Sleepover Shows are three song sets of acoustic or stripped down versions performed by bands that we love as they make their way through Boston. Though it started as something we did when bands needed a place to crash on the night of their shows, we now mostly film the sessions before or after a show and let the bands find their own ways home (though the offer still stands).
Basically, we try to use our spaces as creatively as we can.  We’ve filmed in the back seats of cars, on top of playground equipment, in doorways and alleys, in bathtubs and stairwells.  We try our best to get the bands to take their music outside of the confines of the studio and have some fun.
And that’s the point: to capture some great music that maybe isn’t always as polished, but shows these artists having a good time doing what they love. We’re doing what we love too, and hope you enjoy the videos!

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KELLY RIBERA
Kelly Ribera (Kelly Smart, before she married Rob Ribera of Sleepover Shows) is from the Great Northwest. She grew up in Washington and Oregon, and moved to Boston with her English degree to earn an MFA in film production.

She has a deep love for both film and music. So the combination of the two was completely appealing when she, Rob Ribera, and Aviv Rubinstien all got together to begin producing Sleepover Shows.

Even though they had been friends previous to this, it was Kelly who connected Ribera and Rubinstien, first suggesting the idea of (what would eventually become) Sleepover Shows in mid 2009.

Since the birth of Sleepover Shows, she has been busy working at a small production house in Newton. She spends much of her time eagerly anticipating the next Sleepover Show, and looking forward to baking on the weekends.

ROB RIBERA
Rob is currently working on his Ph.D. in American Studies at BU.   He also has a masters degree in English from St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens and an MFA in Film Studies from BU.

He is originally from Brooklyn, spent time in New Jersey growing up, and in New York going to school. He teaches film at various Boston schools.

He is also married to one of the fellow Sleepover Shows creators, Kelly. They met in a film class, made some student films together, shared some music playlists, and did the whole falling in love thing. Now they combine all of those things whenever they can. At their wedding they danced to some of the bands we hope will someday join our Sleepover Show adventure. Here’s hoping.

When not studying for his oral exams, he is taking photos and working on a documentary on the Asian restoration lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, filming the conservation of a two-hundred-year-old scroll painted by Hokosai.

AVIV RUBINSTIEN
Aviv came to Sleepover Shows from two directions: With a BA in film production and an MFA in screenwriting (both from Boston University), he often feels that trigger finger itch to go out and shoot footage. As a filmmaker, the Philadelphia native received some attention for his 2006 film Woman on the Moon, official selection of the Lausanne Underground Film Festival 2007.

But that’s not all! Aviv has been playing music in front of an audience since 2002. In that time, he has been known to let traveling bands sleep on his floor and use his shower as they passed through Boston. Now Defunct, “The Teeth,” “O’Death,” “The Lonely H,” and “Make A Rising” have all graced couches Chez Rubinstien, and probably stayed up late to eat Chinese food and watch Jurassic Park.

In early 2009, the soon-to-be-Riberas (Kelly and Rob) approached Aviv about starting a music blog, thinking that he could help direct them towards some up and coming talent: Little did any of us know, the talent would be coming to us.

Aviv constantly entertains the idea of changing his last name to Ribera, just to fit in. It’s a daily struggle.

Today, Aviv is still an aspiring screenwriter, freelance filmmaker and musician.