The Scene

WRITTEN BY AUGUST BERRIOS

ILLUSTRATION BY MOONIE VERGARA

The do-it-yourself music scene in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas has produced some of the most influential bands in today’s contemporary music culture. Bands like Black Flag, Sublime, Agent Orange, and The Garden are all examples of influential figures that all had their start in these local music scenes. These bands’ outreach on different scenes in OC and LA remains prevalent in today’s DIY music subculture. Yet from a contemporary perspective, the bands that carve a path of their own throughout their local scenes, shoving aside the commercial aspect of music and truly connecting with their audience, are the figures that keep local hardcore scenes alive. Bands like God Bless America (GBA), Automatic Loverz, No Current, and The Chapel are just a few of the acts that keep the vibrant local music culture alive.

Pros & Cons

No matter how a band defines the music they create, the beauty of the local scenes in OC and LA county is that there’s a lot of mixing between different musical subcultures and identities. Reilly Miranda, lead guitarist in Redback Widow and Phobia said, “Being somewhere where everyone’s united by music really makes me feel a special sense of connectedness.”

Jack Goble, drummer of the aforementioned bands corroborates Miranda’s sentiments as well, “The scene itself creates a community of people built around loving music and also a competitive drive for musicians to improve themselves and show up to a band practice or even just a show.”

Attitudes like these mirror why the local music scene is so diverse, not just in music taste but the overarching culture that people subscribe themselves to.

Furthermore, Johnny Mac, the vocalist of the band No Current said, “A pro of the scene that I have noticed is that all the kids that go to shows seem to have a blast no matter who they are seeing or even if it’s their first show. Some people have hit us up after shows and tell us that [it] was a really cool first show experience seeing us play.” Experiences like the one laid out by Mac display how even newcomers to the scene can create a sentimental bond within the culture created by these local bands.

The landscape of the DIY music scene is beautiful, but like any subculture, there will always be drawbacks. Such limitations may affect members of a band or the audience that the scene creates. One gripe that can be seen from the lens of music creation is the idea of too much repetition. Although many subsections of music attain a cultlike following, in some contexts it can be seen as trend hopping.

Charlie, the bassist from Automatic Loverz, uses grindcore as an example stating, “When people see other bands playing like that, they just want to hop on.” This is not a diss towards grind bands or the people who play that type of music. However, the idea Charlie stamps in with her example shows the importance of prioritizing passion over whatever is big at that given moment. Other members of Automatic Loverz echo this idea. Nate, the vocalist of the band said, “They start bands just to say they are in a band.” Once again, Nate’s sentiments over the topic are not digs at certain bands or musicians. His statement acts as a tell-tale sign that, to get fulfillment from being in a band, musicians should align themselves with whatever it is that they make.

Although it is easy to see cons in any music-related culture from the lens of the music that is curated, there can also be certain drawbacks from the scene itself. Goble said on the matter, “Community can turn into cliques… friendly competitiveness, can turn into aggression or disputes.” These issues mentioned by Goble could be found within anyone in the local music scene. Yet, it acts as a reminder that one of the local music scene’s biggest strengths is to bring people back together which could mend and unite anyone. Other issues within the scene can also be seen as very contextual based on the crowd that could come to any show. Mac said, “Sometimes kids go to shows just to party and do drugs and not even care about the music which sucks because the scene is about the bands playing music and having fun.” Problems like these, as mentioned previously, require a lot of context to the situation but are a factor that could be advocated more often within the scene. Even with these cons, the beauty of local music scenes will always shine bright. The music, the ideas, and the culture that these bands add to the scene are the overpowering factors that aim the local music scenes in the OC and LA areas in a positive direction.

What Bands Add to the Local Music Scene

With an incredibly diverse and united culture, local music scenes in the OC and LA areas carve out beautiful communities. But, the cherry on top is the bands that encompass the vast nature of DIY music. Kobe, guitarist of the Automatic Loverz commented on the hardcore nature of the DIY scene, “It’s super cool but, this is why I love rock ‘n’ roll, and I’m happy we can put people onto that.” Kobe’s reflection of the band highlights the beauty of the musical diversity within the scene. It allows the creative minds behind Automatic Loverz to fully embrace the unique identity they create with their music.

Tonez, drummer for the band, added onto Kobe’s statement when he said, “We bring a sense of freshness when we play.” This freshness being their remarkable sound and stage presence every time they play. Tomas Wold, drummer of The Chapel, had similar sentiments when he said, “I think The Chapel adds a rock ‘n’ roll sound that’s been lost over time.” This rock ‘n’ roll influence Wold mentions adds even more beauty in a sea of more hardcore style music.

Additionally, the diversity of the DIY music scene doesn’t just add a sense of freshness to shows but also allows bands to rejuvenate old-school aspects of local music that have made the scene exciting and invigorating over the years. Mac said, “I feel like we add an old school sound to the scene with lots of fun and energy. We are all about bringing back the old school sound to the kids and having the most fun we can possibly have while doing it.” Revitalizing what could be considered “old school” can have a humongous impact on the scene. No Current does an amazing job in this regard, allowing newcomers to the scene to appreciate past influences and see how they add their creative twist to it in the modern realm of DIY music.

Conclusion

The DIY music scene in the OC and LA county areas is getting back to the liveliness seen in the 80’s and 90’s. Even with its issues, the culture being built by the bands, crowds, and venues creates a sense of diversity that glues everyone together.

If you want to catch any of these bands live, they play all around the LA and OC area in a vast variety of venues. The Automatic Loverz have an eight track EP coming soon on top of a new music video that just dropped titled “UNIFORMS.” No Current is also set to release a new EP soon, along with their new single on Spotify, “Free The Youth.”

If you can’t make it to a show, these bands have a lot of their live sets uploaded onto Youtube and Instagram.