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Los Angeles Times
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Last Repair Shop' for LAUSD musicians gets $1-million gift, plus a visit from Yo-Yo Ma
In a downtown Los Angeles warehouse Sunday night, a few blocks north of the 10 Freeway, an unlikely quartet performed for the first and probably only time in front of a rapt audience. At the piano, Amanda Nova, a Fairfax High School graduate and freshman at the USC Thornton School of Music. On alto sax, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School student Ismerai Calcaneo. On violin, Palms Middle School seventh-grader Porche Brinker. And on cello, the most senior member of the group: Yo-Yo Ma. All four performers played on instruments owned and maintained by the Los Angeles Unified School District. (Yo-Yo Ma's Stradivarius had the night off.) As the world-renowned cellist took to the improvised stage, Ma spun his borrowed instrument around, revealing a strip of blue tape on which the school-issued instrument's number was written in black marker. The ensemble came together at a fundraiser at the facility where about a dozen LAUSD employees maintain and repair the school district's 130,000 instruments. The repair shop, its staff and the students who played with Yo-Yo Ma on Sunday were featured in the documentary short 'The Last Repair Shop.' Co-directed by Ben Proudfoot and composer Kris Bowers (and co-distributed by L.A. Times Studios and Searchlight), the film won an Academy Award for documentary short last year. Before their Oscar win, the film's creators saw the shop's financial needs and launched a capital campaign with a goal of raising $15 million, said Proudfoot, the chief executive of Los Feliz-based Breakwater Studios. 'Many of the folks that work in the shop now will retire in the next few years,' Proudfoot said in an interview Sunday night. 'So where will the next generation of repair technicians come from? Who will train them? And how do we make sure that this shop remains here for generations and generations to come?' Proudfoot said 82% of LAUSD's more than 440,000 students live below the poverty line. 'For a family to pay $25 a month to rent a violin or take responsibility for a $2,000 tuba, it's not going to happen for most students, right?' he said. 'That's why we are doing whatever we can to protect this shop and to rally the community to support it so that L.A. can keep this beautiful, wonderful thing that pretty much every other city in America has cut or privatized. Like so many things in our world, musical instruments [in other school districts] have been put behind a paywall for kids.' At the emotional core of 'The Last Repair Shop' are the stories of the dedicated technicians and the students who benefit from the free instruments. The message: Music education has the power to transform lives. Proudfoot said the fundraising campaign has received about 1,330 gifts from individuals in 30 states so far, many of which were small donations of $10 to $25. Together, those donations add up to more than $700,000. At Sunday's event, the campaign organizers — who include philanthropist Jerry Kohl and Juilliard President Damian Woetzel — celebrated a $1-million donation from the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation, founded by the veteran TV producer behind 'Dharma & Greg,' 'Two and a Half Men' and 'The Big Bang Theory.' A new sign that reads 'The Lorre Family Strings Department' will hang above one section of the shop. Proudfoot said that naming opportunities for the brass, woodwind and piano shop, as well as other parts of the warehouse, are available to future donors. Proudfoot's co-director, Bowers, was unable to attend the event because of the recent birth of his second child. In an email to The Times, he cited his personal connection to 'The Last Repair Shop.' 'I was one of the many students who depended on these instruments,' Bowers wrote. 'I'll never forget the feeling when a repaired instrument was placed back in my hands — it was as if a blocked pathway to creativity suddenly opened. I would not be the musician or composer I am without those instruments — and without this shop.' Sunday night, 18-year-old Calcaneo reflected on the repair shop's work. She said access to a well-tuned and maintained instrument can motivate students to keep playing music — and it can change a life. 'I feel like once your instrument stops working, [students] start losing that hope and they might go to another path other than music,' Calcaneo said. 'And not only that, they might feel like their school or the system is not supporting them in their passion.' Ahead of their performance with Ma, Calcaneo, Brinker and Nova exhibited a cool confidence. 'When I first got told I was playing with Yo-Yo Ma, I was like, wow, that's not real. That feels like a lie,' Nova said. 'And now I'm here with one of the most renowned musicians in the world.' Brinker, the seventh-grade violinist, said she had watched videos of Ma playing cello online. 'Now that I've played with professionals before, I'm a little less scared,' she said. 'I'm not nervous,' Calcaneo said, adding later: 'We rehearsed on our own and it sounded really good. I can only imagine how good it will sound with Yo-Yo Ma!' The quartet's performance of 'Ode to Joy' did indeed sound good. Brinker kicked it off with a tender solo rendition of the opening bars of Beethoven's theme. Ma watched her intently, smiled broadly and responded with his own elegant version of the same theme. Ma also offered a benediction to the repair shop, playing the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major on the same borrowed cello. He and Woetzel, a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, also led the audience in an interactive performance of George Balanchine's ballet 'Serenade,' set to Tchaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. In between performances, Ma and Woetzel chatted about why they believe music education is a public good and a human right. Offering access to free musical instruments is essential, Ma said. 'There are few things in life that are non-transactional,' Ma said. 'The young people that are getting these instruments, they will probably see the world in the year 2100. We may not see that world, but we can help make it possible that world is actually a good world.' These performances and conversations took place against a backdrop of damaged horns, well-worn instrument cases, tools and faded photos of high school bands performing at the Rose Bowl Parade. In a mounted glass box amid the decades of accumulated musical ephemera, the documentary film's Oscar statue was also on display. And what's next for the LAUSD cello Yo-Yo Ma played? 'It's going back to school of course,' repair shop supervisor Steve Bagmanyan said. Thanks to the work of Bagmanyan and the rest of the repair shop staff, it soon will be back in the hands of a cello student at Florence Nightingale Middle School.
Los Angeles Times
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
They once thought playing Coachella was ‘unattainable' and ‘legendary.' Now these SoCal musicians prepare to take its stage
In many ways, Southern California is a breeding ground for aspiring musicians. It could be because of the region's proximity to Hollywood and major recording labels. Or maybe there really is something in the water. Either way, it's where artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers first became acquainted at Fairfax High School. It's where N.W.A helped put Compton on hip-hop's radar, paving the way for King Kunta himself, Kendrick Lamar. No Doubt, fronted by Gwen Stefani, came to fruition inside an Orange County Dairy Queen. Billie Eilish started singing with her brother Finneas inside their Highland Park home. And the list continues on. Every April, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival brings global talent to crowds of nearly 250,000. Performing across two consecutive weekends, people in their finest festival wear gather to dance in the open field, hold their barricade spot secure for the night's headliner and possibly discover their next musical fixation. Though Coachella is a worldwide phenomenon, the lineup tends to spotlight a few local artists every year. The Times spoke with Southern California natives — rappers Shoreline Mafia, electro-punk duo Kumo 99, nu-gaze trio Julie and garage rockers Together Pangea — about how they are gearing up for the three-day desert festival. Ami Komai, one-half of electronic-punk duo Kumo 99, once thought of Coachella as 'somewhere all the cool kids hung out.' Growing up between San Pedro and Silver Lake, the singer's mother never let her attend the festival during her adolescence. But now, alongside bandmate Nate Donmoyer, Kumo 99 won't only be a part of the crowd — they'll be on stage. 'It's such a big festival that it felt unattainable. It's far away and picturesque. It seems like a different universe. I used to go to shows in parking lots and those kinds of festivals. I can't picture what it would be like on a golf course with these huge gleaming stages,' said Donmoyer. 'It always looked like fun.' Kumo 99, formed in 2020, brings the essence of a hardcore track to the sounds of an experimental rave. Komai handles the vocals, often singing in Japanese, and Donmoyer heads their fast-paced breakbeats and pulsating drums. Heard on the fan-favorite 'Four Point Steel Star,' the duo shapes a grungy, futuristic soundscape. The 2022 release hones in on an industrial-sounding synth, marked with sporadic, sci-fi sounds all while Komai energetically shouts in the background. They say the sounds of their respective upbringings often affect their music, sometimes without even being conscious of it — naming L.A.'s specific cadence as unintentional inspiration. 'San Pedro has such an expansive musical history and I was lucky enough where like my heroes still lived there when I was growing up,' said Komai. She cites Mike Watt from Minutemen and Black Flag's Keith Morris as local legends. 'They're super funny and super grumpy. Everything I liked was so hyper-local, so I didn't realize until much later in life how lucky I was to grow up where I did.' Donmoyer, who grew up in Washington D.C., says his neighborhood was of a similar environment. He fondly remembers 'every rec center function playing, live board recordings on CD-Rs of backyard and junkyard bands.' In addition to performing at the festival, they want to catch sets from the Prodigy and Blonde Redhead. But most of all, they are hoping to get driven around in a golf cart. 'Sometimes playing a festival really feels like a traveling circus act. It has the 'coming into town' kind of feeling. Or even like attending a giant summer camp where you get to see a bunch of your friends that you haven't seen in a while,' said Komai. Shoreline Mafia is back and they're planning to make headlines with their Coachella performance. The rambunctious East Hollywood rap group were key members of L.A.'s rap scene in the late 2010s. With party hits like the earworm 'Musty' and 'Nun Major's' subtle flex, they helped popularize a new spin of West Coast rap with danceable trap beats. But after several mixtapes and a studio album, the four rappers went their separate ways in 2020. Then 2024's 'Heat Stick' hit radio airwaves under the Shoreline Mafia name. Backed by an eerie beat, the track revisits their promiscuous, party lifestyle with hedonistic lyricism. Powered by OhGeesy and Fenix Flexin, this new era of Shoreline Mafia is marked by the two original members continuing what they started back in 2016. 'We got a chance to grow up, and find out a lot about ourselves. We figured out how to work alone, and that makes us better together,' said Fenix Flexin of their time spent apart. 'When we get the studio together now, it's like clockwork. Both of us are so refined and coming together to do music makes it 10 times easier.' They say their new sound feels 'different, but the same,' pointing out an 'updated beat game and elevated rhyme schemes.' OhGeesy credits this change to a new sense of maturity. Eager to see how their new music translates to live shows, the duo considers their upcoming Coachella performance as a chance to make history. 'I've never been to Coachella before. It's my first time even attending the festival. So to be attending as a performer is a blessing,' said OhGeesy. 'Everybody always loves Coachella. It's legendary and everybody has always has their eyes on it. Tickets are super expensive and it's this upper echelon festival. So, for us to be right there is crazy.' Fenix Flexin added, 'I have high expectations and high hopes for the show in general, just because it's been a long time since we've performed a new show and put out an album. It has to be one of the best performances we've ever given in our lives.' Beyond bringing their high energy levels and rowdy sounds to the desert, they see their set as a way to honor their city and cement Shoreline Mafia as a staple in L.A. hip-hop. 'We take inspiration from every single scene in the city. We grew up hanging out with gang bangers, skaters, punk rockers and graffiti artists. We soaked a little bit of everything in it, for sure,' said OhGeesy. 'L.A. is where everything came to fruition for us. We built a bond and everything else was built to follow.' When Together Pangea's bassist Danny Bengston thinks of Coachella, he's transported to a Ticketmaster inside a JC Penney. It was where his mother first bought him a ticket in 2005. That year, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails were headlining and he remembers being most excited to see the Locusts. 'I was a kid. I was, at most, 16 years old and it ended up being a pretty formative experience,' said Bengston. 'For me, on some level, it was a realization that I wanted to play music, and one day I wanted to play [Coachella].' Together Pangea, made of Bengston, vocalist/guitarist William Keegan and drummer Erik Jimenez, have been a band since 2008, but they admit they didn't start taking it seriously until 2013. Describing Cal Arts as their 'incubator,' the musicians credit Santa Clarita's DIY, underground punk scene with giving them an entry point into music. 'When you grow up in a place like Santa Clarita, that's a conservative suburb, there's not really any place to play. Los Angeles is a 45-minute drive away and you are forced to figure out how to play shows and build your own community and space with what you have. It also makes you work a little harder,' said Keegan. After leaving their 'conservative suburb,' they settled into Los Angeles and immediately found new musical hubs — starting at different art galleries and parties until transitioning to downtown's the Smell and Echo Park's the Echo. During this period, they say they were able to find their organic sound. With nearly two decades together as a band, these garage surf rockers bring a West Coast twang to their DIY, punk roots. Their sonic range can go anywhere from mellow, feel-good acoustics to strained vocals over hard-hitting electric guitar riffs. The trio plans to treat their Coachella set like a normal show but says they are happy to get the opportunity at this point of their career when they are 'a little bit older and can appreciate it more.' 'At festivals like this, you get the opportunity to have a wider audience and have a bigger figurative and literal stage,' said Bengston. 'The only thing is that there's a little timer at the edge of the stage, that you don't have when you're playing your own [headline] show. So you have to make sure you're not [messing] around too much.' At one point, Julie, a shoegaze band from Orange County, was 'really afraid' of playing music festivals. The fast-paced nature of a short daytime set has its challenges, but drummer Dillon Lee shared they were able to overcome their fears through 'exposure therapy.' 'Festival sets now feel like a mini-game. You have no time to think and you go on stage, you play really fast — it's awesome — and then you run off,' explained bassist and vocalist Alexandria Elizabeth. The trio composed of Lee, Elizabeth and Keyan Pourzand, who also sings and plays guitar, released their first song in 2020, 'Flutter.' It's an angsty, maximalist take on heavy-handed shoegaze, similar to that of My Bloody Valentine. When they first came together, the then-teenage musicians were only thinking of short-term goals. Pourzand wanted to play at least one show and Elizabeth aimed to become a regular performer in their local underground music scene. They often spent their weekends frequenting different house shows, small warehouses and even neighborhood restaurants that would host punk and surf rock performances. Elizabeth describes the scene as a moshing crowd of people in cropped tees and raw-hemmed Dickies. To this day, Lee still has a hard time processing that they will be playing Coachella, saying, 'It doesn't go over my head, but it hasn't soaked in yet. And I don't think it will until it happens.' His first memory of the festival is watching a video of Deadmau5's performance with his mom who was jealous she wasn't there. Elizabeth laughs as she reveals her first impressions of the festival which have to do with the Jenner sisters, flower crowns and YouTube beauty vloggers. 'I'm hoping to just have a good show. I don't try to have too many expectations before going into the show, because I feel like that just sets me up for failure sometimes,' said Lee of their Sonora tent set. Elizabeth added, 'I just gonna show up and play really hard. I am curious to see the audience's reactions because festival crowds are way more relaxed than a headline show. Sometimes we'll have fans in the crowd who mosh for us, but it depends on the area. Either way, I'm just going to have a good show with my friends.' Coachella 2025 is set to take place April 11 to 13 and April 18 to 20.
