Living Room And View From The Back Patio

I live on a bizarre street in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles 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.

Omar Rodríguez-López Of The Mars Volta Outside Sargent House

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. The house across the street (inhabited by renowned corpse photographer Paul Koudounaris) resembles a castle designed by Gaudi on a mescaline binge.

Paul Koudounaris In His Home Across The Street

I originally started a concert series in my living room because I thought this creatively fertile environment would provide a more intimate and memorable setting than traditional venues for all my friends in bands when they came through the city on tour. It made sense: bands were frequently crashing at my house or making albums in my bedroom, which sometimes doubled as a recording studio.

Cathy Pellow Working With Swedish Hardcore Band Refused

Music is everywhere. My neighbor Cathy Pellow runs the legendary record label Sargent House out of her home across the street. 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 includes Ruins, Slint, Zeni Geva, Drive Like Jehu, Shellac, Gastr Del Sol, Fugazi, Don Caballero, Massacre, Roadside Monument, Unwed Sailor, a slew of bands from Dischord Records, and one of my personal favorites: Hella.

Another Neighbor: Artist Caitlyn Wylde

Over the years, a perplexing assortment of people came and went from Sargent House, including Vincent Gallo, Danny DeVito, one of the German nihilists from The Big Labowski, and various kingpins of Sacramento's burgeoning "math-rock" scene. They often had to use my driveway due to lack of parking on the street, which led to some fascinating collisions between our worlds.

The Sound Of Animals Fighting

Eventually the living room concerts became a cross-pollination of the musical activity going on at both our houses. Our friends began forming side projects with Sargent House bands, giving birth to "supergroups" like The Sound Of Animals Fighting. A few of my favorite Sargent House bands can be heard below.

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

More recently, the living room concerts have become 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 has organized concerts for more than 500 artists including Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, members of Black Flag, 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.

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

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.

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

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. Among other projects, 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.

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

Josh T. Pearson Living Room Concert (2014)

Josh T. Pearson was the frontman of the legendary Lift To Experience. On this very magical night, he performed his first solo record "The Last Of The Country Gentlemen." No recording was made of his living room concert, but excerpts from the album can be heard below.

For more on Josh: https://www.steveelkins.net/Music/The-Autumns/Memories/

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.

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.

Archer Black Performing On A 19th Century Piano

Bedroom Recording Studio

Sunday Neighborhood Low-Rider Gatherings

Acoustic Experiments In The Bedroom Studio (And Shower)

Friends At The Concert Series

Green Screen Tests For A Music Video On The Back Patio