Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Feb 11 2013
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Song Birds

Never Leave You

“The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with — nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they can add up to the story of a life.” -Rob Sheffield “Love is a Mixtape”

I miss a lot of things lately. I miss L.A. I miss improv. I miss my friends. I miss living ten minutes away from the beach. I miss Friday nights at Kay ‘N Dave’s. I miss lovely distractions from heaping piles of homework. I miss it all.

Change is never easy, and while I am always pushing myself in new ways in order to grow, I am always surprised by how greatly it affects me. Sometimes, I feel that all I do is start over. Sometimes, I am scared that things I love will just slip away because of the timing of my life.

I love a lot of things. Passion fills my life more than I would like to admit, and I never want to lose that. And I have to remind myself that the things that matter, the things that are meant to be will never leave you. They will always find a way to come back to you. Always.

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Jan 21 2013
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Song Birds Video

Something New

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language/ And next year’s words await another voice.” -T.S. Eliot “Four Quartets”

The bright Wednesday morning bubbled around me in the corner of the cafe. People buzzed by on the street and chatted with one another as they made their way through Lake Merritt. In that moment, I got lost in how much can happen in just a year.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I finally felt at peace. It suited me. And over the past six and half years, I have managed to find a community of wonderfully talented friends in what could be the loneliest city. I have met people and had experiences that are uniquely L.A., and as much as I despise the traffic, I would never trade my time in L.A. for anything in the world.

But just like anything, there is always a moment when you need to open yourself up to new opportunities. So, in the matter of six weeks, I was accepted to a school and found myself packing everything up to move back to the Bay Area. And while I was so excited to go to this amazing school and start something new, a huge part of me was sad to leave my life in L.A. behind.

As I move further and further into this new year, I feel more at ease with letting go. Last year was an obstacle of its own-things that I want to keep and things that I want to leave. Things that I will always remember and things I am trying desperately to forget. Things that brought me so much happiness and things that broke my heart. And while I have no regrets of anything that happened last year, I am ready to hear a new song-a song of 2013 and a better me.

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Sep 17 2012
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I Hope This Song Starts a Craze

Destroyed

With merely a triangle of one degree of separation between us, I knew that I had to see I Was Totally Destroying It when they made their way to L.A. (even if that meant going solo…which is sometimes the best way to see a show). After a fiery start from The Trophy Fire (I always love a good band from the Bay that makes me proud to call it home), IWTDI erupted with little warning. Even listening to their new album, Vexations, on repeat could not prepare me for their performance. While I truly believe that they are a band that must be listened to over and over to be able to fully appreciate everything that they create, they are a band to be experienced. Their energy, flawless vocals and cohesiveness onstage make it really hard to not break out into a mini dance party all by yourself. So, if you haven’t already, you need to be destroyed by this band. They are finishing the last leg of their national tour before they pick it back up in November with Motion City Soundtrack, Jukebox The Ghost, and Now Now. So, put your dance shoes on, grab your friends or yourself, head to the next closest show to you and destroy it. Oh, and don’t forget to say hi…

09/17 - THE CASBAH, SAN DIEGO, CA
09/19 - THE SLIDEBAR, FULLERTON, CA
09/21 - THE UPTOWN, OAKLAND, CA
09/22 - BUNK BAR, PORTLAND, OR
09/23 - SUNSET TAVERN, SEATTLE, WA
09/24 - THE SHREDDER, BOISE, ID
09/25 - LION’S LAIR, DENVER, CO
09/26 - EIGHTH STREET TAPROOM, LAWRENCE, KS
09/27 - O’LEAVERS, OMAHA, NE
09/28 - CAUSE, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
09/29 - CRUNCHY FROG, GREEN BAY, WI
09/30 - TONIC ROOM, CHICAGO, IL
10/01 - BERKLEY FRONT, BERKLEY, MI
10/02 - THE TREE BAR, COLUMBUS, OH
10/03 - HOWLER’S COYOTE CAFE, PITTSBURGH, PA
10/04 - PIANOS, NEW YORK, NY
10/05 - THE DOUBLE DEUCE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, PA
10/06 - SWEET TEA PUMPKIN PIE FEST, WASHINGTON, DC
11/03 - TREMONT MUSIC HALL, CHARLOTTE, NC*
11/04 - THEATER OF THE LIVING ARTS, PHILADELPHIA, PA*
11/06 - IRVING PLAZA, NEW YORK, NY*
11/07 - TBA
11/08 - CHURCH STREET PUB, FREDERICK, MD
11/09 - PARADISE ROCK CLUB, BOSTON, MA*
11/10 - STARLAND BALLROOM, SAYREVILLE, NJ*
11/11 - MR. SMALLS THEATRE, PITTSBURGH, PA*

*w/Motion City Soundtrack, Jukebox The Ghost, Now Now

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Sep 01 2012
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Song Birds

Four Years and Counting…

“I normally live in Los Angeles, if you can call it normal living.” -Morrissey

Dearest Los Angeles,

It has been four years today that I packed up my car and started my life here (again). I started in the Valley, found my way to Los Feliz, and now call the Westside home. I have been extremely lucky to have found some of the most incredible people to call my friends. I discovered the waffle brownie sundae at Cafe 101. I fell in love with improv. I survived a plethora of car accidents. I went back to school. I came to know all of the homeless people in Hollywood. The Santa Monica Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings cannot be beat. I might be one of the only people to not be stoked on the Hotel Cafe, but that probably has to do with being shushed by the lady next to me eating dinner while I was singing along with Kevin Devine at the top of my lungs. I did not eat nearly enough strawberry rhubarb pie from the Trails Cafe. I came to enjoy exploring you all by myself. My drives up PCH were breaths of fresh air. The Los Feliz 3 became possibly my favorite theatre. I learned that you should not point and yell at a widely known and convicted gangsta while you’re intoxicated at Saddle Ranch. I also learned that you should never go to Saddle Ranch. Ever. Griffith Park became my safe place. I escaped the first Carmageddon. I went on far too many first dates with “men” that ordered salads. I also realized that dating in L.A. sucks. I found a new satisfaction in wearing my Giants shirts around town, especially when we BEAT L.A.! Kay ‘N Dave’s became a staple in my life. I loved the three or four overcast and rainy days that reminded me of home. I avoided LAX like the plague and flew out of Burbank every chance that I had. I discovered that I could never be done discovering you; you were full of surprises.

So, thank you for being good and bad and everything in between. You were not what I expected, and I know that I was not what you expected either. Lets continue to be unexpected, and if the time ever comes for us to part, I will always love you and carry a piece of you with me forever.

XO,

Amanda

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Jul 02 2012
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Song Birds

Oh, Hey, L.A.

“Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.” -Mark Twain

The quiet coffee shop wrapped its arms around Susan and I as we found our way to an oversized table with mismatched chairs. A rustic stage with a tenderly-loved black piano softly giggled through the entire room. I beamed over my iced mocha, “So, are you so excited?” Susan smiled, “I am really excited. I feel like I can finally say that I’m a filmmaker.”

I think that Los Angeles has a way of making you forget why you moved here in the first place. It is easy to get overwhelmed and distracted. It is far too easy to get discouraged over your pathetic job that barely pays the bills and your rent that is triple your friend’s mortgage back home. It’s even more depressing when you go home, and everyone expects you to have better stories about your life than you actually do (and that’s when you lie).

But there are moments, rare moments, where you remember what brought you to this ridiculous city. It was to meet incredibly talented people that you could be lucky enough to even just call your friends. It was to explore possibilities that you could not even dream of anywhere else. It was to fill that void that has been there all along. It’s not that Los Angeles is the only place that can provide these things. But we all came here for one reason or another, and we will probably leave for one reason or another. But we can make the most of our time here. And sometimes, we can even remind ourselves that despite all of our bitching and complaining, L.A. is pretty great (minus the 405…oh, that freaking 405…).

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Apr 15 2012
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I Hope This Song Starts a Craze

There You Are

“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.” -Ingmar Bergman

The voices of our friends were muffled as we shut the door behind us. The glaze of another Hollywood sunset tickled through the curtains and danced a slow waltz through the room. I sat on the cozy cream comforter and stayed close to the edge. As the video began to play, I found myself sighing with relief and feeling the overwhelming sense of home.

Without words, Susan Kemp’s (http://vimeo.com/susankemp) video for the band Owenstone captured a feeling, a moment, a time…life in Los Angeles. You can feel the conversations in the bars in Silverlake, hear the soft glimmer of the sunrise in Griffith Park, and know that wherever it is, there you are. Because only a true artist can evoke emotions and tell a story without the audience even realizing that that is happening, and Susan Kemp that is exactly what you are.

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