Image by Jess Rose
Saturday 23rd November 8pm-12.30pm
A collective of Stroud artists founded Sonar Sessions to present experiences where electronic music meets raw artistry.
As night falls, our space transforms into an atmospheric haven for sonic explorers, illuminated by a symphony of beats and rhythms. Each performance is a journey, weaving together rich textures of sound.
Sonar Sessions isn’t just a music event—it’s a sensory adventure.
Echo Juliet
Sam Judd
Neon Pumps
with support from DJ Robbie Duncan
Tickets:
Advance: £10
More on the door
Strictly 18+
Echo Juliet
‘A future legend’ - Jamz Supernova
‘Deeply atmospheric…deeply original’ - Clash
‘A genuine star in the making’ - Electronic Sound
‘Deep house cuts, garage stompers and jazz. Floating Points fans take note’ - Inverted Audio
Echo Juliet is a classically trained musician who fell for the allure of electronic music. Now a DJ and producer, she uses her first love of percussion as the defining element of her sound. Receiving comparisons to Four Tet and Bonobo, her productions show influences from deep house, classical music and jazz.
The colourful take on electronica from her debut EP Abandon Reality has attracted the support of BBC 6Music and NTS tastemakers including Tom Ravenscroft, Steve Lamacq, Cerys Matthews and Gideon Coe. 2024 has seen a remix from Gold Panda, and the support of Help Musicians & DJ Mag’s new Electronic Award.
Echo Juliet has a unique live set-up using a midi vibraphone, Ableton and drum pads which has seen her warming up for the likes of Anchorsong and DMX Krew and playing Corsica Studios. Her DJ sets are a journey through deep, percussive, organic and soulful sounds, opening for Bradley Zero, DJ Paulette, Nightmares on Wax, Emma-Jean Thackray, The Orb and more.
Committed to creating a more inclusive music scene, she founded Invisible IDs to spotlight music by women and gender minority producers, runs Future Proof for Bradley Zero’s Rhythm Section label, teaches music production to women and non-binary students for Saffron and is a Director of Selextorhood.
Sam Judd
“Music to gently ‘tap your mind to’” - a visitor at his Temple Music EP Launch
“For fans of Bonobo” - James Threlfall
Combining broadly-informed dance music with dreamy mimetic soundscapes and evocative composition, UK-based up and comer Sam Judd draws from a library of sounds collected on travels all over the world, producing a musical experience that’s just as deeply sentimental as it is made for the dancefloor.
Aged 24, Sam Judd’s musical journey so far has been unusually broad and eclectic, featuring teenage forays into Indian classical music, jazz improv, heavy steppas dub DJ sets and producing pop records featured on BBC 6 Music - this eclecticism perhaps mirrored in a lifelong passion for travel.
In 2023, he popped up with two singles, having returned from SE Asia with a large folder full of field recordings collected in temples and rainforests. A few months later, his debut EP ‘Temple Music’ was released, featuring 5 rhythmic tracks likened to early Four Tet & Bonobo, interlaced with clippings from the recordings he collected. His second EP ‘Long Ride Home’ will be released 15th November.
Since his appearance last year, Sam Judd has been a regular fixture and guest mix artist on James Threlfall’s BBC Introducing show, and a feature on the line-up for Wanderfal, Jazz Stroud and a host of other events in the southwest.
Neon Pumps
Neon Pumps is a rising producer, live artist and DJ. Her signature sound is a riot of colourful, 130-180 bpm genre-bending bass-driven selections featuring polyrhythmic cross-genre blends that build energy and excitement on the dancefloor.
“One of our emerging Stroud-based artists to watch” Robbie Duncan, Jazz Stroud
“Harder/more shitmat than I expected. That’s a compliment” Stephen Vitkovitch, Byrd Out
“Musically arresting and ambitious, an impressive opening statement” Tom Berry, Sound Records
Neon Pumps is a life-long music enjoyer who finally reached for a dream of DJing and producing music in 2022 and has not looked back. Her first foray into production was selected for release as an official remix of Yarni’s Red Meander, with a debut album of her own productions - Cat Nav - released later the same year, described by Strictly Nu Skool blog as: ““A tour de force of breaks, jungly idm and glitch - Aphex Twin vibes but much more danceable.” This was followed by a techno-leaning EP - Catch Fire - released in October 2024 and picked up by BBC Introducing for airplay and inclusion in their pilot R&D platform Orbit. She is currently working on a second album to be released in the early summer of 2025.
As a DJ her sets are a riot of colourful, 130-180 bpm genre-bending bass-driven selections featuring polyrhythmic cross-genre blends that build energy and excitement on the dancefloor. She has supported acts including Marshall Jefferson, DMX Krew, Deekline, Wolfgang Flür of Kraftwerk, Nicky Blackmarket, DJ Queen Bee, Echo Juliet and 4am Kru.
She also hosts a monthly residential radio show on Red Rebel FM, and is the founder of Big Sis DJs, a collective platforming female DJs age 30+. She runs a regular clubnight ‘Good Neighbours’ in Bristol with other Stroud DJs, and performs with Bristol DNB collective Full Spectrum.
Neon Pumps’ live shows push the boundaries between genres, enticing audiences to travel through perfectly curated dancefloor-ready soundscapes. Her sound ranges between techno, breakbeat and jungle - all underpinned by a pop sensibility and an ear for melody which can’t help but make you smile and dance at the same time.