Gabriel Sanches performs at SoundOn Sessions: “It’s an opportunity to express yourself”

At the second SoundOn Sessions showcase at The Pioneer Club in St. Albans, up-and-coming soul and gospel vocalist Gabriel Sanches delivered an awe-inspiring performance and highlighted the vital importance of nights like these for the future of new music.

The SoundOn Sessions represent an exciting new partnership between SoundOn and Headliner Spaces, highlighting the very best in new musical talent at the iconic Pioneer Club in St. Albans.

As an all-in-one platform for global music distribution and TikTok music marketing, SoundOn enables creators to distribute their work on TikTok and all major streaming services, while maintaining full ownership and receiving artist-friendly royalties free from administration fees.

In addition, SoundOn provides artists with a variety of features to promote their latest releases with TikTok’s creator marketing, meaning they are able to significantly grow their reach to a wider audience.

From the age of two years old, music became a second language for Sanches, who brought a fusion of old school sensibilities with a modern sound to the Pioneer Club at the second SoundOn Session. Sanches plans to explore the sounds and culture of his native Brazil in his future releases, breaking down the barriers between western culture and Latin America. His commanding stage presence and breathtakingly powerful vocal ability alone is arguably enough to put him firmly on the map as one of the most exciting new artists currently on UK soil.

“Opportunities like this are the way an artist can develop at the start of their career,” Sanches told Headliner before taking the stage at the second SoundOn Session. “In the ‘80s you would have these incredible singers who are 20 years old and have had 10,000 hours of experience doing singing at church or having lessons, and it’s the same thing with performances. Without venues and opportunities like this, artists can’t get their 10,000 hours. Without that you won’t have the experience to be where you should be.”

Sanches had a very confusing start in life that has led him to places he admits he didn’t think he would get to.

“I came to England originally about 13 years ago and I’ve always been into music and always done music,” he explains. “I was very blessed to have a mum who is very supportive of what I do and she has really dedicated herself to promoting what I’m doing. That’s how I got here.

“And being supported by SoundOn is crazy for me because the people who know me personally know that I am the most anti social media, anti content creation person. I’ve always been like, ‘no I’m just doing music and nothing else’. Then I started talking to the guys at TikTok and SoundOn and understanding that this isn’t some forced thing that you have to do to get to where you want to be, it’s an opportunity to engage with your fans and express yourself. Just being in those rooms and having that shift in mindset has helped me to look at the process completely differently.”

Although still in the very early stages of his career on TikTok, Sanches has realised it is a place where you can find what a friend of his calls your campfire.

“You can find the people who are going to sit around you and you can attune yourself to them,” he says. “It’s a way of finding out who relates to you and how you can relate to them. I’ve never had a lot of connection with the industry, so I need to really hone in on what I need to do to make those connections.”

In addition to the fantastic performances at the latest SoundOn Session, another key component of the evening’s success was The Pioneer Club’s sound system, which is made up of eight JBL SRX910 line arrays, four SRX928S ground-stacked subs and four JBL PRX908 floor monitors.

Two PRX915 DJ monitors also feature at the venue, along with a Soundcraft Ui24 mixer. Two JBL PRX912s meanwhile are positioned on the VIP balcony as delays.

JBL’s presence at The Pioneer Club also reaches into its bar and mini performance area – The Suet Yard, complete with a bar powered by Signature Brew and a JBL-powered PA system that can accommodate everything from DJ sets and stripped back and acoustic sessions for up to 200 people.

The full PA system consists of a selection of speakers from JBL’s PRX Series, including PRX915XLF subwoofers, PRX908 and IRX108BT loudspeakers, as well as a Soundcraft Ui24R mixer.

The second SoundOn Session at The Pioneer Club was also the first show to utilise the venue's brand new LED wall and floor, courtesy of Leyard.

Furthermore, a comprehensive Martin Lighting rig works to spotlight the artists and sets the mood on stage and throughout the venue, which includes compact beam moving heads, bright single-lens LED moving heads, bright single-lens LED PAR cans, bright single-lens colour LED PAR can light fixtures, ultra-bright quad LED blinder fixtures and a JEM ZR35 fog machine.

Photo credits: The Brytz Sisters