In the city of subdued excitement, one man’s passion project, Subdued Sessions, is capturing strums on guitars all across Bellingham.
Originally from Philadelphia, Andrew Silverman moved to Bellingham last year and hoped to be involved with the local music scene, just as he was in Philadelphia. With a camera and microphone, Silverman began recording live music in Bellingham.
Silverman’s goal is to create a community that involves local artists, music lovers and businesses. The sessions are recorded in outdoor spaces, such as Waypoint Park, or local businesses.
“Businesses are the backdrop for these live shows, but they don’t have to deal with the live show, you know?” said Silverman. “It’s like a virtual live show.”
Rather than performing in front of an audience full of mosh pits, smoke machines and flashing lights, artists can perform in front of a camera. This allows more artists to bring the show to audiophiles who normally can’t make it to every performance or prefer not to, while also fostering a relationship between artists and businesses.
Electra Richards, guitarist and vocalist in the local band Bellflower, recently recorded a solo session with Silverman.
“It felt a lot more intimate [than performing on stage]. It felt a lot more similar to when I’m just playing music in my bedroom,” said Richards. “When performing, there’s almost an expectation to have a persona, but I was just hanging out and playing.”
Since Silverman only has the equipment and facilities to record acoustic sets at the moment, artists are challenged to experiment by returning to or creating a raw piece of music.
“I’m offering to people that are a full band to work outside their comfort zone and do a stripped-down set with acoustic guitars, or one or two of the members can do like a stripped-down set with electric and bass, or whatever,” said Silverman. “I want to really lean into that subdued part of the sessions. It's not super exciting, like a big band session like Audiotree does.”
Scout Smissen, operator of Bellingham’s Garden Palace, a primarily acoustic house show venue, sees value in this.
“Acoustic shows not only invite the artists themselves to express themselves in a way that they might not normally get to but also house a different crowd and energy from the audience to have to listen closer and not have to move their body, or not have to scream, or dance or anything,” Smissen said. “It invites that really beautiful sense of intimacy that I think is difficult to recreate.”
Recorded sessions can also lessen the anxieties that may come with performing in front of a crowd, said Smissen.
Garden Palace focuses on "amplifying femme, queer, trans and BIPOC voices" within the music industry, as described by their Instagram. Smissen emphasizes a need to provide a space for people who felt like they didn’t have one before, therefore inviting those from different backgrounds to all share one moment.
“Even if they’re people you’re not close with, [Bellingham’s music community] is like a web of social connection,” said Richards. “Whether you’re dipping a toe in music, have been doing it awhile or are a student doing a million other things, it’s a beautiful community.”
The most recent Subdued Session, featuring Richards, was published on YouTube Friday Oct. 13.
Kenna Peterson (she/her) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a third-year journalism pre-major. When she isn't on campus or at work, she can be found hanging out with her cat, Rigatoni, watching horror movies with her roommates or drinking a London fog.
You can contact her at kennapeterson.thefront@gmail.com.
