First Sounds of Sofar rock Trade Centre

Sofar Sounds, on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27, had patrons arriving at a location revealed only 36 hours prior. Laden with cushions, blankets and curiosity around the list of musical performers which they become privy to mere moments before they take the stage, they get comfortable on the floor of the Blank Space at The Trade Centre in Kingston for the small-scale musical showcase.

The novel, secret concert concept of Sofar Sounds began in London and today is helmed by music lovers in more than 400 cities worldwide. Two years ago, event curator Erica Louise ‘Rica G’ Richards brought that magic, loved globally, to Kingston, Jamaica.

Observing existing Jamaican musical experiences, Richards noted a lack of spaces where upcoming local artistes with niche sounds could showcase their talents to untapped audiences. She saw this in international Sofar stagings. It was after searching for show dates near her and finding nothing, that she decided to become the first Sofar Sounds curator for Kingston. The idea was to platform little-known but extremely talented artistes, acoustic-style.

“This is what Sofar is all about. Experiencing live music without the extra things. It’s great when you go to a stage show, but every live performance doesn’t have to be a stage show. I really want to get to a point where we just have someone and their guitar ... where everybody is so quiet and the person can sing out and we’re catching it. It’s a special type of vibration because you’re literally getting [the music] straight from the artiste,” Richards said.

It was the first showcase of 2024 and was aptly titled ‘The First Sounds of Sofar’. On the agenda were singers TravisLeon, Journexx and Zhayna. Blending rocksteady, RnB and soul, set after set, the young artistes entertained the audience gathered closely in front of them with acoustic renditions of their favourite songs alongside their original tunes, while nestled amongst decorative foliage.

Sofar was an opportunity they jumped at to engage with their supporters beyond the comment sections of social media videos or fleeting slots at smaller events giving way to upcoming musicians. This was especially true for reggae and Caribbean pop singer Journexx, who had years prior seen budding American singer Yebba, now a renowned artiste in the indie and alternative space, on the Sofar Sounds stage and wondered when his island home would host such an event.

“I’m here years later as another artiste performing at Sofar. It’s full circle…I think programmes like this help [upcoming artistes] to practise, understand their talent and what they can do,” the artiste explained.

Having curated the event on her own for two years, Rica G was happy to welcome the Clever Creators Foundation, a creative empowerment and advocacy group as a title collaborator for 2024, and their first staging together was a resounding success. Headed now in part by Clever project lead Geovani Lewin, the music showcase series has been enriched in its purpose of the development of niche, local talent. As the previous local marketing and content manager for the concert series, Lewin has an existing passion for the Sofar brand. It was when the sustainability of the stagings was questioned that he decided to acquire it as a client of Clever, for which he served as the director of marketing and communications. In conversation post-show, the Sofar co-curator shared being almost moved to tears by the positive feedback of patrons.

“[The Sofar community] can’t wait to see the other stagings we have going on for the rest of the year. We’re gonna do one in the summer and then one in December for Christmas. We’re trying to have shows at a frequency people can look forward to, because Sofar is supposed to be a musical community for new artistes to break out, for old artistes to show a different side of themselves, and for music lovers to enjoy something that isn’t too commercialised,” Lewin shared.