I am meeting with Preet Khalsa over zoom from a lively cafe in East London. Preet is in his living room in Toronto, Canada, where he is clearly experiencing far more peace, both inner and outer, than myself. It is rumoured that he has been to over 300 Sofar shows around the world. “I’ve lost count, it could be way more,” he tells me. Within the first minute, I notice I am speaking with a true lifelong music fan, someone wise and calm who has been touched by music experiences deeply.
Born in India, Preet found his love of music young, when his mother brought him to see The Sound of Music. Though he didn’t speak any English, the words stuck with him easily. “I came out of that show singing every song from the movie. That’s my earliest recollection of being a big music person,” He says.
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His family relocated to Canada, and Preet eventually landed in Toronto for University, working his way up to hosting a local radio show, where he played everything from jazz to ACDC, and interviewed artists. His work in radio lasted 20 years, until he had a change of heart. “I stopped enjoying the commercial side, I just wanted to discover new music and new artists and just feel it, you know, and let the magic happen.” He says.
It wasn’t until Preet and his family relocated to New York for a career change that he was introduced to his first Sofar show. “I was having dinner with a friend of mine who was a musician, and he said, ‘I’m heading to this speakeasy gig, nobody knows where it is [and] nobody knows who’s playing’,” Preet says, lighting up as nostalgia hits him. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s very interesting.’”
He decided to join his friend for the Sofar show, and the experience made an immediate impression. “It was in a loft space, very barren and everyone was sitting on the floor,” he says. “If you look at Indian traditions, like in a temple in India, you sit on the floor. It’s a way of signifying your equalness in the eyes of God. Everybody was sitting on the ground and there’s a community, no hierarchy. That was a lovely feeling”.
He continues:
“You have a person who’s pouring their soul out in front of you, which is respected by everyone, and after the performance you can actually interact with [the artist]. It blew me away. Very quickly It just became part of my existence to go to Sofar shows and to have that personal experience”.
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After attending that first Sofar show in New York, Preet’s work started to involve traveling to many new countries, so be began going to Sofar shows everywhere he went. “I remember one in New Delhi years ago, because it was held in a stunning ancient ruin. It was a beautiful fusion of music,” he says.
As he kept going to Sofar performances in new cities, Preet began forming a global community of friends, and experiencing unexpected nights all over. “Just last year at a show we had a blackout at a local theatre, so the performers came onto the streets, we turned on some car headlights and continued the show. It was magical,” he says.
More than 300 Sofar shows later, Preet still speaks as if he’s a man about to embark on a mission, with as much enthusiasm for the next show as for the first. “Magic only happens when you allow it to come to you,” he says. “You don’t know where you’re going. You don’t know who’s performing, therefore you’re open to everything. My life is about the search for magic, and I think Sofar has the formula.”
I ask what that precise formula might be. “No one knows, otherwise it wouldn’t be magic, but Sofar has it,” Preet says with a smile.
Ready for you own adventure? Check out upcoming shows.
Words by Charlie Hearl
Photo credit: Preet Khalsa and Sofar founder Rafe Offer
