• How Sofa Salon Works
  • Future Salons
  • Past Artists
  • Our Press
  • Podcasts
  • Berlin Scene
  • Join Our E-Mail List

Sofa Salon

~ Berlin house concert series

Sofa Salon

Category Archives: music

Do: host your own house concert

23 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by waspsummer in artists, concert, earning a living, Europe, house concert, live music, music, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Berlin, community, community-building, Couchsurfing, Croxton Records, DIT, DIY, DO, earning a living, Europe, food, friends, GOOD, house concert, How Do?, intimacy, Konzert, live music, Mick Thomas, musician, new ideas, potluck, sharing, Sofa Salon, Suzanna Espie, touring, wine, Wohnzimmer

Around 2007, legendary Australian songwriter Mick Thomas told me a story about one of the artists on his Croxton Records label, the great soul-country singer Suzannah Espie. She had booked two gigs a week apart in Perth, some 3,400km away from her home in Melbourne. The cost of two return airfares was prohibitively high, some AUD$600. Suzannah rang the venues and anyone she knew in South-West Australia and asked if they could help her find some fill-in gigs to get her through the week. What she found was a handful of willing hosts who offered to put her up, feed her and invite their friends around and pass the hat if she’d play a concert.

Copyright Kate Seabrook 2012

Copyright Kate Seabrook 2012

After permanently relocating to Berlin in 2009, and remembering Suzannah’s story, I started my own monthly Berlin house concert series called Sofa Salon and started touring Europe as a solo musician under the name Wasp Summer. Over two years, my planning preferenced house concerts, filling in with some club gigs rather than using house shows as convenient, short-lead-time fill-ins for a club show tour.

Most of my touring is organised through the various Couchsurfing.org forums devoted to house concerts. Most of the Sofa Salon artists come from personal recommendations, email requests and acts that I see or hear of personally.

Copyright Jordane Chaillou 2012

Copyright Jordane Chaillou 2012

I love hosting, watching and playing house concerts for the same reasons that I like dinner parties more than nightclubs – intimacy, connection, attention. It’s one of the great pleasures of my life in Berlin to sit in front of great singer-songwriters and hear them in company but with few distractions. The audience necessarily offers a higher level of attention which encourages the performer to offer greater intimacy and honesty no matter their style. It can be confronting for first-time guests and performers alike but most participants come away beaming. A large part of the audience for Sofa Salon comes from repeat visitors and word-of-mouth guests.

Copyright Orange 'Ear

Copyright Orange ‘Ear

As hostess, guest and performer, I’ve discovered there are as many different ways to host a house concert as people to host them. I’ve played house shows in France, Germany, Australia and Spain – all with different policies on inviting guests, raising money for the artist, food, drink.

There are some general underlying principles to hosting a house concert.

1. Your musician should be paid.
Some hosts will never charge an entry fee on principle, but will pass the hat for the musician. The risk is that your guests won’t be generous. One night, I made 20€ after travelling 6 hours and playing for 1 1/2 hours. O the next your, I made 240€ from the hat and CD sales. Some, like myself, set an entry fee to guarantee a base level of income. I aim for 100€ per artist but I can guarantee at least 30 people at every Sofa Salon. Some hosts set a ‘suggested donation’ of 5-20€. Some artists with a bigger profile ask for a set fee and ask the host to arrange to cover it. As you like.

2. Offer dinner, drinks, accommodation
I always offer a bottle of wine and dinner for my artists as part of the deal. On tour, I am nearly always offered accommodation as part of the deal. Frequently, I am picked up from the train station. This makes touring much more cost efficient for the musician and is greatly appreciated.

3. Bring an audience.
There are various ways to arrange this. Some hosts like to make their events open to the public. Some only invite personal friends. Some find guests through facebook or couchsurfing events. With Sofa Salon, I have created a Berlin-wide network of hosts and, to protect their security, I only accept reservations by email and only send the address a day prior to the show to people who have reserved. It also gives me new names for my Sofa Salon email list which runs to over 1000 people after 2 1/2 years of shows.

Other variations on the hospitality theme include running a cash bar with cheap drinks or allowing the guests to BYO, making food to share or asking guests to bring food for a potluck dinner and hosting outdoors in the Summertime.

Why should you DO a house concert? If you love music, you can have it as a living intimate part of you life, witnessing excellent performance up close. You can gather your friends and community together for a heart-opening experience of sharing. You can offer practical and material support to touring musicians. There’s no reason why this could not be extended to film, dance, activist talks, educational nights, slide nights with visual artists. It’s an open-source, open-ended, community-building activity and it’s the best thing I ever created.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sofa Salon podcast number 1

12 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by waspsummer in 2012, acoustic, Adam Donen, Berlin, folk, Gillian Grassie, harp, January, mr oCean, music, musik, Mute Swimmer, podcast, poesie, poetry, Sailor Days, Sofa Salon, spoken word

≈ Leave a comment


Sofa Salon is the monthly living room concert series showcasing the best Berlin-based singer-songwriters and poets alongside German and international guests.

I’m now doing a monthly podcast that features upcoming Sofa Salon artists and tracks from performers I want to support.

This is my first 30min podcast and features music and poetry from Gillian Grassie, Adam Donen, Sailor Days, Mute Swimmer and mr oCean. Gillian and Adam will be playing Sofa Salon on January 27, 2012. If you’d like to reserve your place, send an email to berlinsofa salon [at] googlemail.com.

Each podcast will be up on my Soundcloud page and hopefully up on iTunes. Don’t forget to

Cheers,
Sam

Sofa Salon podcast Jan 2012 by SofaSalon

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sofa Salon’s first birthday!

15 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by waspsummer in 1st birthday, Australian, Berlin, Diving Bell, music, Ned Collette, poetry, Sally Browne, Schöneberg, Schneider and Sohn, Ships Piano, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon

≈ Leave a comment

Na ja, It’s Sofa Salon’s first birthday and I’m celebrating with a… Sofa Salon. Exactly one year ago, I put on three afternoon living room concerts for the Moabiter Kulturtage.

The shows were filled with wonderful musicians, poets and an attentive audience. Something really special happened in that space and everyone there loved seeing performers so close. I put on a few more and then a few more. I made an afternoon festival with SAND Journal and migrated to other living rooms. It’s been a surprise and a joy.

Thank you very much to Cosima, Lena, Cameron, Kristian, Kari and Max and Eric for your support. Thank you very much to all the poets, musicians and guests who make Sofa Salon a very warm, intimate Berlin experience.

Highlights for me have included Emilie Zoey Baker, The Alma Church Choir, mr Ocean, Mark Steiner, Roland Satterwhite and Sandra Serala, The Sweetness and Ben Porter Lewis, Biddy Connor, Roller One, Miranda Gjerstad and Lotta Fahlen, Water Music and Daniel Hoth, but you’re all amazing.

ENG:

Samstag 16. Juli – Wohnzimmer Konzert: Schneider & Son, Ned Collette (Aus) + poet Sally Browne (Aus)

…Sofa Salon presents an early evening of wonderful music and poetry. Doublebass player Claudia Schneider fronts Diving Bell, one of Melbourne’s more intriguing bands. They create European stories with Melbourne sounds and have been described as Indie Oompah. Frau Claudia’s plays a set with son Liam, from Melbourne band Ships Piano. Respected Australian songwriter and previous Sofa Salon guest Ned Collette also plays his dark and literate folk. Our poet for the evening is Brisbane-based music journalist and poet Sally Browne in her first Berlin reading. Our Sofa Salon is in Schöneberg near S-Schöneberg station. To reserve your places, the Sofa Salon email is : berlinsofasalon@googlemail.com. 6€. 17:00.

DE:

Der Sofa Salon präsentiert einen zeitigen Abend mit Musik und Poesie. Contrabass-spielerin Claudia Schneider führt die faszinierende Melbourner Band Diving Bell an. Sie formen europäische Kurzgeschichten mit Melbourne Sounds. Liam Schneider, der Sohn von Frau Schneider, und die Melbourner Band Ships Piano werden ein pulsierendes Indie Rock Set spielen. Zudem beehrt uns der angesehene australische Musiker Ned Collette mit seinen dunklen und literarischen Songs. Der Sofa Salon wird dieses mal unweit des S-Bahnhofs Schöneberg stattfinden. 6€. 17:00. Für Reservierungen, E-Mail: berlinsofasalon@googlemail.com

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sofa Salon #8 Thank You!

08 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by waspsummer in Berlin, Germany. Deutschland, Joe's Bar, Lina Paul, mr oCean, music, musik, poesie, poetry, singer-songwriter, Sofa Salon, The Alma Church Choir

≈ Leave a comment

Sofa Salon Berlin – Wohnzimmer Konzert-Serie.

Sofa Salon #8 Thank You!
Musik: The Alma Church Choir (DE) + Lina Paul (DE) + Poesie: Mr. oCean (AUS)

ENG:
What a wonderful SOFA SALON night! A heartfelt welcome to the new people that came along, offered future living rooms, bought CDs and added themselves to the mailing list. My thanks also to the return guests and my gratitude to Neil the Barman and Sascha for their assistance. What beautiful performances from The Alma Church Choir, Lina Paul and Mr. oCean.

The last Sofa Salons for 2010 will be Thursday 25 November at Joe’s Bar, Prenzlauer Berg, and an early December living room concert at Sofa Salon HQ.

DE:
Ein wonderschön SOFA SALON! Ein herzliches Wilkommen auf die neues Menschen, die entlang kam, bot Zukunft Wohnzimmer, kaufte CDs und hat sich auf die Mailingliste. Mein Dank geht auch für die Stammgäste und meine Dankbarkeit für die Hilfe von Neil und Sascha. Wirklich schöne Aufführungen von The Alma Church Choir, Lina Paul und Mr. oCean.

Die letzte Sofa Salons für 2010 sind Donnerstag 25. November bei Joe’s Bar, Prenzlauer Berg, und ein Anfang Dezember wohnzimmer konzerte bei Sofa Salon Hauptsitz.

Watch a video for The Alma Church Choir song Ubuntu. Andreas told me ‘Ubuntu’ has various meanings in different African languages, and said Nelson Mandela explained it this way: “A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

News and Gigs / News und Konzerte

06 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by waspsummer in concert, Emilie Zoey Baker, konzert, living room, Mark Steiner, music, poetry, Sofa Salon, wohnzimmer

≈ Leave a comment

Hallo,

ENG:

It’s been a while since the fabulous Sofa Sessions gigs for the Moabit Kulturtag back in July. People are still talking about the wonderful performances and atmosphere.

In the meantime, I’ve had many Wasp Summer/Mesalina gigs to play and a name issue to resolve. I was really surprised to find there has been another wohnzimmer concert series called Sofa Sessions running in Berlin (great minds an’ that). The convenor asked that I cease and desist using the name.

So the new name for my living room concert events is the Sofa Salon. Same amazing mix of music and poetry. Same lovely living room.

Therefore, the Sofa Salon would like to announce the next gig in the series:

Mark Steiner (NOR) + Emilie Zoey Baker (AUS) + guests
Tuesday 21 September, 19:30-22:00
Sofa Salon HQ, Berlin-Tiergarten

Book your spot via sofasessions@gmx.de
DEU:

Es ist eine lange Zeit gewesen, seit Juli’s Sofa Sessions für die Kulturtage Moabit. Die Leute sind noch im Gespräch über die erstaunlichen Leistungen und Atmosphäre.

In der Zwischenzeit habe ich viele Wasp Summer/Mesalina Gigs hatte. Ich hatte auch einen Namen Problem zu beheben.

Ich war überrascht, es hat ein weiteres Wohnzimmer Konzertreihe in Berlin berufen worden Sofa Sessions. Große Geister denken genauso. Der Convenor gebeten, dass ich nicht mehr aufhören und mit dem Namen.

So der neue Name für mein Wohnzimmer Konzertveranstaltungen ist das Sofa Salon. Gleiche erstaunliche Mischung aus Musik und Poesie. Gleiche schönes Wohnzimmer.

Daher würde der Sofa Salon wie auf den nächsten Gig in der Serie anzukündigen:

Mark Steiner (NOR) + Emilie Zoey Baker (AUS) + guests
Tuesday 21 September, 19:30-22:00
Sofa Salon HQ, Berlin-Tiergarten

Buchen deine platz durch sofasessions@gmx.de

Info on Mark Steiner:
Norwegian-based Mark Steiner possesses a rich, sophisticated troubadour voice which conjures images of smoky European bars in his dark, lush, swampy songs overflowing with lust and sadness.

“Anyone who even has a passing interest in brooding, dark, underground rock… should start paying attention to Mark Steiner.” – Rip It Up Magazine (Australia)

“Mark Steiner sounds like an optimal mixture of Nick Cave, Stuart Staples and cult figure Kim Salmon… He’s an artist who stands out with heaps of honesty and authority. Broken is Mark Steiner’s step up to the musical elite of rock…” – Nordlys (Norway)

Information on Emilie Zoey Baker:
Emilie is one of Australia’s foremost slam poets: feisty, feminist, playful, worldly-wise. She comes to Berlin as a guest of the Internationales Literatur Fest Berlin 2010 for the Internationale SLAM!Revue.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Cheery! How Little Musicians Make Online

22 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by waspsummer in business, earning a living, Flowing Data, income, inforgraphic, making money, music, music industry, musicians, selling records, streaming music

≈ Leave a comment

Click on the title or this link. This is a fascinating infographic that indicates what musicians selling their music have to sell in order to make the (USA) minimum wage. There’s debate as to how accurate the data is (if you read the comments) but even as a rough calculation, it’s pretty telling stuff.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Our first review

21 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by waspsummer in artists, Berlin, community, Festival, highlights, kunst, Moabit Kulturtage, mr oCean, music, musik, poesie, poetry, review, singer-songwriter

≈ Leave a comment

Thanks to mr oCean, inaugural Sofa Sessions poet, for this fine, comprehensive review of the weekend’s three Sofa Sessions shows for Moabit Kulturtage. You are very kind, sir! Click on the title for the link to the review.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Künstler/Artists for Moabit Kulturtage Sofa Sessions

04 Friday Jun 2010

Posted by waspsummer in Berlin, Festival, Moabit Kulturtage, music, singer-songwriter, Sofa Sessions

≈ Leave a comment

Sofa Sessions showcases Berlin’s best local and international indie pop, folk and rock singer-songwriters, pairing them with great poets and visual artists.

Sofa Sessions debuts for the Moabit Kulturtage festival Juni 18-20, 2010. All sessions are 5€. Drinks available. Children welcome.

To reserve your place, please email sofasessions@gmx.de with your preferred date/s.

Freitag 18. Juni – Eric Eckhart (USA), Simon Eugene (UK), Mesalina Trio (De/Aus/Swe) and poets mr oCean (AUS) and Gaby Bila-Günther (De/Aus) um 20 Uhr.

Samstag 19. Juni – Wasp Summer (AUS), Kiki Brunner (DE), Bocage (FRA) and poet Maria Maddalena (It) um 14 Uhr.

Sonntag 20. Juni – Miranda Gjerstad (SWE), Christina Maria (CH), Grand Salvo (Aus) and poet Daniel Hoth um 14 Uhr.

Visual art is from Christina Fischer (USA), Leena McCall (UK), Neil Leslie (UK), Gaby Bila-Günther (De/Aus) and Daniel Skornicka (De).

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

“Like” Sofa Salon

“Like” Sofa Salon

Spotify Sofa Salon 2010 Artist Playlist

Recent Posts

  • Sofa Salon 2018 News
  • Sofa Salon News November 2017
  • Sofa Salon mini-Festival of Cloudy Songs
  • Sofa Salon presents She Makes War
  • Sofa Salon Summer Update

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Sofa Salon
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Sofa Salon
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: