brandon perdue (more widely known as hapa) is the director of the los angeles branch of the scratch academy – a school to train DJs. i never realized there was such a thing, but there it is, tucked away under the 405 freeway in west LA. the day i was there seemed busy. students were [...]

back in march and october i had the chance to spend a few days visiting matt nathanson in silver lake, california, where he was recording his new album, modern love. matt was the very first person i met at college. he was a year ahead of me and had volunteered to mentor incoming freshmen during [...]

i went to school in claremont, california, in the early-mid 90s. a week or so after arriving at college i went to an open mic night and saw another student sing songs in a way that had never occurred to me before. at that point the mountain goats was just john darnielle, and he wrote [...]

i photographed ramona gonzalez of nite jewel, at her home in mount washington on a day in august when my car’s thermometer read 108 degrees. i had actually taken ramona’s picture briefly once before, four years prior, and she kind of remembered that. ramona makes complex, ethereal, richly layered songs that are somewhat hypnotic even [...]

tommy, a dear friend and an amazing talent, an endless well of energy, ideas and enthusiasm. tommy is never far from a positive spin on a situation, which would be a good lesson for me to notice (especially after knowing him for 17 years) if i were the kind of guy who assimilated those sorts [...]

bill foreman, “san diego”, march 7th, 2010 from Max S. Gerber on Vimeo. bill foreman writes some of the best songs you’ll ever hear. heartbreaking, complex, layered and soulful songs. i was lucky enough to get the chance to record one of them when he was in town a few months back, crashing on my [...]

i first met tommy almost fifteen years ago. i used to do sound for the bands that came to play at the school (yes, i was that geek), and geggy tah was a staple in town. tommy lived nearby in pomona. he was one of the first people to give me any credit as a [...]

i live in pasadena, which is in the greater los angeles area. it just so happens, though, that the greater los angeles area is very, very big. it encompasses many different cities and neighborhoods, each with their own individual identities and personalities. it also happens that when people who don’t live in the greater los [...]

last weekend lili haydn played with roger waters at the close of the coachella music festival. i was not in attendance at coachella, but this likely has a lot more to do with my dislike of the great outdoors than it does with music. i like roger waters. i listened to shine on you crazy [...]

my buddy denny is many things, most of which make little to no sense to a normal person. mostly he’s king kukulele, ukulele player extraordinaire. his act is almost more vaudeville than musical, and he’s the only professional ukulele player i know who also manages to be a property owner in southern california. for those [...]