Samodiva: The New Bulgarian Underground
In Sofia, a young local DIY scene spawned an exciting cross-genre collective
It’s Thursday afternoon, and I’m passing a crew of local skateboarders hanging out at the fountain in front of the National Palace of Culture. For the third day in a row, I’m on my way to watch a bunch of young local bands play at a place called Soda Bar in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria.
I got kindly invited to speak at So Alive Music Conference, an industry event dedicated to showcasing the Balkan music scene. Spending just a couple of days here, I feel lucky to be able to catch a glimpse into Bulgaria’s thriving alternative music underground.
The young collective Samodiva Society has taken over the small venue right behind the National Palace of Culture. Their diverse programming goes from fiery alt-rock to lo-fi shoegaze, from live trip-hop to Midwest emo, from avant-folk to indie pop. Given their wildly different styles and tastes, it’s surprising how much the musicians are supporting each other, filming and cheering on their friends from the front row.
A clear standout on the first night was 20-year-old singer and songwriter Yanichka Nushi, who impressed the crowd with her dark and vulnerable take on contemporary indie pop. Her debut single “43” just came out in the summer – both the song and video are hauntingly brilliant, and her live performance felt convincing as well.
I’m meeting Gueorgui Linev and Nikola Nikolov, two of the driving forces behind Samodiva. Hanging out in Soda Bar’s outdoor area, they introduce me to a new artist or band member every couple of minutes. Most of them seem to be in their late teens and early 20s, part of a close-knit group of friends who grew up together here in Sofia.
Gueorgui and Nikola are more experienced than the majority of the musicians they’re working with. Nikola is the singer and lyricist of the Plovdiv-based band TDK that has been shaping the Bulgarian underground for more than a decade. Gueorgui is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer that has lived in Los Angeles and the UK, scoring films and making music under the artist name Kan Wakan.
“I came back to Bulgaria during COVID”, Gueorgui recounts. “Once I was here, I met a lot of really cool people in the local scene, and because we didn’t have any work to do, we started diving into art projects immediately. I had seen something similar in the States, like the L.A. indie rock scene in Echo Park and Silver Lake. My experience living abroad made me want to have this sense of community here, because locally, there’s not much support. What’s popular in Bulgaria music-wise is very different from what we’re trying to do.”
The name Samodiva actually stems from local folklore, they explain. “It’s this group of beautiful women that lives in the woods, untouched by society”, one of the young musicians I’m now surrounded by offers, “I think it gives people the right perspective on what Samodiva is about.” “They’re quite similar to the Sirens”, someone else suggests, referencing the singing female humanlike beings of Greek mythology.
Created as an informal network first, Samodiva has grown into a de-facto independent music label, event promotion and video production unit with its own communication channels. They’ve deliberately chosen to stay faceless online, “not out of secrecy”, as Gueorgui tells me, “but because it’s meant to exist as a shared creative space rather than a personality-driven project. Keeping the focus on the collective allows it to feel more fluid, cohesive and inclusive.”
From putting together fundraiser shows to producing their own music videos, everything about Samodiva feels DIY and hands-on. “Everyone is involved in in building this thing together and donating their time and resources and whatever skills they have. For example, he plays guitar”, Gueorgui says, pointing at a young musician standing next to him, “so he’ll go and play on another artist’s record, and even help with the music video by carrying gear or whatever.”
In 2024, Samodiva launched a festival, aiming to raise funds for recordings and video production. “It was quite hard at first to convince local institutions and clubs to get behind the idea without seeing an immediate return on their investment”, Gueorgui says. “But the event went really well, and after that, it was kind of a domino effect, so it just started growing as a community. After a few releases this year, it feels like the roots have now settled. We have a solid foundation and the right people involved to take Samodiva to the next level.”
“At a certain point, raising funds only through concerts and crowdfunding campaigns is no longer possible in this market”, Nikola explains, “so then you reach out to the national institutions. The next step would be getting the artists to the right festivals abroad, and working with the right promoters and bookers to do that. Even as people are turning heads towards the Balkans, Bulgaria often still gets left out of the conversation, and we want to change that by spreading our culture.”
During the conference, a staggering amount of 12 talented bands and projects are playing individual shows. Gueorgui tells me that even more artists are part of the wider Samodiva network, and they still receive many submissions. The artists decide in a group chat whether a new act will be welcomed into the collective. Genre isn’t very important in that process, and the programming at Soda Bar reflects that openness.
Some of the most interesting projects I witnessed during my three days in Sofia don’t even have any actual music out yet – like the trio Veles that plays a fascinating mix of folk, noise and ambient (see live video above), or the spoken word solo act Stran Nik that feels slightly reminiscent of a Bulgarian take on King Krule, or the arty duo Kruvenvrag, who fuse electronic textures with acoustic folk motifs. (Their home-recorded debut EP fruit vegetable should be out in December, they tell me.)
Not from Sofia but hailing from the East Bulgarian city of Burgas, post-punk band Scarlet consists of five friends that feel inspired by contemporary bands like Wunderhorse, English Teacher and Fontaines D.C., but also the classics of Radiohead, New Order and The Cure. Their debut single “Слънчоглед” (“Sunflower”) has been making waves in the Bulgarian scene, and they brought an infectious energy to the Soda Bar stage.
Same goes for Slicr, a new indie rock group that Gueorgui is actually part of as well, and whose lo-fi bedroom style nods to classic US and UK bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Pavement and Sonic Youth. At Soda Bar, the band played their first live set ever, and their debut single “radio valley” is the most recent video production in the Samodiva YouTube channel.
In my hotel room later that night, I’m trying to find all of these bands on the internet. What makes it difficult is that in their social media channels, you will find a confusing mix of Cyrillic Bulgarian, Romanized Bulgarian and English, and script conversion can be difficult due to differences in character sets. Bulgarian even has some unique characters, which don’t exist in any other language.
Most of these young musicians don’t seem too invested in making their music overly accessible or following industry success templates to reach the biggest possible audience. Nobody I spoke to mentioned their monthly listeners on streaming services, many had not even released a record yet. The dedication to their music and their collective feels refreshingly pure and intentional. While some of them showed clear ambitions to grow beyond the local alternative scene, they were also adamant about staying true to their DIY roots and spirit.
Thinking of Gueorgui and Nikola, I can clearly understand why they’ve dedicated themselves to building a network like Samodiva. It must be satisfying to nurture and witness such an outburst of raw creativity and talent, far away from the musical hubs of the world. At the same time, it must be challenging to deal with the economic realities and matters of exclusion and ignorance.
Earlier that evening, I’d asked one of Slicr’s band members if they possibly view the two slightly older musicians as their mentors. His reply was as earnest as telling: “Well, we wouldn’t be here without them, but we really think of them as friends. When they need our help, we help them. When we need their help, they help us. And that is the most beautiful thing, because that is actually Samodiva.”
Follow Samodiva Society on Instagram and TikTok, and subscribe to their YouTube channel to stay updated on their projects, events, releases and videos.
I must confess I know very little about Bulgarian music - but reading this I would like to know more.