I was asked by a friend the other day: “why are you guys throwing a massive concert at a huge venue before you even have a complete product to market?”
Good question, friend. Good question. Well, here’s my attempt at an answer.
The goal of Soundfly has always been to empower aspiring and ever-curious musicians like yourself by helping you find your sound. It’s that simple.
Now, that may mean different things to different people, so we’ve taken special care in crafting a movement that will speak to a broad audience. With this is mind, we’ve always known that we wanted to exist both on and offline, as there are some things you can learn better online while many things require in-person community and collaboration.
We’re still working on the online portion, developing our first courses with engaging videos (such as this and this) and publishing articles and resources on these pages to help you learn and improve.
Most of us here aren’t techies though (including myself), so I get particularly excited about our offline projects—reach out and touch someone, right?
My first outlandish idea to build awareness about our mission at Soundfly was to take to the streets of Manhattan, effectively forcing some face-to-face contact by way of disruption—I believe they call it…guerilla marketing. This came in the form of obtaining a piano on Craigslist, tricking it out, and pushing it down Broadway from Times Square to Union Square with impromptu pop-up concerts along the way.
Yes, yes we did.
None of the team knew how the day would go, but damn were we excited! We jaywalked multiple blocks with a piano, defied the odds, and it turned out to be a huge success. We met Julliard professors, doormen, jazz aficionados, weekend warriors, business peeps, the homeless, students—literally all walks. The crowning moment was an impromptu chorus of “Piano Man” in Union Square.
At the end of the day, when the piano was neatly tucked back in at the storage facility, we toasted and said, “We have something here.”
How could we take this day of music and grueling cardio, and translate it into something with an even greater reach—something inspirational without being saccharine sweet? Something that would introduce people to a wide variety of sounds and get them jonesing to find their own? We took out the old white board, banged our heads together in true team fashion, and Soundfly Sessions was born.
It’s our platform. It’s our vehicle to spread the importance of expression through music. It’s our chance to interact face-to-face with people. It’s an opportunity to tear down the lines between musicians and the audience and provide a window into the creative process. It’s born of passion and rooted in the belief in the power of music. Soapbox much?
Our first Soundfly Sessions is January 28th, 8pm at (le) poisson rouge in NYC. We’re going big with this one and trying to pack the place. It’s a sampling of sounds from a smattering of unique artists. My goal isn’t for everyone in the audience to love every single act, but to see firsthand how many different forms music can take. You may love one and not quite get the next. That’s great! That’s the goal. We’re building and refining tastes, good and bad.
Attend, listen, repeat. I rest my case.
