The Secrecy in Music: Sofar Sounds Manila

The idea of not knowing what to expect may sound terrifying for most people. But for Sofar Sounds, it’s the most delightful thought that thrills and delights every bone.

A secret gig that is held in undisclosed places, Sofar Sounds was formed in London with the goal to gather music lovers in the most intimate experience possible. It’s nothing like your regular concert where the line-up and venue is all planned out – Sofar Sounds builds interest by keeping their show’s secrecy, only revealing it in their mailing list, a few days prior the event.

Roughly two years ago this movement was picked up by Li Perez, brains behind event production A Spur of the Moment Project, which eventually led her to putting up Sofar Sounds Manila. It was quite a risk but Li had trust not only in our local artists but to the listeners as well.

At present, Sofar Sounds Manila has held the coolest shows in the most pleasant venues. From acoustic to electronic, rock to soul, Sofar Sounds has invited several local artists who all put a great show to an equally great audience.

Know more about Sofar Sounds Manila in our interview with Li below. And don’t forget to sign-up too because the next Sofar show might just be right across your door: http://www.sofarsounds.com/manila

Hi! Can you please tell us something about Sofar Sounds Manila? When and how did it start?
Sofar Sounds is the world’s largest live music discovery community. We curate secret, intimate gigs in an unplugged and unusual space or venue around the world. It started way back in London in 2009 but only came to Manila in October 2013 all because of a Sofar video I stumbled upon Facebook which piqued my interest. I read more about the movement and realized that this is something we can do here. So I got in touch with the guys who started this in London and now we’re here.

Why hold intimate gigs when Sofar can hold them publicly instead?
Sofar is devoid of distractions that public shows have. If we do it publicly, it won’t be a Sofar show anymore.

How is the reception of Filipinos to Sofar Sounds?
Surprisingly well, actually. We don’t advertise any of the shows aggressively yet the number of people signing up continues to grow. I think it’s a good sign that there are groups of people out there willing to lend their ears to something unknown to them. It may sound cheesy but it does give me hope for our local musicians.

How was the Sofar Sounds Manila team formed?
I didn’t know half of the people in the team prior to Sofar. I kind of head hunted them. Haha.

Do you invite artists or do they come to you? How does it work?
We invite artists :)

How does Sofar decide on the show’s venue?
Looking for a venue host is actually a hard job since we run zero budgets. Fortunately, we’re always able to get good ones. We’re always looking for something accessible and big enough to hold more than 50 guests.

What is the most memorable Sofar show curated? Why?
It may sound cliché but each show is unique. So it’s really hard to choose one. There’s always something new and different each show.

And the most memorable performance?
Same as mentioned above. Every artist we’ve featured brought something different in the show.

What’s your dream Sofar Sounds Manila line-up and venue?
Secret ;)

What should we look forward to Sofar Sounds MNL?
You may have to keep checking our social media pages for that. But definitely more music and hopefully, bigger spaces to get in more guests.

Perform, host or volunteer for Sofar Sounds Manila by clicking here. Don’t forget to check out their Facebook  and Youtube pages for exclusive artist performances.

Photos by Karen De La Fuente Photography c/o Sofar Sounds Manila.

Categories Music