We’ll be rockin out with DJ Bliss Beats alongside Danielle Stori, James Kenney, Ryan Sallis and Brittney Bouchard. $10 w/ flyer. 21+. Dress to impress.
Poster design by chris@thecodega.com
Whether mixing eclectic artists in the heart of Hollywood at the Hotel Cafe and Nico Vega at the LA Detour Fest or tour managing/ F.O.H. for Crash Kings, Adam Labov is not your typical sound engineer. He’s not one to “set it and forget it”. Adam’s approach to live sound begins with the understanding that the mixing console is his instrument, and his way of contributing to a performance. His priority is properly interpreting the musicians’ sound, and relaying that message to the audience. This requires feeling the music and making adjustments as necessary, focusing on getting great tone & balance and adding tasteful effects.
You can find Adam not only mixing, but booking some of his favorite bands here in Los Angeles, including West Indian Girl, Travis Warren with Christopher Thorn and Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon, Trevor Hall, Until June and Chris Shinn of Unified Theory.
We’ll be celebrating Elizabeth Upton’s 28th birthday with Connie Lim, Andy Frasco and The Dirty Diamond. $10 w/ flyer. 21+. Dress to impress.
Poster design by chris@thecodega.com
Jeanine Strong, aka JiJi, is an unsigned singer/songwriter seeking label distribution and representation. Her music fits several genres and is ideal for TV/Film/Radio placement.
Jeanine’s first and only piano teacher put it best when she said: “My other students will always be good, but Jeanine~ she has the music in her!” Jeanine could not avoid the music; it followed her wherever she went. She formed her first all-girl band CLOVER at the age of 19, which consisted of five girls who harmonized over two acoustic guitars. The experience only added to Jeanine’s ambition to tour the world as a famous singer. During college, Jeanine was fortunate to meet her producer & partner Mike Corvington (aka DJ Leviathan). Together they make a powerful team with Mike writing and producing all of the music and Jeanine writing all the lyrics and melodies. The duo create the unique sound that is Jeanine Strong’s signature style: Urban Melodic Soul.
myspace.com/jeaninestrongmusic
songplacements.com/jeaninestrong
The vision of the musicality led by Gruff and Soulful singer Matt Einstein and composition master guitar player Chris Vazquez. After the two met, they immdediately began writing music that had powerful meaning over vibin Latin and Rock n Roll riffs. With the addition of Enrique, Aideen and Toby Los Einstein has become an overnight sensation in Los Angeles, Los Einstein represents the cultured side of Los Angeles that is still present, if you look hard enough.
Greetings Los Angeles~
We invite you to check out the following Codega Nights this month:
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❦ March 3rd, 2010
> > > THIS Wednesday / / / 8pm {21+} $10
“Hope For Haiti” Benefit in the Foundation Room:
A collective of music, spoken word, & dance ~
hosted by Brooke Benson & Sheila G.
in support of MOSCTHA
8:00pm KCRW’s DJ Anthony Valadez
8:30pm Jennifer Paskow
8:45pm Tao Ruspoli & Phillipo
9:00pm Alma Cielo & Peter Ludwig,
w/ Shoshanna Vogel, Brooke Benson, & Joel Long
9:20pm Arianna Go
9:50pm Milo Martin
10:00pm Akasha’s Dream
10:35pm Omar Offendum
10:40pm Rebekah Raff
11:15pm Mia Doi Todd
11:20pm Nohea Soul Dancers
+ DJ Daylite
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❦ March 6th, 2010
> > > THIS Saturday / / / 8pm {21+} $10
Adam Labov presents an exclusive night of music @ The Stronghold
(on Abbot Kinney; Cash Only “Donation” Bar)
8:30pm John Bardy
9:30pm The Idyllists
10:30pm Travis Warren (formerly of Blind Melon & Rain Fur Rent)
11:45pm Armada
12:45am Wahnder Lust (Lantz Lazwell & Kim Manning)
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❦ March 18th, 2010
> > > Thursday / / / 8pm {21+} $10
Auspicious @ King King Hollywood:
A night of vertical ecstasy and musical revelry ~
8:00pm Costa Nova
9:00pm Regal
10:00pm Red Circle Underground
11:11pm The VertiGirls
12:00am Big Lovin’ Panda
+ DJ Bliss Beats & Live Art by Pukac
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❦ March 20th, 2010
> > > Saturday / / / 9pm {21+} $10 w/ flyer
Codega Nights in the Foundation Room
{Elizabeth Upton’s 28th B-day Bash}
10:00pm Connie Lim & the Forrest Philosophy
11:00pm Andy Frasco
12:00am The Dirty Diamond Acoustic
+ DJ Bliss Beats
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❦ March 24th, 2010
> > > Wednesday / / / 8pm {21+} $8 w/ flyer
King King Hollywood
8:00pm Josh Kramon
8:45pm Tony Brucco
9:30pm Kid Theodore
10:15pm The Ivy Walls
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❦ March 27th, 2010
> > > Saturday / / / 9pm {21+} $10 w/ flyer
Codega Nights in the Foundation Room
10:00pm Danielle Stori
10:45pm James Kenney
11:45pm Ryan Sallis
12:30am Brittney Bouchard
+ DJ Bliss Beats
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❦ March 30th, 2010
> > > Tuesday / / / 8pm {21+} $5 w/ flyer
King King Hollywood
9:15pm Armada
10:15pm Sun City Revival
& special guests tba ~
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Keep an eye out for Codega West dates @ The A.C. Supper Club Spring 2010!
The latest album, entitled Closure, weaves the listener through the nuances of a relationship gone awry. That being said, it’s not your typical sappy break up record. For the most part, the tone and tempo of the songs gleam with hope and the projection of moving forward. Anduze’s sultry voice resonates with a sympathetic confidence that leaves a unique impression. Using beautifully crafted lyrics, each song tells a story that reels us in for an up close and personal look at the artist…and at times ourselves. The subject matter is relatable, like a conversation with someone where you find yourself not speaking because you agree with every word.
Finding “closure” is not easy, we all know that. But as he searches for his, Anduze also manages to inspire us to look for ours in whatever capacity we may need it…proof that music truly can be life changing when it comes from the soul.
The VertiGirls were founded by Emilee Wilson in 2009. She hand picked each performer after witnessing the amazing amount of strength and grace they exuded during pole performances. The VertiGirls have been featured in Pole2Pole Magazine, and they’ve played at such legendary venues as the Hollywood House of Blues (the first time in that venue’s history that pole performers headlined on the main stage), the Key Club, the Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills, Gallery 1018, the Upper Manhattan Lounge, and in January 2010 they’ll be starting a residency at King King on Hollywood Blvd. every third Thursday of the month. The VertiGirls are proudly endorsed by Bad Kitty, Xpole, and Mighty Grip. They wear signature feather masks which add mystery and magic to each show and they provide jaw-dropping entertainment with synchronized pole tricks, duet dances, and choreographed routines (including hoop, trapeze, and fire dancing). Several of the VertiGirls are title-holders in professional U.S. and California pole competitions.
In 1963, renowned chemists Bear Owsley and Nick Sands developed a strain of designer LSD which had a reputation for inducing tribal hallucinations. This strain of acid was called “west indian girl.” Flash forward forty-some years and however many psychedelic revolutions later to find the Los Angeles duo of Robert James and Francis Ten deciding to call their musical collaboration “West Indian Girl.”
Close your eyes, put on West Indian Girl’s self-titled 2004 Astralwerks debut, and feel how apt James’ and Ten’s choice of moniker is: the ensuing auditory hallucination will bring you back indeed, back to a time when Blur were considered shoegazers, when My Bloody Valentine wrote anthems posing as crystalline soundscapes, when U2 was more concerned about the great beyond than politics and Stone Roses vied with Primal Scream as the sexiest, spaciest, stonededest band around.
It’s not that West Indian Girl is derivative of those bands, or even sounds like them per se, as much as it is born out of a similar ethos. Like those bands, all deeply transformed by England’s post-Acid House movement, West Indian Girl is born out of a similar ethos: a devotion to the expansion of all things mental, musical and mood elevating, a desire to find that transcendent missing link between rock’s human pulse and electronica’s man-machine meltdown. At the same time, West Indian Girl are no mere Anglophile nostalgists but true products of their time and environment. West Indian Girl remain next-level, next-generation journey-to-the-center-of-your-mind rock, the v.2.0 version: songs like “Northern Sky” and the first single “Hollywood” suggest the abandon of a dreamy, slightly unreal Southern California landscape just as “Madchester” dance-rock evoked vagabond “free parties” in the middle of some remote pastoral field.
Indeed, West Indian Girl’s swirling, empyreal big-canvas sound draws from an evolution out of America’s own version of the Acid House “Summer of Love.” Growing up, Ten moved continuously from the East Coast through the Midwest (“My dad is Sicilian—he owned various… businesses, and there are Sicilians everywhere” is all Ten will say by explanation). James led a similarly nomadic upbringing, bouncing from Australia to Tucson, Arizona and then, when his mom passed away, headed to the Detroit area. After graduating high school, James sidestepped college in lieu of an extended road trip that landed him in Dallas, Texas circa the early ‘90s; by coincidence, Ten had landed there himself. Both found themselves living out a key chapter in American rave culture. Ecstasy just became illegal and still readily available in Texas back in those days, and Dallas soon became the epicenter for U.S. MDMA culture; there, these two like minds quickly found each other. “When Rob and I met, we combined resources and started throwing parties ‘the pioneer ranch raves’ we called them,” Ten explains.
As that phase of Stateside rave culture died down in the mid-‘90s, both pursued different musical trajectories. Ten gravitated to Los Angeles, where he tried to keep the “peace, love, unity, respect” vibe alive by throwing self-styled raves, only to find himself quickly in handcuffs. “We set up a bar in North Hollywood warehouse, and the authorities thought we were running a meth lab,” Ten groans. James, meanwhile, had shacked up in the Catskills “with a band that was more of an idea than a band. We spent most of our time stoned and never doing anything.”
By 2002, however, James had eventually joined Ten in Los Angeles, and West Indian Girl was born. Instead of playing live to audiences who didn’t know who they were (or care), James and Ten decided to build a home studio in an idyllic environment: placed high in the Hollywood Hills, its windows’ overlook deep into a lush canyon. The studio became “like Frankenstein with computers”—in other words, the ideal crucible to forge a unique sound out of disparate yet complementary influences. Initially, the two members of West Indian Girl make an unlikely pair, Ten with intense eyes and multiple tattoos, contrasted with James’ pensive, shaggy mystic quality; accordingly, James’ tastes from folk-rock to Underworld, Can and Kraftwerk, and the modal drone of Indian and African music, while Ten finds inspiration in everything from early Killing Joke and Japan to Jane’s Addiction and My Bloody Valentine. After a number of vocalist false starts, James took over vocals, with both collaborating the music; soon a raw, straight-from-the-hard-drive demo of “Dream”—an alluring Pink Floyd-circa-Syd Barrett-esque ballad rewired with hypnotic electronica—started circulating. “Dream” quickly found play on L.A. DJ Nic Harcourt’s radio show “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” a buzz-creating haven for new music on influential local station KCRW.
For their full-length, West Indian Girl strove to capture the lysergic immediacy of the “Dream” demo, so they set about producing their debut full-length in their bucolic home-studio getaway. In the tradition of classic debauched albums from the likes of Happy Mondays and the Rolling Stones through New Order and Primal Scream, West Indian Girl evolved out of some truly altered states, and gorgeously sounds it. “I’m not a big pot smoker, but Rob gave me a pipe as a present to start the record, and it benefited me,” Ten says. “The songs opened up—that’s how the album was realized.” “Drugs have their place,” James adds. “And I wouldn’t say this album was done under just the influence of pot, either. I see the benefits of every drug: use your imagination.”
Ten notes that West Indian Girl’s debut intentionally reverberates with “a positive feel that almost sticks out these days.” It’s the human quality to the album that proves most seductive, from the washes of analog Moog keyboards to the spooky harmonies alchemizing “Leave Tonight.” “In an age where so much is programmed, everything on this record is actually played, which gives it that warm feel,” Ten says. “People crave that realness.” “The music West Indian Girl makes is very touchy-feely,” James concludes. “If it feels right, it’s right.”
On the stage and in the studio, Yonatan has become a permanent fixture in the Los Angeles music scene.
As a musician, producer, and composer, he is constantly creating on all ends of the spectrum. Focused on expanding his ever-growing portfolio as a producer & engineer, he is looking for his next project. From a single track to a full length album, Yonatan is equipped with vision, skills, gear, and a vast network of musicians to take your music to the next level.
Here are some tracks that really display Yonatan’s ability and diversity.
And the following are some notable highlights of his career so far :
❂ USC graduate; Degree in Comprehensive Sound Arts from Ex’pression Center for New Media.
❂ Studio work with George Clinton and Merl Saunders, as well as on stage with the Black Eyed Peas and the Crown City Rockers.
❂ Radio Recorders in Hollywood; Produced and engineered full time; worked with the legendary John Cale of the Velvet Underground and Lonnie Jordan of War.
❂ Collaborated with Money Mark of the Beastie Boys, and mixed a complete album released in Japan.
❂ Member of the band million/billion; toured the country (shared stages with Ray LaMontagne, Gomez, and Beck) and released their first full length album, Ready. Fire. Aim., through Universal in 2007.
❂ Recorded and toured with singer/songwriter Andrew Paul Woodworth.
❂ Accomplished composer; featured on TV shows such as King of Queens, Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, and America’s Best Dance Crew.
Feel free to inquire about his availability and rates with me: Jaclyn Strong (323) 804-7558 or jaclyn@thecodega.com
Cityzen started with songwriting partners Tobias Forrest and Jeff Line who used mind control to persuade four younger more talented musicians to enter a cacophony of noise. Nick Woods (drums), Chris Woods (keys) and Nick Lopez (bass) are unique players with mutant like musical abilities. In the eye of an electrical, instrumental storm the music dissolved into a blend of original “Roots” Rock sounds fused with Funk, Jazz, Reggae & Hip Hop influences. Although Cityzen is a fairly new band, it is consistently developing in many ways and looks to offer a variety of unique songs and styles. Our original project, “Invisible Mental Tenticles” is a compilation of raw and original “Living Room Sessions” that has evolved into the current full band set. Future live performances and studio recordings will shape an even more original and eclectic sound that provides listening pleasure and induces our audience with the impulse to dance. Whether we are at an intimate private setting or a full band venue, Cityzen simply wants to share the gift of entertainment. Thank you for any support or helpful feedback and we hope you enjoy our music.
Fueled by the confident and playful spirits of Nina Simone and Feist, Connie Lim & The Forrest Philosophy stir up an earthy blend of blues-driven, folk-rooted, indie pop. Lim, nick-named an indigo child of our time, sings with young spirit and old soul. Her deeply inspired lyrics are backed by driving rhythms that are perfect for that good old getaway car of yours.
Add in Nick Reiter on guitar, Leo Budirahardjo on bass, and guest musicians on percussion, and you’ve got the perfect road-trip experience through the desert and towards the solitude you’ve been craving.
No matter how light or heavy the topic, Connie Lim & The Forrest Philosophy’s music has always intended to promote good-spirits. After all, the band’s name is a tribute to Forrest Gump, the man who didn’t really ever know where he was going with all of it, but who sure did try his best.
In a world that values speed processors, instant noodles and go-gurt, Lim insists on taking the time to allow her next record to be as honest as possible. Lim continues to live, record, write, and perform in Los Angeles’ first choice venues, including The House of Blues, The Mint, and The Viper Room. Just recently major network NBC showcased and interviewed Lim on Ted Chen’s morning show, Sunday LA.
The Mulhollands are a rock and roll band. The sound is tight, dirty…riotus. The live show is fast and sweaty. Once likened to, “a sweet melody playing over a homicide.” The new e.p. showcases the band’s ability to write trashy, dance-rock songs, sweet ballads, and dark, moodier pieces… all without straying too far from home.
The Shakers started as a licensing project between long-time friends and musical partners, Chris Lee (of Stillicide) and Ron DiSilvestro (formerly of Head. as well as other local bands). Ron approached Chris with the idea of writing and recording songs of all genres, utilizing Ron’s RDStudios (partnered with Phil Nicolo). Tom Laskas of MilkBoy Records quickly took notice of the early demos, and became the 3rd piece to the puzzle.
Tom Laskas brought with him a wealth of experience, including having managed Sharon Little’s tour with Robert Plant and Allison Krauss and Johnny Lange. It wasn’t long before the trio went into Philly’s own MilkBoy Recording studio to get started on their first record.
The first demos created a loud buzz in the Philly scene. It became clear that this licensing project was meant to transform itself into a show-stopping live performance monster, ready to rock the greatest local scene in any city.
Having laid down the foundation for the record, The Shakers set out to find the perfect “front man” for the project.
In January of 2009, with the help of Mike Lowe Music, LLC (Fat City Reprise, Naeemah and the Celebrities), Chris Lee made a 3-month trek to Los Angeles to continue the search. The search didn’t take long – the “front man” he found happened to be a power house female vocalist with an incredibly sexy style and a jaw-dropping vocal range.
Jodie Schell fit the group to perfection! Jodie, thanks to her experiences in the Automatic Music Explosion (produced by Mike Chapman), brought connections to every major club and venue in LA to the table. She and Chris Lee melded immediately and began preparing for their LA debut.
The Shakers premiered (with the help of their west coast rhythm section, Jeff Covey, bass, and Drew Skinner, drums) on Hollywood’s famous Sunset Strip to a capacity-crowd at The House of Blues. Five days later, the group released their first single from MilkBoy Recording Studios and RDStudios entitled, “Distress Signal.” They crossed to the east coast to be welcomed home to Philadelphia with a sold-out showcase for 93.3 WMMR’s Local Shots Live Cinco De Mayo Bash at Doc Watson’s. The next day, 93.3 WMMR put their single on regular rotation; “Distress Signal” is currently also being sent for circulation nationwide!
The Shakers incorporate a wide range of styles and musical experiences. They live for high-energy shows and passionate song writing. The Shakers gain their inspiration from their supportive friends and family, and their incredibly loyal fanbase. The Shakers aim to put your teeth on the curb while you shake your ass to the ground.
The Shakers Every Wednesday at Kibitz Room!!
The Shakers | MySpace Music Videos
The Dirty Diamond story begins like oh so many bad Hollywood movies.. their eyes met across a crowded cafe, filled with out of work actors, despondent drug-addicted models and faux intellectual screenwriters, all seeking shelter from the tepid LA winter. Adam was a rambler and Sam was a roller, but their mutual love of rock created an instant bond. Together they formed a collective orgy of guitar love and along the way, their twosome grew into a threesome with the addition of Liverpool born drummer Chris. Within months they had cut their first self titled album using a cast of additional guest musicians. The music is raw, emotional, good old fashioned rock and roll without a smidgen of emo or indie embellishments. Sam’s rough, honest vocals and strong lyrics pay tribute to early Southern rock, the blues and classic rock. For all the classic influences of their sound, it never once feels vintage and their innovative musicianship wins through to create something thoroughly modern. The Dirty Diamond is becoming well known in the LA area for their energetic shows… too cool for school hipster kids have even been known to break into dance. Every show tends to be slightly different as they perform with a variety of skilled bassists, occasional pianists, harmonica players, gospel style back up singers, additional guitarists and even monkeys! OK, maybe not monkeys but the rest is true. In summary, they rock and if you go to a show, so will you!
One chilly Los Angeles night Sam was walking down an empty back street with his Bass on his back when Seth pulls up in a creepy van and yells out the window, “Hey, are you a bass player!?” Sam replies with a mumbled, “yeah.” “Well I’m a drummer, so we should be best friends.” Shouted Seth. “Ok” mumbles Sam. From then on Seth and Sam began writing music to get down to…
Trading the wheat fields of the Midwest for the five-lane sprawl of LA, a songwriter from Kansas hits the LA concrete with a symphony in his head.
After 600 shows in 60 cities with his childhood friends Billy Driver and Jesse Rich, front man, composer and entrepreneur Gooding is ready for the big show. With a firm footing in the LA film/TV world, Gooding is brandishing over 100 placements, DVD’s of Johnny Cash – Walk the Line, Matrix Revisited, Animatrix, Children of Men, Ice Age 2, Nip/Tuck, The Closer, Commercials for Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, several MTV shows, and most recently Expansion Team NYC’s rebranding of PBS, Gooding’s 750 song catalog has been featured in LA Times and Marketwatch. Dane Cook chose Gooding’s band as one of his favorite up and coming acts on his HBO show Tourgasm.
Gooding’s first two musical experiences were a KISS concert at age 4 and listening to Queen’s Flash Gordon soundtrack on loop. He has since gone on to release over a dozen solo lp’s, penning every tune and playing every instrument, recorded and produced over 100 other acts, and started a successful indie label (S3) and publishing/licensing company (K2). After studying film scoring at KU and UCLA, Gooding’s film work has found its way into the bands recordings and live shows; a symphonic, 3D sound referred to as “Widescreen Rock”.
A perfect artist for the changing digital landscape, Gooding is the essence of DIY; relentlessly recording, touring and interacting with a growing fanbase both online and on the ground. The latest idea to energizing the fan base is his “50 in 5” tour – performing in all 50 state in 5 months with daily viral videos so fans can ride alongside the band through every state line. From army bases to national parks, bookstores to bowling allies, even a stop to perform with a high school marching band performing Gooding’s music for the town, this band has always had a go for broke attitude…
“We have paid our dues with stolen gear, vans broken down and on fire, ramen in the coffee pot of the motel 6, all night drives through blizzards and black ice, shows with broken bones, no sleep, no pay….All the roadware only made us more of a family. No matter how much the music business changes, a band was made to travel and play. That’s where our passion is, and that’s where some of our best songs come from.”
On his upcoming release “The Return”, Gooding’s razor sharp songwriting and soul-searching lyrics, brilliant musicianship, cutting edge production and hopeful optimism shine through loud and clear. Instantly accessible without sacrificing sophistication or musicality, the new songs hit the AAA airwaves on Jan 11, 2010, and the bands 50 state tour, featuring showcases in LA, NYC and Austin will start soon after.
Gooding’s live show is a sight to behold. The fans of this band come to witness what is almost a secular church revival, with sticks and strings left all over the stage, and a final act of Gooding playing two guitars at once. If you live in America, the band is coming to you. And after that? It’s only a matter of time before the band takes to the seas and plays a country near you.
CODEGA NIGHTS
© 2010 The Codega Group.
