The Random Sessions is a weekly YouTube series in which a singer/songwriter or band perform a short set without the use of amps or microphones.
The series originated from what was supposed to be a one-off short promotional film for the 2015 Hockley Hustle, where Steve was hosting a stage under the Sunday Alternative brand. Several musicians who were appearing on the bill at Bunkers Hill met up a month before the festival and filmed spontaneous sets at various locations in Hockley, all unplugged. This turned out to be a fun day out for all involved that everybody involved suggested that they would like to do it again. The Random Saturday Sessions was born and videos were filmed in Beeston, Hucknall, West Bridgford, Nottingham City Centre and York. Each location was declared the series and as such there were six series of The Random Saturday Sessions of varying episode numbers, along with four bonus episodes that weren't part of the series.
The full set of videos for The Random Saturday Sessions is here.
After a hiatus, The Random Sessions was created. Although no longer 'random' it still maintained the totally unplugged ethos and now took the form of a formatted video series with the 'three originals and a cover' set now being the norm, albeit with a few exceptions. Claire L Shaw's first appearance on 22 March 2017 was the first episode to be filmed at The Hop Merchant, now the regular base.
The Random Sessions takes occasional breaks from filming but has never been compartmentalised as different series, each episode instead is numbered in filming order, including the 2017 Christmas special and the 2018 David Bowie Tribute.
In January 2017, the first audio podcast was released featuring recordings from the series. These appeared sporadically until January 2019 when it became a regular monthly podcast. The podcast page is here and episodes also get uploaded to YouTube.
There were six episodes of the spin-off series Behind the Scenes at The Random Sessions in 2017. These can be watched here.
Steve hosted a stage for the 2018 Kimberley Jam under The Random Sessions brand. Edited versions of the filmed performances have been released on YouTube. There was also a stage at the 2019 festival but the videos were unusable due to the talkative 'audience' so these have not been released.
Steve hosted a stage for the 2018 Hockley Hustle under The Random Sessions brand. Throughout the early part of 2019, edited versions of the performances have been released on YouTube.
In February 2019 the format changed to include interviews with the performers.
In March 2019 the first bonus episode was filmed, featuring one song which is available only on The Random Sessions Facebook page.
To keep things ticking over during the first lockdown of 2020, The Random Sessions Lockdown Top 20 was filmed and released on YouTube, this was voted for by the performers on the show.
