Following the success of the first compilation album, “Independent Discovery”, earlier this year, the musical community Sounds On The Couch is delighted to share their second instalment of this exciting community!
Sounds On The Couch began during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for audiences to connect with audiences, while live performances were restricted & postponed around the world.
Over time, the platform has evolved into a community of independent artists, supporting each other through the challenges of the world & coming together to share their music.
The success of the first “Independent Discovery” left many listeners eagerly awaiting the second instalment & now the eager anticipation has paid off.
On this second release, we see featured artists such as Sophia Petro, Jorja B, Timothy Wolf, Jay Wood, Kaiyah Mercedes, Elizabeth Winterbourne, Christine Tarquinio, Danil, Jason Justly, Leela Misel, Tillerman Pete, & Flint sharing their charismatically expressive musical styles.
Founder Karen Harding has kindly taken the time to talk with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution regarding the release of the second album. You can find the full interview below.
Hey Karen, thank you so much for this interview. Can you introduce yourself to readers who might be unfamiliar with your work?
Karen: Thank you so much for having me! Absolutely.. my name is Karen Harding and I am an independent singer-songwriter based in Melbourne, Australia, who started a music platform when COVID-19 began, called Sounds On The Couch.
Over the last few years, Sounds On The Couch has become a beautiful community of independent artists from all over the globe and shares independent music through an online magazine/blog, playlists, our YouTube channel and through our compilation albums. The purpose is to create an opportunity to really discover what’s available in the independent music space and allow artists to connect with fans who love what they’re creating.
I am so grateful to have the opportunity to connect with these artists in such an incredible way.
During the start of COVID-19, you created ‘Sounds On The Couch’ for independent artists to reach audiences while living performing was restricted. How do you feel the community has evolved since the beginning?
Karen: It’s been an amazing journey! Initially, as you mentioned, it was online live performances, as a way of sharing music through performance, when audiences were not able to attend physical gigs. During those times, the platform evolved to interviews with music industry experts and with artists and we were running periodic workshops to help in different areas of being an indie artist.
When lockdowns ended, this model was no longer sustainable. People were beginning to attend live gigs again and musicians were challenged to find the time to do these anymore. It was also much more challenging for me to spend the time that I had been, performing live interviews, as I had my own work and life that demanded my attention as well.
Therefore, we moved to the online magazine and the YouTube channel as a way to support artists but in a more sustainable and flexible manner.
Earlier this year, the compilation Album “Independent Discovery (Volume 1)” came to light & received a positive reception. What did it mean to you & the artists involved in the project?
Karen: Volume 1 was such an amazing experience.. The artists in both volumes are all fantastic in their own right and the chance to showcase their music in this format is something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. I’ve received a lot of great feedback from both the artists involved and from listeners of the album and I’m so excited about the second release.
You recently released ‘Independent Discovery Volume 2’ into the world. What can we expect from the second chapter?
Karen: The second chapter allows us to expand on our experience of more amazing independent artists.. It’s still the beginning of so much celebration of amazing music that we intend to share with the world.
Who are some of the amazing artists we will see featured on the second volume of this compilation album?
Karen: The album features a mix of Australian and international artists that range from singer-songwriter to indie pop, to rock.. the artists are Sophia Petro, Jorja B, Timothy Wolf, Jay Wood, Kaiyah Mercedes, Elizabeth Winterbourne, Christine Tarquinio, Danil, Jason Justly, Leela Misel, Tillerman Pete & Flint.
What does it mean to you to see this talented collective of artists coming together for this album?
Karen: I expect that given the album is diverse in nature, that listener range is likely to be diverse as well. Anyone who is looking to support indie artistry will gain something from listening to this album and is likely to go away with a collection of new artists to follow their journeys.
If listeners could take something from this album, what would you like it to be?
Karen: My hope for the album is that listeners can discover someone new that they didn’t know about before.. an artist that inspires them through music. There are so many incredible independent artists out there and the goal is to find the listeners that will truly appreciate their music.
What does it mean to you to see Sounds On The Couch publishing its second compilation album?
Karen: I’m so excited that it’s all happening.. As I mentioned earlier, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and to be able to have these albums coming to light, it’s really special that we have the opportunity to share incredible music and indie artists with the world.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
Karen: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this interview and thank you to Fierce & Fabulous Revolution for interviewing me!
We would be so grateful if you would check out our compilation album, ‘Independent Discovery Volume 2’. We would love to hear what you take from the album.
You can check out “Independent Discover Volume 2” on Spotify below or on more platforms here.
Sounds On The Coach: Magazine / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter.
Fierce & Fabulous Revolution 