Why Fully Improvised Funk Rock: How Random Strangers Jam Began

Hey there, Random Stranger. My name is Sky Demetri and I am the founder, host and house band leader for Random Strangers Jam.

Sky Demetri, Founder of Random Strangers Jam

Since starting in mid-2022, there have been more than 75 sessions across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens and in that time there have been a lot of common questions that come up that I'd like to start to address through blogs and thought pieces.

The first question is usually:

Why is Random Strangers Jam so strict on being improvised? Why no cover songs?

There are short quick answers - NYC has a long history of jazz, blues and classic rock jam sessions. From Smalls and Ornithology for jazz to Big Ed's Blues Jam and Richie Cannata's Classic Rock Jam.

Why do more of the same? Cover song or standards-based jams are everywhere.

It goes deeper though. Let's take it back to why Random Strangers Jam was started in the first place to underscore where this improvisation-only philosophy comes from and why it is such a crucial part of the Random Strangers Jam culture.

I Am Not The Only One

I moved to NYC in August of 2021 for a new job just after the COVID vaccinations were in full swing and return to office discussions were heating up. It was also an opportunity for me to reset as I approached 30 after having gone through a mutually agreed divorce from my wife who I had been dating since I was 19.

Things took a sideways turn when - just 2 weeks after moving into my apartment - work decided the entire team I was part of would remain fully remote indefinitely.

I was in a new city, newly single living alone with my dog, and had no friends and no office to go to for any type of regular socialization.

And I knew I was not the only one.

Other people were new to the city or recovering from pandemic social distancing while working hybrid or remote schedules and looking to connect.

So, I did what seems like the normal adult thing to do and started hanging out at bars. Truthfully, I had never done that. I was in a stable relationship before I could drink. I quickly noticed it wasn't my scene. The regulars were clique-y and trying to strike up a conversation with strangers at varying levels of drunkenness felt uncomfortable - I'd rather sit there quietly absorbed in my own thoughts, enjoying my beer, and writing poems.

Journaling one day, I asked myself: how did I make friends and learn to open up as a kid?

The answer was instant: jamming out with friends, and then friends bringing other friends.

As I read that line in my journal - the thought struck me again: I am not the only one.

What if those fun jam sessions still existed?

The jams where my friends and I would chill on the weekend and without any judgement throw some weird cool new ideas out there that nine times out of ten we'd forget the next day.

That space where being open and vulnerable musically led to conversational vulnerability. Discussions of influences, lyrical meanings, intentions, relationships, dreams, philosophy, really anything you can imagine - it all happened in the pauses between music ideas that were lost to the wind.

I started listening in at jam sessions around NYC and found an air of elitism at all of them. Having gone to Berklee College of Music in Boston for my first 3 full semesters of college, I was familiar with the musical masturbation of who could solo the hardest and fastest on this chart or that one.

And I hated the gatekept atmosphere.

Those sessions weren't where I made friends. Those were places where all my insecurities came undone, leaving me feeling naked behind the drum kit.

And I knew as I sat observing great musicians ripping through cover song after cover song they had been playing for 30 years that I did not want to spend my limited time learning this repertoire but I wanted to jam.

Deep down I knew with absolute certainty: I am not the only one.

A Different Way

Part of me wondered if anyone would really want to play fully improvised music with me.

I decided to book a rehearsal space for 2 hours on a random Sunday and post on a facebook group offering 2 guitar slots, a bass slot, a keyboard slot and one vocalist slot. First people to contact me would get the slots for free. It would all be improvised. The ideas each group of random strangers had been playing alone in their apartments.

And it was super fun.

The first ever Random Strangers Jam in April 2022

The 8th time I went to post about the event, I was contacted by a booking agent for a venue in Williamsburg asking if I was preparing for some sort of stage performance.

I had taken notes on each musician hoping to start a band- but just jamming out as the show? I immediately got thinking about how I would make a session unique. Truly its own.

Random Strangers Jam is Born

The core pain point for jam sessions was when not everyone knew the song being called, which went hand in hand with the second problem - most sessions are jazz, blues or classic rock standards

Most people working 9-5 simply don't have time to learn and maintain 200 standards. There is also a major advantage baked in for generations raised on this older standard repertoire.

Gatekeeping is built in. Young professionals under-40 simply don't know the tunes and wind up excluded despite being incredibly talented and capable of creating music.

Thinking about the formative jams of my childhood, everything was mostly improvised.

We would just ask, "who has an idea?" Someone would play what they'd been noodling with the night before. And the jam was on.  

I realized now after these standards-based jams that improvised ideas created a default level playing field. No expectations. No right or wrong.  Just a need to listen to each other and follow the music where it led.

I called up my favorite group of players from the first 8 sessions to form a house band that would keep the show rolling and watch me for queues while every 5-7 minutes I would substitute out half the band with "random strangers" - musicians -  from the audience.

Still real music. And frankly, for every bad random idea, there's someone doing a bad cover at a jam session - so what's the harm in creating a new kind of experimental space where musicians of all generations and skill levels can cross pollinate ideas and intermingle?

Random Strangers Jam was created as a "waterhole for musicians in NYC" - the community meeting place - and has been running since April 2022 with more than 75+ shows across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens as of publication in September 2025.

Random Strangers Jam provides a true "third space" - an accessible space where you can openly meet strangers and form new friendships, collaborators and partners outside school or work. More on that in a future post.

** No AI training is permitted on this content or any content published by Random Strangers Jam.**