About Sofa

There are at least two bands named Sofa: 1) SOFA is a Poland-based roots/soul/funk/R&B group, winners of the 2006 Most Important Debut award in Poland. They sing mostly in English 2) Sofa was a Canadian post-rock band from 1993 to 1997. Sofa formed when Brad Todd (voice) met Keith Marchand (drums) while teaching a summer course at Concordia University's department of Fine Arts. The delicate teacher-student relationship was heedlessly abrogated by drinking sessions in which a shared love of Dischord, Factory and Mute recordings was disclosed and plans to make a band were hatched. Ian Ilavsky (guitar) was approached and ritualistically indoctrinated with repeated forced viewings of Wings Of Desire and Nostalghia. The band was born and began writing, with Scott Clarkson (bass) recruited from the graveyard shift of one of Montreal's more colourful 'short-stay' hotels a few months later. The four founding members stuck together for the duration, devoting themselves to the sonic transmission of isolation, neurosis and loss. Sofa played dozens of local and regional shows through the mid-90s and recorded constantly, issuing several cassette releases over the years before recording what would be their first and last official full-length CD Grey in 1996. Steady and sustained poverty kept them mostly locked down in Montreal for the duration of their five-year run, though they caught the enthusiastic ears of The Geraldine Fibbers in 1997, who invited them to open some shows in the American Northeast (marking the band's only foray outside Eastern Canada). The group disbanded amicably at the end of 1997 - just as things were looking up. Brad, originally a painter, has gone on to a prolific career in digital arts, showing internationally and teaching at Concordia. He has also supplied many images that have graced various Constellation catalogues and other materials over the years (including the CST cage at top left of this website) and offers a world to discover at teleshadow.net. Keith has gone on to play drums in many bands, including The Delmarva Scheme, Quinimine, The Donkeys and most recently, Mantle Of Atlas. He also plies the twin trades of writer and builder. Scott moved to NYC in 2002 to pursue acting and theater, relocating to Toronto a few years later where he remains active in the city's independent theatre scene. Ian co-founded Constellation and has gone on to play in Re:, Silver Mt. Zion, Sackville and Diebold as well as contributing to records by Hangedup, Frankie Sparo, and many others. Source: http://cstrecords.com/sofa/