Forty people in a room in Blackpitts, one pair of speakers, no phones out. Twelve tracks, played loud, in order, with whoever made them explaining nothing until the end.
A listening session is not a showcase and not a gig. Nobody performs. We play finished and unfinished records through one good pair of speakers to a room of forty people, and then the people who made them talk for a few minutes each.
The rule everybody notices is the phone rule: no phones out during playback. It sounds precious until you've sat in a room where forty people are actually listening, at which point it becomes obvious why it's the only rule we enforce.
Session #6 was the first one where more than half the tracks came from outside our own network — sent in by people who'd been to #4 or #5. Two of the artists on this list have since been signed elsewhere, and one is now working on a film with us.
Sessions are free, unannounced until about ten days out, and capped at forty because that's how many people fit. If you want to be told when the next one is, the newsletter is the only place it gets announced.
If you want to play something, send it. Unmixed is fine. Unfinished is better — the room is more useful to you before you've locked it.
Session #7 is being planned for October in Blackpitts, Dublin 8. Free, capped at forty.
Want to play something? demos@baddfrnds.com