This way it becomes a much more fulfilling experience,” he says.
But one does have to work to get an invite for a session. With gigs happening every month, registrations open a few weeks before the set date. With a limited number of seats to keep the setting intimate, chances of getting invited varies every month. “It starts out as first come first served, but several other factors come into play such as the number of applicants, number of cities applied to, number of times you’ve applied and the venue capacity for the show. Every city has different parameters for accepting applications and we try to keep it as fair as possible,” says Rohan. With their next Bengaluru session coming up in March, one can look them up online at www.sofarsounds.com or follow them on their Facebook page.