Everyone benefits from an increase in the number and quality of public platforms given to emerging artists – especially when it comes to live music. Artists get more opportunities to be heard and us music lovers get to find our next obsession – beyond the top 20 charts.
The likes of Sofar Sounds have made massive success in this field, but they often act more like a business looking to profit from these artists rather than help support them. That’s when East of Eden steps in.
They actively put artists at the core of their regular live music gigs around London. Each of the three founders works in the music world in some form and have used their own know how and connections to help get artists a leg up in the industry, all the while letting us public music lovers get to experience some expertly curated live shows.
Casper Faartoft, one of the East of Eden founders, said: “As avid gig goers and fans of emerging artists we found ourselves way too often in small venues filled with people who’d rather catch up and speak with mates than enjoying the artist who deserve their attention.
“East of Eden started counterpart to the passive gig goer and by carefully curating the artists and music on the night to give everyone the best possible experience.
“Over the last four years we’ve had the pleasure of working with brilliant artists very early in their career and we absolutely love seeing them go from East of Eden to the world stage.”
And they spend a lot of time and energy finding the perfect artists. They’re constantly reading music blogs, listening to playlists, catching up with industry contacts and taking suggestions from fellow artists who they already work with.
They do all the hard work, so City folk can simply enjoy a wicked night out listening to some mostly-unheard tunes while having a few drinks at the pub.
They’ve been bouncing around a couple of different venues over the past four years (with us following vigilantly) but have most recently been calling Clerkenwell’s The Slaughtered Lamb home.
Very few venues in the 80-120 capacity range can facilitate the attentive and intimate vibe that makes East of Eden different than many other shows in London. And to find one so close to the Square Mile is also a huge win.
This shows just how much better the City of London is getting when it comes to cultural offerings. The big cultural institutions like the Barbican and Museum of London get a massive amount of financial support from the Corporation but this investment in art, music and dance is having a trickle-down effect.
Smaller companies like East of Eden are finding more reasons to set up shop around the City, and local workers are more inclined to stay locally when it comes to consuming music.
Success has even led these guys to set up their own independent indie music label.
Casper notes how “during the four years we’ve been putting on these shows we sometimes come across phenomenal artists that we would love to help and champion under the East of Eden brand.
“However, limited to live music there is only so much we can do to push talented artists forward. The record label is like a natural extension of the live side of East of Eden where we can release the music of the artists we find and help them advance their careers and make sure more people get to know about these artists.”
Things are only going to grow at the East of Eden base of operations – watch their space. But for now, check out their next show on 17 October to hear tunes from Olivia Dean, Joe Beard and Alex White (all operating in a space between soul, pop and singer/ songwriter) at The Slaughtered Lamb.
