⊛ No Offense | Clay Bassford, Bespoke Sound
The frequency behind unforgettable spaces.
Most brands treat music like an afterthought — a vibe to toss on at the end, somewhere between “We should print menus” and “Let’s post something on Instagram.” But for Clay Bassford, sound isn’t the background — it’s the backbone. And he’s built an entire business to prove it.
With a background that blends copywriting, music journalism, DJing, and a stint at VisitDenmark, Clay has always been orbiting the edges of brand storytelling. But it was a surfy Tuesday in Costa Rica — iPod in hand — that cemented the vision: music could shape space, and not just fill it. What started as a curated playlist for a soulful boutique hotel eventually became Bespoke Sound — a global team of musicians, DJs, and cultural cross-pollinators who design sonic experiences for some of the most design-forward hospitality brands in the world.
But make no mistake — this isn’t “vibe curation.” This is narrative architecture through sound. Clay and his team bring the same level of intention to music that a great interior designer brings to lighting, furniture, or flow. And the result? A sensory experience that makes guests feel something they can’t quite name — but never forget.
In this conversation, Clay shares how Bespoke Sound came to life, how silence can be the boldest sonic decision of all, and what it means to create a vibe that’s actually authentic (hint: it starts with knowing who you are). Oh, and yes — we had to ask what Bespoke Sound would look like if it were a physical space. Spoiler: it includes velvet walls, spatial acoustics, and maybe an exotic pet or two.
Clay Bassford
Founder, Bespoke Sound
NWS: Ok, we’re hear (cue the intentional misspelling for the sake of this feature … we’ll get there). But first: you’ve spent the last decade helping tech and travel brands tell their stories. Clearly you’ve got an eye — and an ear — for brand storytelling. How and where did it all begin?
Clay: I've always been drawn to storytelling and creative expression - drawing, writing songs, poems. But my professional education happened in my first job out of college, building a customer support department for a startup. I kept hearing the same customer pain points, and I could see how our messaging wasn't connecting. I knew I could help bridge that gap, so I made my case to the marketing team to let me try copywriting. That first taste of using creativity to make communication more effective - and getting paid for it - that was where the dots were connected.
From there, I spent my mid-twenties living this double life in Brooklyn: copywriting for startups by day, playing shows with my band and DJing around the city at night, with music journalism sprinkled into the spare minutes. It felt like I was building toward something, training both sides of my brain. The storytelling side kept evolving - content marketing for a hotel tech startup in Berlin, then VisitDenmark in Copenhagen - but I was always making music. At that point, I’d had my first taste of music curation and had been planning to merge those worlds for years, but more on that in a minute.
NWS: Fast forward to today: you're the Founder and creative brainchild (or maybe “composer” is more accurate?) behind Bespoke Sound — “a global team of DJs, musicians, audiophiles, and cultural cross-pollinators who help hospitality visionaries channel their ethos into exceptional sonic experiences.” Ok wow, where do we even begin? For those furiously Googling “audiophile” and “cultural cross-pollinator,” let’s start with the basics — how do you define a “sonic experience?”
Clay: A sonic experience is what we hear and how it shapes what we feel. Sound hits us on an instinctive level - just like scent, it can instantly transport you to a memory or shift your mood without you even realizing it. When someone is creating a carefully considered space, we help them use sound intentionally to enhance that overall experience.
NWS: We imagine the Bespoke Sound origin story has a pretty eclectic playlist. What was the moment when you realized there was a real business in this intersection of branding, space, and sound?
Clay: 2012, a Tuesday, 9am, on a beach in Costa Rica. Post-surf, sipping coconut water right out of a freshly cracked coconut. Listening to music– wired earbuds, iPod and all. This was my first music curation gig. I was asked to curate music for a family-owned boutique hotel there. The property is a passion project for the family, and they love art and music but didn’t have time for the playlists so they needed someone they could trust to help with their music. I was lucky enough to land the gig, and am happy to say I still work with them. Being there in this space that had so much soul, digging through my music library and thinking about, “How can I help create a soundtrack that represents this soulful experience?” “What song can I play in this space at this time to facilitate a special experience for these guests? The kind of special experience that, when they hear the song for years to come, they smile and look back fondly on this time in their lives.” It was like being struck by a lightning bolt: Use music to facilitate these special experiences for more people! I had no entrepreneurial experience, but the business case just seemed so undeniable– AND fun.
NWS: Ok, we’ve gotta pause for a second and talk about your branding — we’re obsessed. It’s bold, dreamy, and slightly surreal — like if a Wes Anderson film moved into a record store in Ibiza. How did that visual world come to life? And how does it connect to your broader mission of designing sound for space?
Clay: I have to shout out Vasily Grogol, Founder of Bursa Studios, my good friend, designer, and hotel owner, who led our branding. We talked a lot about how do we have a bold, mood-inspiring aesthetic while also communicating that we’re essentially a blank canvas? As in, we have tons of perspective on music, but we are here to help our clients tell THEIR stories with music. So, essentially, how to represent that there is no ego but lots of taste. Then filtered through our shared preference for minimalism.
NWS: When you’re not remixing identities into ambient form, what kinds of brands or clients get you the most excited? Is there a “perfect fit”?
Clay: We get most excited working with brands that have a strong point of view and aren't afraid to express it. The kind of places where the owner or creative director can tell you exactly why they chose that specific shade of paint or that particular vintage chair - there's intention behind every decision.
We love working with properties that understand they're not for everyone, and they're okay with that. A boutique hotel that attracts artists and creatives rather than trying to please every possible guest. A restaurant that plays Brazilian jazz during lunch because it fits their story, not because market research said it would increase table turnover.
The projects where we do our best work? Usually, there's a passionate founder or creative team who sees their space as an extension of their personal taste and values. They want their guests to feel something specific, not just comfortable.
NWS: As brand builders and placemaking junkies, we obsess over the details — the lighting, the scent, the signage, the texture (or poundage) of a business card, the shade of beige on the wall, the way every staff member dresses and says “hello.” Sound is right there with them — and yet, it’s somehow always the afterthought. How do you explain the role of sound in branding to someone who thinks a Spotify playlist is “good enough”? And how do you get clients — or anyone for that matter — to care about what can’t be seen?
Clay: Well, I think you touched upon a good point. We've been conditioned to devalue music at the consumer level, so at the commercial level, it's often background wallpaper rather than an intentional design element. But the kinds of clients we work with aren't doing their interior design at IKEA or their logos with Canva. They're telling original stories, so they need original ideas from the furniture to the music. A carefully curated music program signals to guests, song after song, that they belong - that this experience was designed specifically for them.
The guy behind Poolsuite, in a recent newsletter, put it very well: curation nurtures taste. Our clients are nurturing their community and the taste of their guests. Music is, in most cases, fundamental to that exchange.
NWS: Sound is a memory machine — a single note or lyric can teleport you. There’s obviously a science to your method, a kind of human-centered rhythm that shapes the story. How do you approach designing sonic experiences that feel less like background noise and more like brand DNA?
Clay: It's about leveraging our collective decades of experience as DJs and musicians, then filtering it through our hospitality-specific lens. We maintain the organic imperfection and personality that comes from human curation - whether that's unexpected instrumentation, a surprising genre choice, or just the right energy shift at the right moment. We're not there to provide a boilerplate vibe; we're there to boldly and accurately express their specific personality through sound.
In practice, we might, for example, introduce a rare Balearic track during sunset hour, or weave in some unexpected jazz during the morning coffee ritual - choices that feel surprising but completely right for the space, that give guests a glimpse at another side or perspective of the brand.
NWS: “Vibe” might be the most overused word in hospitality branding right now (we’re guilty of it) — and yet, everyone’s still chasing it. What’s your definition of “vibe,” and how do you create one that actually sticks (instead of sounding like a lobby Pandora playlist)?
Clay: Yeah… Vibe… I mean, it just is accurate in encompassing what we’re talking about! I like to use the words “atmosphere” or “energy” as substitutes. If I were to give a shot at defining “vibe” off the cuff, I would say something like: layers of moods and associations inspired by our immediate sensory impressions of a person, place, or thing.
The unspoken part here, when we talk about "vibe," is that it's code for authenticity in action. "It's a vibe" really means, “I am feeling this, I connect with this.” A real vibe is an impactful, innately sensed story. It's the storyteller effectively establishing a connection with the intended audience. So it's a shame that so much of the "vibe" in many hospitality experiences feels manufactured or inauthentic or phoned in.
NWS: Let’s talk about silence. We’re not anti-noise, but we’re definitely pro-intention. When is not playing music actually the best sonic decision you can make?
Clay: Yes! Silence is so important. With no silence, it is all noise! We worked with a client, a resort out in the middle of an island. The rooms had French doors opening up to the jungle outside. We went in circles thinking about what music could complement that setting best, when it dawned on us that the natural world, birds and all, were already making plenty of music.
Relatedly, volume of music is a very important and often overlooked piece of the auditory experience.
NWS: Last question (we promise), and it’s a weird one. If Bespoke Sound were a space — not metaphorically, but like, an actual designed environment — what would it look like? (No pressure, but we’re picturing spatial acoustics dialed to perfection, a sunken lounge, maybe a velvet wall or two — or three — a DJ booth that also serves oat milk lattes, an unreasonable number of plants, and possibly a very chill exotic pet roaming around.)
Clay: OK I actually have an answer queued up for this! Like this:
I came across this record and just love the cover. I have no idea what the story is behind this space, or if it’s even real, but something like this would be great. Maybe throw in a few plants and a nice minibar, invite a few friends over, and we’re cookin’!
👉 For more from Clay Bassford, follow Bespoke Sound on Spotify, Instagram and Linkedin, and certainly check out their latest work at bespokesound.co.
🚨 WHO IS NO WALLS STUDIO (AND WHAT DO WE DO)?
No Walls Studio is a design and brand consultancy that helps real estate developers create spaces that people love.
Our mission is to make sameness extinct in real estate, which means that everything we do comes with new ideas and unique angles — all, grounded in a deep understanding of culture and consumers.
We do three things for our clients (often, all in the same project):
Research & Insights
Brand Development
Spatial Experience Design
Want to work with us or learn more?
