Review: Sofar Sounds

Last term, in the dark night (around 7pm), I joined a select group of people (anyone who bought a ticket) at a secret location in Oxford (a room in Wolfson College) to see four local musical acts. The event is called Sofar Sounds, and it’s a monthly night aiming to promote a new experience of live music. It happens across the world in New York, Rio, Stockholm, and, for a few years now, Oxford.

Started in North London (where else) by a group of friends, the idea is to host a number of bands in an intimate, unusual space like a living room, a church, or even on top of a washing machine. The location is kept secret until a couple of days before the event, and you don’t know who’s playing until you get there.

I’ve been before in my hometown, but this time I went to a night in Oxford. I was expecting mostly artsy, glasses-wearing students with cans of Red Stripe, but the crowd was much broader, mostly made up of local couples and a few families. A bar at the back sold drinks, although you’re welcome to bring your own as well.

The first act, singer-songwriter Jordan O’Shea, sung in sweet, haunting tones about burning down his home with his parents inside, among other things.

Next was a more surprising act in the form of ‘mystic harp’ from harper/singer/composer Steph West. She played a wide range of songs, covering folk music, sea ballads, and a women’s working song. This was followed by another singer-songwriter from The Fireflies, and then rousing Balkan folk band The Balkan Wanderers.

The range of music on offer was impressive; the night is very well curated. The minds behind it, Jo Frost and Oli Steadman, were around all night, and I had a chat to them about the event and its place in the Oxford music scene. They’re both keen to involve more students, since the word-of-mouth nature of the event means fewer students are aware of it than whatever night at Lola Lo’s your six promoter friends have invited you to on Facebook.

Oli sees the night as part of a movement aiming to give control back to performers and their fanbases, avoiding expensive charges that might be in place in more traditional venues and making sure all profits go straight to the artist. His latest idea, tigmus (this is good music) aims to ‘connect musicians and fans directly using pledge based tickets’, kind of like kickstarter for live music.

These are the sort of events that build communities around local music, and help young artists to get heard, including the excellent Sofar regulars (and Oxford locals) Balloon Ascents, who are launching their first EP with the help of tigmus later this month.

The next event is on the 30th of January, a special edition that ties in with the Ashmolean’s LiveFriday’s event. This month it’s free, but for future Sofar nights, you can sign up here.