This week, we caught up with Ryan Bell , founder of Sunken Sofa Promotions to discuss his new project, Sunken Sofa Sessions – a series of live sessions to help promote local Glaswegian bands.
Read all about it below…
1. Tell us more about Sunken Sofa Sessions? Sunken Sofa Sessions is a series of live sessions that launched in February 2021 to help promote Glasgow’s alternative music scene, the sessions are recorded at home by the artists involved to make it safe during lockdown!
2. Where did the idea come from? The idea came from an adaption of Sunken Sofa Promotions, which I organised and promoted shows in Glasgow with, so the idea was pretty much my way of continuing to support my local music scene whilst also working with ‘live’ music during a time where in-person gigs aren’t possibl
3. What is the aim of the project? The aim of Sunken Sofa Sessions is to provide a platform for artists from Glasgow’s alternative music scene to be promoted during a time where live music isn’t possible, I’d love to have Sunken Sofa become a solid part of the Glasgow alternative music scene, and perha
4. So far you have released three sessions featuring Ghostbaby , The Bleeders and Everyday Pharaohs, what’s been the general reaction to the sessions so far? The reaction to the sessions has been pretty great so far! I’m lucky to have a lot of friends who have been supportive of the project which is really motivating as well. Glasgow has such a supportive music scene which is also a great bonus, with plenty of people wanting to get involved in some way or another!
5. The series is based on Glasgow’s alt music scene, what other musicians / bands can you recommend for us to check out?
So many! Aside from the great bands I’ve done sessions with so far, my personal favourites right now are TEOSE, Codist, Flinch, Vent, Sulka and everything put out by Negative Hope Records so far! We’ve got a playlist on Spotify under the name “The Sunken Sofa List” which features our favourite artists from Glasgow on it if anyone wants to check it out!
6. What are your aims and plans for Sunken Sofa when things return back to normality? I’d love to start getting back into organising live shows once it’s possible! Over the last year so many great artists have joined the Glasgow music scene and it’d be a really great opportunity to showcase them. Another aim is to take the sessions outside and record artists in person, Glasgow has a lot of outdoor locations that’d be perfect for recording at which is definitely something I’m looking forward to post-lockdown!
7. Is Sunken Sofa Sessions something that you want to continue after lockdown? Definitely! Despite the sessions starting out as a lockdown project, I’ve really enjoyed releasing them so far so it’s something I want to continue afterwards for sure! It also gives me a lot of opportunities to work with bands/musicians in the local scene which is a huge benefit.
8. What advice can you give to anyone who is interested in working within music promotions? I’d say get to know and support your local music scene as much as possible, I personally started by looking at what other promoters/music business projects were doing for inspiration when I first began putting on gigs as Sunken Sofa. One thing I’ve learned from doing projects like this is that you don’t need to have a big budget or team behind you to start up a project, if you want inspiration definitely check out Nardwuar’s TEDx talk on DIY, it gives a good insight on the topic!
Make sure you keep up to date with Sunken Sofa Sessions below…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunkenSofa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunkensofa/
Bandcamp: https://sunkensofasessions.bandcamp.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJJzFDQnrglgwSvwSGH9Q8g
The Music Files 