Sofar Sounds

There is a lot that goes on at Bandra's Garage 52. A self-proclaimed 'bunch of nutters with a few loose screws, crazy about motorcycles' kickstarted the passion project in the city-suburbia. While it may have begun as the ultimate motorcyclists' haven, Garage 52 has evolved into a space for events, social gatherings and gigs while keeping its industrial, rustic charm alive through every single one, making it the perfect venue for Sofar Sounds' secret set. And it was, on August 27, 2017,  where three groups of indie musicians performed a 'stripped back' collection of their greatest hits as an unsuspecting audience sat on the floor with beverages they'd carried along. 

BYOB is just one of the many philosophies of Sofar Sounds' intimate gigs, all around the world. To understand what this all has been about, one would have to trace the philosophy of Sofar Sounds back to 2009—the year Rafe Offer and Rocky Start decided to turn their hobby into a movement, thus revolutionizing the concept of live music performances. A little above the underground music scene and little under the mainstream network of live performances, it was born out of the founders' disdain for the sheer lack of awareness and involvement in music concerts that threatened quickly turning into a playground for a smart-phone dominated, chatty crowd, completely disconnected from the stage.

Like every Sofar show, the one scheduled in a room surrounded by motorcycles and machine parts involved no opening or closing acts, but a carefully curated list of three artists. One of the three being a five-member indie group, The Koniac Net, that recently performed its first ever set for Sofar. David Abraham, founder and band frontman, discusses the debut. 'It was fantastic. I loved the fact that it was set at Garage 52. We’ve been wanting to do a 90’s grunge-like live set at a house, garage, or small intimate venue for years. This was pretty close.’

The Koniac Net has been around. Fiddling with a range of genres and sub-genres for six years, the group has wowed audiences around the world with their signature harmonizing tunes. In their own words, they create music that is 'pure indie, alternative, and hard rock. However, we’ve all been influenced by other sub-genres like shoe gaze, punk, heavy metal, psychedelic, and even new funk/electro, and hip hop.' The band recently finished composing its third effort, following the 2014 EP success, Abiogenesis. 'It took a while as this was supposed to be a 4-song EP. However, I kept introducing new compositions to the guys, they loved it, and we ended up working on the additional new songs, resulting in a final 11-song album. Hopefully, we will begin recording it next month,' adds David.

Considering the influences The Koniac Net borrows from and contributes to, one would assume the band to have tailored its hard rock sensibilities to better resonate with the intimate and mellow atmosphere that Sofar intends and effortlessly creates. Turns out, not the case—'It was definitely a first for us, since most of the songs we played were brand new. But it worked out well. The songs we performed were more on the indie side, rather than hard rock. We had to change a couple of things here and there, but they still sounded good, and whoever was at the show got to hear our very rare acoustic set and acoustic versions of our new songs.'

And whether this acoustic reverie developed to match the ambience it played in, inspired its members to similarly experiment with other genres—'For Sofar, yes. We changed our songs slightly to fit the acoustic vibe. But our songs on the new album and when we play full sets in the future will be similar to our older releases: indie, alternative, hard rock. We are influenced randomly, by the genres mentioned above. There is no set of rules that we follow. Our main concern is melody, and if we achieve that, it’s what matters most.”

Over the course of seven years, Sofar's deck includes set-ups in over 375 cities around the world with performances by thousands of artists the likes of Bastille, Hozier, George Ezra and The Walters. It takes place in secret venues, someone’s living room or balcony for instance, revealed only a day before the show to audience that had applied to be there and experience a line-up of undisclosed performers, in keeping with the company's motto of 'secret gigs in intimate spaces.' All to maintain a respectable listener-performer dynamic in a low-key setting. Talking to David about its thoughts on the increasing relevance of such alternate movements in the time of new media and digital age, revealed otherwise. 'It’s slightly different here in India, considering the indie scene only picked up around 2008/09. Our country is still new to this, despite the several music festivals. I have met so many fans working on their own music, it’s promising to know that the independent scene exists here. I hope that this love for music continues in our country, knowing it will fuel the independent industry and creating more venues that cater to independent live acts. Small venues like these [Sofar] work too, as fans feel closer to the band. That kind of intimacy is pretty amazing...for musicians, and music lovers.'

Their experience was also remarkable enough to make them want to revisit, if given a chance. 'The Sofar personnel were really amazing: helped us with everything we needed, and were exceptionally polite & optimistic. That always helps the band get into a good state of mind. Not to forget the audience, who were there, in the thick of rain & heat, to listen to three bands. We definitely hope to do more shows with Sofar.' Speaking of experimenting with the standing formula for live shows, David has a few twists of his own to bring to the table. 'Personally, I would love to do a non-acoustic set with Sofar, in another small venue like Garage 52, or someone’s home, where we can play a sixty-minute show for music lovers. I can already imagine the energy between the band & audience if something like this was possible with Sofar. A pure grunge-orientated show for our fans! Another idea is to do a two-part set. One day we do an acoustic set of our songs, while on another, we do a full set for the same audience, if that works out.'

The band is already a massive success in every sense of the word, winning over fans, critics and accolades. They talk a little about what they'll be working on, in the days to come. 'Currently, we want to focus on playing all over India, and showcasing our entire new album before we release. A sort of special hearing for fans across our country. We are also very adamant about doing a standalone North-East tour. We hope to accomplish this in the coming months.'

The Koniac Net is now a member of a global community. One that thrives on a network of hosts, guests and artists, all dedicated to bringing the magic back to live music and tasked with upholding the integrity of the same. Even in India, Sofar is slowly making its way to new cities with new bands and without fancy venues, flash photography or a backstage. Being the niche that it is, promoting raw and cozy music meant for an invite-only audience in attendance to just listen, it is tasked with the responsibility of reconnecting a perpetually plugged-in crowd to the kind of music charisma sadly forgotten. And it seems to be doing well, dare we say, so far.


Text Shristi Singh