Sofar not only helps people connect in their own communities, but can also help provide a home away from home and built-in network in a new city. Sofar LA’s Assistant Director Jeanne and Head of Audio Evelyn's friendship started started during their time on the Sofar NYC team and grew during simultaneous cross-country moves to the West Coast. Read on to find out how they decided to make the move and how Sofar helped make it a whole lot easier to move 3000 miles:
English singer-songwriter Tom Odell has long been a friend of Sofar Sounds. The BRIT Award winner has played three Sofars — including Give a Home in 2017 for our partnership with Amnesty International. Sofar London was thrilled to welcome him back to an intimate Sofar show recently to celebrate the launch of his new album, Jubilee Road, and play some tracks for us. He talks to Sofar about why he wrote his new album in his London living room, why he thinks playing Sofar is more terrifying than a stadium show and who he’s listening to right now:
Every night, we’re putting on intimate shows featuring the best up-and-coming artists around the world in 400+ cities. Clearly, we can’t attend all of these shows, so we asked our city leaders to pick the artist that stood out to them the most in October for our Now Playing playlist. Follow Sofar Sounds on Spotify to stay updated on our latest choices, along with City Spotlights, Staff Picks and more.
Finland: the land of saunas, Northern Lights, reindeer and Sofar Helsinki. The understated Scandinavian seaside capital is home to the only Sofar in Finland. City Leader Pablo chooses his favorite unknown places in Helsinki, along with some of the local team's favorite alumni.
With hundreds of shows around the world each month, countless memorable moments happen at Sofar. Here are just a few of the special shows we put on in the past few weeks!
Did you know? We have over 16,000 videos of intimate performances on our YouTube channel (and counting)! Check out these Sofar videos from artists making big moves in music that might have flown under your radar.
It’s that time of year! Halloween is just around the corner, and we’re dusting off our costumes for a round of pumpkin-filled All Hallow’s Eve-themed shows. Get in the spirit by taking a look at some of our most festive shows in years past, and apply to attend a Halloween show with us this year.
Bangalore singer-songwriter Mahesh has long been a favorite of the Sofar teams in India, so to celebrate the launch of his new EP Accept, Sofar India sent him on a six city tour in August, including stops in Shillong, Pune, Bombay, Goa, Bangalore and Kochi. The cities were revealed the night before each show. Mahesh talks to us about his most memorable tour moments and what the Indian independent scene is like:
Every night, we’re hosting dozens of artists in intimate spaces around the world. Over Sofar’s nearly 10 year history and 15,000 shows, that adds up to a lot of talent. We’ve had some big acts join us in our small spaces, often when they were just starting out in their careers. Here are ten artists you didn’t know played Sofar!
Sofar shows are known for being intimate, stripped-down and sometimes so quiet you can hear a pin drop. But that doesn’t mean we can’t shake it up and have some fun too! These Sofar sets have a little something extra in them thanks to brass additions.
On the hunt for new music? We’ll take care of that for you! Each month, our city leaders share their top picks of artists who played locally in their city for our Now Playing playlist. Follow Sofar Sounds on Spotify to stay updated on their latest choices, along with City Spotlights, Staff Picks and more.
Sofar Buenos Aires City Leader Hernan started the first Sofar in Latin America, and still leads the city’s monthly shows today! During the day, he works in tech, data and digital marketing, but explores his love for the arts and music through putting on Sofars in the culture-filled capital of Argentina. He speaks to us about the early days of Sofar, where Sofar fits in to the busy Buenos Aires nightlife and his favorite moment over the past eight years of Sofars.
Detroit, Michigan, the home of Motown, has had some hardships in recent years, but out of that has risen a thriving creative, cultural and artistic scene. Detroit City Leader Blake shares some of his favorite secret spots in the resurgent Midwest city, along with some of the standout acts to play Sofar Detroit recently!
Sofar is responsible for quite a few love connections over the years, but also equally important, countless friendships. Here are just a few of the stories of close friends who connected at a Sofar!
With hundreds of shows around the world each month, countless memorable moments happen at Sofar. Here are just a few of the special shows we put on in the past few weeks!
Hitting the road with Sofar! We’re big fans of NYC-born and raised band Bailen – they’ve played over 40 Sofars in the past two years. In advance of their debut album release in early 2019, we’re sending them on tour in the U.S. across the East Coast and Midwest, with 15 Sofars scheduled in 12 cities.
Sofar shows can be the perfect place to meet new people in your community, breeding quite a few love stories and marriages over the years! Sofar’s Marketing Manager Adam met his girlfriend Alexis when they were both Sofar NYC ambassadors and grabbed a slice of pizza together after a show. Since a Sofar can make for a perfect unconventional date, Adam and Alexis share their favorite off-the-beaten-path date ideas in New York City!
Calling all bookworms and bibliophiles! Whether cozy and historic or modern and striking, libraries and bookstores serve an important spot in all communities as a gathering space, so where better to get together to experience some great music together? Here are some of the book-filled spaces we’ve been able to host in!
On September 20, 2017, we threw our biggest event yet! On one day, thousands of artists performed in living rooms all over the world, in over 270 cities, in partnership with Amnesty International to raise money for the 20 million+ refugees worldwide. Thanks to our guests, we helped raise over $180,000 for Amnesty.
One year later, we’re remembering some of our favorite moments from the day, which included performances from Ed Sheeran, Lianne La Havas, Jorja Smith, Local Natives, Alessia Cara and many, many more.
Boston hip-hop artist and poet Oompa first played her local Sofar in March 2018, but has quickly become a part of the Sofar community with four more shows in Boston and one in Atlanta under her belt. She talks with us about what it’s like to express her identity (black, queer, hip-hop artist) in her work, the strength of the under-the-radar Boston hip-hop scene, and more: