Echo Park Lake

Los Angeles is a nightmare by car, but a wonderland on foot; an endless cabinet of curiosities that one could spend a lifetime exploring. The magical corner of Echo Park I moved into in July 2010 was no exception. A hundred years ago, it was the center of the film industry before it moved uptown to Hollywood. Most of the silent comedy stars (Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone Cops, Harold Lloyd) all started their careers at the first movie studios at the bottom of my hill. The first pie fights and car chases were filmed on the streets around my home. Strange artifacts from over a hundred years of dreams permeate every nook and cranny of the neighborhood.

Sunset From The Back Patio

Situated on a tiny winding road on the edge of Elysian Park where Les Blank filmed the 1968 counter-culture classic "GOD RESPECTS US WHEN WE WORK, BUT LOVES US WHEN WE DANCE," my house is surrounded by hidden trails through forested hills where one can stumble on a labyrinth of secret gardens, experimental sculptures (one closest to my home was a massive shrine made entirely out of toys), grazing horses, hidden swings overlooking the city, and several of the legendary hidden painted staircases of Los Angeles.

Hidden Painted Staircases, Secret Swings, and Random Sculptures Made Out Of Toys In The Horse Trails Around The House

When I moved to Echo Park, its reputation was still heavily associated with punk rock and gangs. Shootings and stabbings could still be heard every night from my back deck. Over the next decade, the area underwent rapid gentrification that made it nearly unrecognizable from the kingdom of girl gangs and anarchic aspirations once documented by Penelope Spheeris in "THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION" (1981) and Allison Anders in "MI VIDA LOCA" (1994).

But through all its transformations, music remains the lifeblood of the neighborhood. It is what brought most people I know to this part of town (including myself). The concert series I started in my living room is just one small nexus point of a much larger, vibrant community that makes Echo Park such a special place to be in this beautifully ephemeral and shapeshifting city.

Sunday Neighborhood Low-Rider Gatherings

Music is everywhere. Generations of Latino communities gather down the street every Sunday to parade their pimped out vintage low-riders and BBQ to live hip hop and mariachi, a distinctly LA form of communion. Concerts emanate from Dodger Stadium at the bottom of the hill (most memorably Paul McCartney, whose voice echoed off my back patio on a beautiful August night in 2014). A short walk down Sunset Boulevard, my dear friend Neil Schield hosts intimate surprise concerts from the likes of Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Father John Misty, Youth Lagoon, and Florence + The Machine at his neighborhood record store Origami Vinyl. Afterward, you can go to El Prado across the street for Record Club, where the first ten people to bring their favorite record get free drinks at the bar while it spins on the turntable.

Omar Rodríguez-López Of The Mars Volta Outside Sargent House

I live on a bizarre street where — according to local legend — eccentric homes were built for the mistresses of Hollywood moguls in the 1930s, catering to whatever fetish or whim these women had. If true, this would explain why it's such a surreal Epcot Center of style, where a Greco-Roman villa appears to have landed like a spaceship next to a quaint New England cottage.

When people visit my house for the first time, one of the first things they do is ask who lives across the street in the place that looks like a castle designed by Gaudi on a mescaline binge. For awhile, all I could say is that it was someone I often saw pacing up and down our street in animal costumes, who hung ornate Moroccan chandeliers from the trees growing out of the canon battlements in front of his house, and adorned his front gate with a framed photograph of doctors performing open heart surgery. As we got to know each other, the truth turned out to be more bizarre and inspiring than I could have imagined.

Paul Koudounaris In His Home Across The Street

It turns out my mysterious neighbor is Dr. Paul Koudounaris, who comes from a family of grave robbers and is carrying on his family tradition in over sixty countries...with a surprisingly beautiful twist. Paul's incredible life and work deserves some serious exploration, so I now offer you a game of Choose Your Own Adventure.

To learn more about Paul, click here: https://www.steveelkins.net/Interviews/On-Art/Paul-Koudinaris/

To meet my other fascinating neighbors and learn more about our living room concerts, continue reading below.

Another Neighbor: Artist Caitlyn Wylde

Cathy Pellow And Swedish Hardcore Band Refused

My neighbor turned out to be Cathy Pellow, founder of Refused TV (named after the Swedish hardcore band whose classic “New Noise” video she worked on). Fed up with male-centered, bureaucratic record companies, she started the legendary Sargent House record label (Botch, These Arms Are Snakes, Russian Circles, Maps & Atlases) to promote bands she loves while ensuring their artistic freedom. Danny DeVito is apparently a fan of The Dillinger Escape Plan, who was visiting the house the first time he parked in my driveway.

Cathy has been described as an Andy Warhol figure for the southern California art rock scene, and a centripetal force in the so-called math-rock world that was a reservoir of inspiration for the musicians I grew up with: a lineage that would include Ruins, Slint, Zeni Geva, Drive Like Jehu, Shellac, Gastr Del Sol, Fugazi, Don Caballero, Massacre, Roadside Monument, Unwed Sailor, and a slew of bands from Dischord Records. The artists Cathy promotes live and work at her house for extended periods of time, using it as a production studio to make records and music videos. Which means that almost any day of the week, I can hear some of my favorite bands at work by simply walking out my front door (especially Hella, Death Grips, Bygones, and Tera Melos...all of whom can be heard below).

Living Room Concert (Steve Elkins) + Friends On The Back Patio

My home across the street has likewise become a crucible for all kinds of musical activity, from living room concerts, to music video shoots, to record release parties. The idiosyncratic architecture of the house makes it ideal as an experimental recording studio, and many bands record their albums here. Sometimes, people come over to spin records while chef Dave Woodall uses the kitchen to experiment with potential dishes for his restaurant Red Herring.

Josh T. Pearson Living Room Concert (Echo Park, 2014)

(Pictured above): Josh T. Pearson of Lift To Experience performing in my living room. For more on Josh and the back story to this concert: https://www.steveelkins.net/Music/The-Autumns/Memories/

Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Kira Roessler (Black Flag), And Aaron Dilloway (Wolf Eyes)

Some of the living room concerts were an extension of my work serving on the Board of Advisors for the Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound (SASSAS), a catalyst for the creation and presentation of experimental music in the greater Los Angeles area. SASSAS organized concerts for more than 500 artists including Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, members of Black Flag, Mike Watt of Minutemen, Aaron Dilloway of Wolf Eyes, Extended Organ with Mike Kelley & Raymond Pettibon, Petra Haden, James Tenney, Jason Lescalleet (Erstwhile), John Wiese (No Age, Merzbow, Sun )))), Cattle Decapitation, Sissy Spacek), and more.

Jessica Dobson (Deep Sea Diver, Beck, The Shins) + Kim Free Performing At The House With An Orchestra

Other memorable concerts include Wrack performing music inspired by Thomas Pynchon's first three novels (The Crying Of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, and V.), in which characters, skin cells, and sub-atomic particles often break out into song, as if the cosmos were a musical. Also, the LA premiere of Alvin Lucier's "Glacier", which makes audible a graph of 30 glaciers melting on cello, and "Maritime Rites," performed on boats passing each other in Echo Park Lake.

We launched a radical concert series for children, introducing them to emerging experimental musicians the first Saturday of each month at the West Hollywood Library, featuring panel discussions with Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro, legendary director of "The Exorcist" William Friedkin, and "Singin' In The Rain" star Debbie Reynolds. We released a limited edition series of quarterly vinyl releases by Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Aaron Dilloway (Wolf Eyes), Nels Cline (Geraldine Fibbers, Wilco), and Julia Holter, featuring a B-side selected from the SASSAS archive by the A-side artist, with beautiful custom covers.

The Sound Of Animals Fighting

Some surprising "small-world" connections developed between our musical community and Sargent House across the street, a label which started as a way to release an album by our friends Rx Bandits whom Cathy was managing. Rx Bandits and other Sargent House bands formed a supergroup with members of The Autumns (a band I'd been drumming for over the last decade) called The Sound Of Animals Fighting. I recorded some of the early drum tracks for the band. The most beautiful thing in this tale of two neighbors is that it brought disparate worlds together. One golden memory is when The Sound Of Animals Fighting were at Sargent House the same time as The Advantage, a band I admired featuring members of Hella that only plays themes from video games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (they're named after the NES joystick controller).

There were other uncanny synchronicities: Sargent House released music by Big Walnuts Yonder featuring Nels Cline (whom I had been making a documentary about), members of Deerhoof (whom I'd also been filming for that documentary), and Mike Watt Of Minutemen. An amazing band that performed in our living room known as The Widow Babies had just released "The Mike Watt E.P.", a concept album which told the story of Watt fighting a vampire Abe Lincoln, featuring songs such as "Mike Watt Created The Universe With A Bass Solo". Watt himself played the entire E.P. on an episode of The Watt from Pedro Show. No footage was ever recorded of The Widow Babies' living room show, but the video below captures them around the same time.

Silian Rail Living Room Concert (March 30, 2012)

Silian Rail was one of the best bands to come out of the San Francisco bay area during this time. They frequently played shows with our friends. Below, you can hear their intimate invite-only concert at my home, recorded by Sean Foye.

Silian Rail is:
Robin Landy: Guitar
Eric Kuhn: Drums

Friends At The House

Green Screen Tests For A Music Video On The Back Patio

Acoustic Experiments In My Room (And Shower)

Cue The Moon Sessions

Cue The Moon tracking part of a record in my room, which can be heard here: https://www.steveelkins.net/Music/Cue-The-Moon/With-Your-Lamps-Spent/

Jim McAuley (Guitarist For Frank Sinatra and Nels Cline)

Jim McAuley, one of LA's most unsung musical treasures whose collaborators range from Frank Sinatra to Nels Cline, came over to record guitar tracks in August 2011 for a solo album, which was named one of the "Best Albums of 2012" by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Below is a brief sample from the album.

The 19th Century Piano In My Room

Mr. Gnome

It's difficult to convey to people just how powerful Mr. Gnome from Cleveland were live. Their living room concert took place in 2011 while on tour for the "Madness In Miniature" LP. Some samples can be heard below.

Note: This gallery is currently being updated with more archives from the concert series. Check back for more soon.