When I’m asked what it is I do, I usually simply answer “I work in music and events”, as that is a safe way of saying “a shed load of different jobs”. One of my favourite jobs, however, is one that doesn’t take up much time but always delivers in pure magic. Curating Sofar Sounds Newcastle’s monthly shows is the most gratifying volunteer role I’ve ever fulfilled. There’s a wonderful team of volunteers supporting myself and co-city leader Jay on the evening s of our events by being on the door, checking attendance, liaising with artists, helping on sound, and introducing our artists.

This week we headed to Gateshead’s co-working and independent studio space Orbis Community for another sold out evening. One of the owners of the business, JP, brought his enthusiastic self and made us feel right at home. I had met JP through one of our incredible Sofar Sounds volunteers, which is how we got the space for our event. With one of our initially confirmed artists cancelling his performance on the morning of our show, we had to find a replacement very quickly and found that in Teesside-based singer songwriter J.W. Darwin. He performed a great set of soft but exciting pop tracks, with a good amount of stage chatter in-between songs.

Next up was York/ Newcastle-based singer songwriter Jeremy M who’d sent his music through us and who we got captivated by. His softly spoken voice combined with a warm guitar sound made for a fantastic live experience, a bit more experience and stage presence and we’ve got a star in the making. Last up were Leeds-based outfit VICTORS who performed in acoustic trio form. With influences taken from Jungle and jangly pop outfits they created a very exciting and powerful performance that left us all softly swaying until the very end.

The Sofar Sounds audience is like no other; they sit and listen, interact, and appreciate. They have sold out our shows for the past 24 months, and keep showing up, either we’re doing something well, or they’re just too kind for this world. I think it’s a combination of both. It’s not always easy finding the right space for our events, as we look for the unfamiliar, the slightly odd; hairdressers, cafes at night, cinemas, cocktail bars, wherever we can fit our sound system and audience! Though not always easy, incredibly fun, it’s a task I do with pleasure, as well as finding the right artists for our line-ups, and when all’s been found, it’s meeting our wonderful audience. Every single month, Sofar Sounds is what I look forward to!