Sounds of support

In mid-March, Sofar suspended all of its remaining shows. Because Pomato had gigs involving paying audiences, Sofar will reimburse him from its own funds for the shows that got cancelled. Another way that Sofar is helping its artists is by creating its recently introduced Sofar Listening Room. The online site offers free livestreamed shows, many from an artist’s living room, and provides an option for donating money to the artist who is playing or to the Global Artist Fund. Sofar has also compiled a list of resources for artists. For audiences, it has provided a list of tips to optimize the couch-watching experience, such as creating the mood through dimming the lights, throwing some pillows around for ambience, and pouring the wine you’ve been saving.

Sofar is trying to navigate through this period when the world needs isolation, not intimacy, which is especially difficult for a company built on allowing music fans to discover new artists in small gatherings. “With the virus going around, we don’t want to expose ourselves, but even less our artists and guests,” Sol Rios, a producer for the La Plata Sofar team, says. “So, for now we will promote artists from the space we have. We’ll keep uploading pictures. We’ll keep producing videos. This is a way to move forward. We’ll see about the rest.”

Until he can hit the road again, Pomato tries to stay calm and enjoy the time he has with his girlfriend in La Plata. “If I get a new idea [for a song], I want to move it forward as much as possible, but the first day was the worst,” he says. “Now that I’ve talked to friends about what’s happening, it’s helped me to lower the level of expectations with this situation.”

This article is part of the Fermata: Arts and Culture in the Time of Coronavirus series reported by students in the Critical Writing course at the Newhouse School. Fermata features stories on the impact of the pandemic on a wide range of artists and cultural figures, from musicians and comedians to restaurateurs and boutique owners.