Sofar Sounds is changing the way musical artists interact with the local community in Birmingham
"Every Sofar varied in genre and crowd, but they were always a great way to explore the city."
ACM: Can you explain briefly who you are and what you do for our readers?
Sofar: Hey ACM! This is a dope information space you’ve cultivated. I am honored to be a part of it. My name is Sean Gilder and I am a freelance art director, muralist, illustrator, and graphic designer. You can see a lot of my work at GilderCreativeAgency. I am also responsible for launching and curating the international events organization Sofar Sounds in Birmingham. I moved to Birmingham about a year ago from NYC, which is where I attended my first Sofar Sounds event. I already had a deep love for live music and for 10 years I took full advantage of all the different boroughs of the city that had live music or events. I helped launch the music events company BANG-ON!NYC that created events around music and art. I volunteered with the Sofar New York team during the last year I was in NYC. Every Sofar varied in genre and crowd, but they were always a great way to explore the city.
I moved back to Alabama to explore my creative career in my home state. My passion for live music fed my drive to spend my extracurricular time creating something for the community in Birmingham. I had seen and experienced so much in NYC and I wanted to find a way to communicate those experiences here. So why not bring one of the actual experiences?
ACM: How does being in Birmingham shape your events if it does at all?
Sofar: Living in Birmingham definitely effects how I curate the shows. Firstly, we get submissions for Sofar from within our local community, but also surrounding cities like Florence, Auburn, and Mobile. But the Birmingham community sets the stage for these unique events. We hope to act as a musical tour guide for our community. We showcase the unique homes and business that share a similar vision. So, while Sofar is an international event, it is the community that is showcased. That is why we love working with local businesses and organizations that so generously offers to host us.
ACM: What is the art community like in Birmingham?
Sofar: It is hard to say. I am a newcomer to the city, and I’ve met many passionate creatives that are working every day to develop their own voice and style that strengthens the creative scene. There seems to be a good many people attempting to make more space for creative expression and thought or to organize it to make it a reality for others’ voices. I see artists working and developing their talents every day to become better. That is inspiring to see. But I have also seen that the creative community here can also be extremely critical of other people’s work and even actively try and destroy it as opposed to have a dialogue. I know that everything I have seen is just the tip of the iceberg, so it is really hard to comment one way or another. I do see I have a lot to learn and that is daunting in itself. So... I would say it’s pretty exciting.
"Art gives a city more personality, it creates a common thread between the community. It shows the world outside of the city who we are, thus extending an open hand in welcome for those who may be interested in visiting or moving to our city. It is a beacon to call other like-minded individuals to Birmingham which helps us grow."
ACM: Do you feel like the art community is growing in Birmingham? and what do you think it will add to the city?
Sofar: Without question it is growing. Art gives a city more personality, it creates a common thread between the community. It shows the world outside of the city who we are, thus extending an open hand in welcome for those who may be interested in visiting or moving to our city. It is a beacon to call other like-minded individuals to Birmingham which helps us grow. It adds unspoken communication. The versatility of voices within the community is staggering. I believe Sofar Sounds is the musical equivalent to that in a very tangible way. We want to put on events in more artist centric spaces. Which in turn gets featured on a global level. We put on events in spaces around the community you never would have ventured to if it wasn’t for the Sofar event happening. So, it starts conversations between the community that maybe, wouldn’t have otherwise happened.
ACM: There are many events old and new for artists in Birmingham, are there any that you particularly enjoy or are a part of outside of your own?
Sofar: As a visual artist I have been thirsting for some figure drawing classes and fundamental practice classes. I am inspired by the continued work of Blank Space. Its a genuine grassroots art organization that has its heart in the right place. There are plenty of art events throughout the city that showcase local art that I really love attending, I’ve only made it to one Vibes and Virtues, but Carey Fountain is producing some super interesting concepts that needs more eyes on it. The local music events for DIY Birmingham, the Firehouse, Loft Shows, Lobotomix and local artists showcases that have been curated for Workplay are pretty great too.
ACM: What do you feel like Birmingham lacks, in terms of artistic spaces/opportunities?
Sofar: I feel like Birmingham is growing at its own pace. The creatives and community involved will define that in time. I just think we need more leaders in the community that cooperate together.
ACM: When you first became involved with Sofar did you think you would one day be running the event in Birmingham?
Sofar: No... I didn’t. It was a progression over time. I went to Sofar events for years in NYC and had so many wonderful experiences with musicians, hosts, and audience members that given my freelance lifestyle in NYC it made sense to devote some time to see great music for free, but also engage and help the cause. When I moved back to Alabama, I felt the only city that could sustain this event was Birmingham. So I took it upon myself to try and make it happen here.
". . . we bring different genres of artists to the music scene that normally would not have a platform in Alabama, as well as showcase newcomers."
ACM: What makes the Sofar different from other art events in Birmingham?
Sofar: There are so many things. We have an international platform that offers access to a diverse international network of artists who know what Sofar is. Therefore, we bring different genres of artists to the music scene that normally would not have a platform in Alabama, as well as showcase newcomers. We are completely secret events; you have to sign up to know where it is happening. This allows us to keep our events intimate and surprising.
ACM: How do y’all find the musicians that are featured at the shows?
Sofar: I curate through submissions on our website mainly. I pour over that list all the time. I get emails, dms, and personal emails a lot as well. That makes it a bit harder to keep track of, so it’s best to go through our platform. It organizes it for me into a list with links so I can easily use that to curate from.
ACM: What is it like to be part of the behind the scenes of creating an experience like this for the community to attend?
Sofar: I am going to be honest, it has been a LOT of work. I have been working remotely with the global team, but this has all been on me in the community. I’m new to the city, but no one had really heard of Sofar Sounds and rarely had someone been to one. So, its awareness has grown a lot in the community because of word of mouth. But, being new to the city means; I have had to make new friends, find creative work, make creative work, establish my name as a creative, try and understand the city, enjoy the city, and build something for the city. So I have to do the scheduling, listen to the artists, book the artists, make contracts, build out a team of volunteers, train that team, work with sound engineers, find photographers and videographers, find hosts, market, design the posters, social media, communicate with the global team, emcee the events, follow up emails, and creating the post show media. I need to learn to relax so I can enjoy the night of, which generally runs very smoothly. The core team of volunteers I work with have been wonderful and professional.
ACM: What do y’all hope to do with the Sofar in 2019?
Sofar: I want to offer a more balanced representation of the unique talent that exists in Birmingham and our state. Which means we need to get the word out in more diverse communities. I want to offer the same quality of intimacy that Sofar brings to its events but do so on a grander scale. Some shows will stay small and in living rooms, but the community has a lot of history that could be showcased as well. I hope to work more with non-profits to raise awareness for causes that align with our core values in Birmingham. Sofar’s tagline is “Bringing magic back to live music” and what I believe “magic” means here is community. We want to bring that connection back to live music, removing certain expectations and experiencing it all together. Which I think we need a bit more of.