Black Cab Sessions celebrates 100 sessions, taking over the world one cab at a time

Music is innately intimate, whether it’s watching a band play a festival stage or just watching their videos online, but when Jono Stevens, Chris Pattinson, Gen Stevens, Jonny Madderson and Will Evans created the Black Cab Sessions, they took intimacy onto a whole other level; quite literally on the road. Black Cab Sessions takes off from the same ideology behind other popular online music series such as La Blogotheque’s Take Away Show but streamlines it into one constant location and format – you guessed it; a black cab. Simple, straight-forward, yet still unconventional and consistently fascinating to watch as bands, large and small in numbers, crawl inside and serenade the cameras with acoustic renditions of songs, Black Cab Sessions is onto something good.

“It came about wanting to find a way to showcase the best artists we could find,” says Pattinson, of the impetus behind starting the series. “And to show them in the most intimate setting we could find; black cabs are everywhere in London and with brilliant acoustics, it was a logical choice to use one.”

Their first session in May 2007 came out of out a brainstorming discussion over how to best promote a show for the then up-and-coming British folk singer-songwriter, Johnny Flynn. “We were promoting a show with him in London and wanted to promote it in an interesting way,” explains Pattinson. “The film went viral and we sold out the show.”

Since then, the Black Cab Sessions have had viral video after viral video of beautifully shot, confessional-style clips with some of the world’s biggest and most promising acts including Daniel Johnston, Brian Wilson, Weezer, Feist, Summer Camp, Killa Kela, and much, much more. “It’s nice to have Feist or The Roots play the cab but it’s just as exciting to have someone as talented as Lianne La Havas, Michael Kiwanuka or Dry the River before anyone else and watch them grow,” says Pattinson, who maintains a strong motto of promoting good music regardless of how well-known they are at the moment. “We were always confident that our concept had something different to it but fundamentally it’s about keeping the music fresh and discovering new artists.”

The series has now spawned many sub-sessions, driving to Field Day and Big Chill to grab bands between sets and more recently, driving across the pond (not literally, though), to shoot a USA series featuring legendary musicians Wanda Jackson, Jack White, The Roots and Delta Blues’ RL Boyce.

“The USA series was a highlight,” admits Pattinson, who was luckily able to track down a black cab for the North American run via Twitter and a man named Carl. “With his gold teeth and cheeky cockney accent, he is a huge asset to our sessions in the US; there aren’t many people who stroll up to Jack White with an ‘Alright, son!’ and a pat on the back.

“What an amazing opportunity to take this concept and develop it into a documentary series where we met some amazing people and filmed some amazing bands. We also got to spend time with with RL Boyce, one of the last remaining Delta Blues musicians. That was incredible. We were literally walking along in a cotton field with the sunset and him singing these old field songs; that was very special.”

Pattinson and company also have plans to visit Canada soon, with the hopes of tracking down the illustrious mystery man that is The Weeknd. “We’ll get the Weeknd when we’re there,” assures Pattinson.

But for now, Black Cab Sessions will celebrate another feat – 100 sessions, 100 bands, 100 cab rides. And at the end of the day, it’s the crew’s love of music and discovering and showcasing the best of the best that motivates them to film more and more throughout the years.

“We have helped in the careers of many new bands and that’s a nice feeling,” says Pattinson. “We now want to take this all around the world and Black Cab Sessions USA is just the beginning.”

Black Cab Sessions, among a handful of veteran online series now, knows the trick to longevity in the sphere of the fast-paced age of the internet. “Find new talent,” Pattinson says, matter-of-factly. “Don’t just copy what other sites do, you need to have your own voice and make it a place where people trust your artist selection.

“There are so many websites that do ‘sessions’ but it does feel like half of them are doing it because other people are doing it. If you’re not there for a reason other than that, then don’t do it; it doesn’t make you, the artist or anyone else look good. No matter what, the cab will continue to discover great music no matter where that music is.”

Now focusing on expanding, which will include an upcoming special on Channel 4, Pattinson is in the midst of planning their next trip and after a hundred sessions, they’ve amassed quite a few tips and tricks of the trade. Number one? “Don’t do it on a hangover.”

Music On 4: Black Cab Sessions will air at 12:10am on the Wednesday 29 February, beginning in Philadelphia including Meg Baird, Spank Rock, Plastic Little, Reading Rainbow, Kyp Malone, Grandchildren, Morning Benders, Freeway and Tone Trump.