our first gig
hello, bobby here, the first sunken smile show was at the louisiana in bristol in august, which seems like forever ago now
we’d been working on these songs in rooms without windows all year, then suddenly there were people standing in front of us listening to them. it was really surreal, but a beautiful moment for all of us
we played with pals nap time and sid plymer, which made the whole thing feel a lot more homely. good bands, lovely people, a room full of faces familiar and not.
it sold out.
that was probably the maddest part about it
something that had existed just for the three of us had now travelled outside the practice room. people had bought tickets to come and hear it played to them on a thursday night
we’re still reflecting on that one.
ok, now moving on.
our next show is at the lanes in bristol, supporting bikini body and ben katzman. we’ve been working on some new songs too, so there’s a chance a couple of those might make it in to the set as well
so 22nd september, the lanes is next the next up.
tickets are on dice.fm, and there’s a few on there which are free!!!!
so we’ll see you there!
with love
bobby
sunken smile
Some Notes on Sunken Smile
Sunken Smile was born in Bristol in December 2025.
The songs had been hanging about for a little while before the band existed really. Notes in my journal, voice notes and things half remembered
Eventually they ended up in the rehearsal room with dan and louis
The room smelt of damp and old carpet, but you get used to it once the amps are turned up loud enough
We started a band through our chemistry, friendship and love of music, we all worked together and we worked on the idea of the band before we even sat in the damp rooms
In our first rehearsal things came together without even trying, we played 3 songs all the way through first time and it felt so good. They songs stopped trying trying to be anything and they were just us and it felt effortless
A lot of music feels over explained, over engineers, as far away from being as natural as possible. music needs to be human, and humans are not perfect
Sunken Smile prefers loose threads, rough edges and raw emotion
The name came from a feeling at work. starting a day with sunken eyes, ending with a sunken smile. the feeling of a feigned happiness when all you want to do is run . it’s the look on someone’s face when they’re caught between joy and sadness. A smile sinking
the of the songs are for those moments
we recorded our first demos in a small corridor of a room in Bristol with very little equipment, one microphone on a shoestring. louis’ broken finger delayed things a little like life can delay things. but somehow it made things grow
Things delay things. but it’s what you do when the things do the things they do
Still the songs were recorded and we felt after 6 months that we were a band .
Sunken Smile play slow songs. Some are quiet. Some aren’t. There are traces of jazz, rock and roll, shoegaze, indie, soul and whatever else has found its way in.l
it up to people to decide the rest.
The band’s first gig takes place at The Louisiana, Bristol, on 20th August 2026.
hope we’ll see you there.
Tags: Bristol band, Bristol music scene, indie band Bristol, shoegaze Bristol, live music Bristol, The Louisiana Bristol, alternative music Bristol, jazz trio Bristol, new Bristol band, Sunken Smile.