In 2003, the film "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" chronicled the life of Rodney Bingenheimer, whose radio show, “Rodney on the ROQ” (still heard today on the world-famous KROQ), was instrumental in helping a slew of bands find success during the ’70s and ’80s. That scene of punk, rock and new wave music was famously centered on the Sunset Strip. Today, a similar music phenomenon is developing in another LA enclave, the adjacent neighborhoods of Silver Lake and Echo Park, which has emerged as a new haven for the indie rock scene.
With so many music groups flocking to Silver Lake and Echo Park, it can be daunting to determine which ones are worth checking out. Fortunately, Angeleno Jon Hershfield has created a website and radio show that makes that task much easier. Is Good Music began as a way for Hershfield to catalog the musical happenings of the area but has quickly become a catalyst for artists to break into the scene.
I recently found him at the intersection of Sunset and Santa Monica (also known as Sunset Junction, the epicenter of Silver Lake) to get a bit more perspective on Is Good Music and the area’s bustling music scene.
How did Is Good Music start?
Jon Hershfield: I was doing an Internet radio show. The premise of the show was that I would play some music that I liked because I was just a music fan. I would also interview my friends who happened to be musicians.
And all local Los Angeles-based music, correct?JH: Yeah. After I interviewed a certain critical mass of friends, their friends were finding out about me through a MySpace page. We didn't put a whole lot of effort into marketing it, but word got out that there was this sort of low-budget “Morning Becomes Eclectic” with this guy who seemed to really like music. Up to this point I was only interviewing artists that I had hand selected because I was interested in their music and process. It was never a scripted kind of thing. The interviews turned out really well because I was only asking questions I wanted the answers to.
And the bands came from one particular geographical location in LA...
JH: The vast majority came from the Silver Lake and Echo Park area. Some bands were coming from Downtown or surrounding areas like Pasadena. But a lot of music was coming from the Silver Lake area.
Why is that?
JH: It has become known as a music hub, particularly with indie rock. Silver Lake has lots of cool music venues that are varying shapes and sizes.
Such as?
JH: The ones that pop out when you think of Silver Lake and Echo Park are Spaceland and The Echo. When I promote a show at one of these places, it doesn't require an explanation.
Speaking of promoting shows, could you talk about some of the venues where you've done Is Good events?
JH: The first time I did a show it was in Hollywood at M Bar, which is known more as a restaurant and comedy place. One show led to another, and I started doing stuff around Hollywood. I did a bunch of shows at Crane's Tavern and then was invited to do shows at Spaceland and The Echo. There's Echo Curio, which is on the other end of the spectrum. It is an art gallery. It is really just a room. From there I met other people in the art scene and started working with Edgar Varela Fine Arts Downtown and started doing The Garden Party. We showcase good music with good art.
And that is in conjunction with Downtown LA Art Walk, which takes place every second Thursday of the month.
JH: It turned out that a lot of the bands that Edgar was into happened to be part of the Is Good network. He reached out to me and said let's put your banner up and call it an Is Good event since it basically is anyway. It happens a lot where I see a bill where all the bands are groups that I've been supporting in some very public way.
So it seems like you've become the unofficial mayor of LA's indie rock scene.
JH: [laughs] I've been called lots of things. I'd like the keys to the city.
How can Is Good Music help visitors coming to Los Angeles find good music?
JH: On our website we have about 500 bands with profiles, 100 of which include in-depth interviews and exclusive content such as videos, tracks and playlists. People can get a 360 perspective on a band. If you're going to be in town and close to a cool venue and you see that one of the bands is playing at that venue, you're going to be that much more likely to go.
Ever since relocating to Los Angeles, Monk Turner has tried to keep the fact that he is actually from the Bay Area a secret. Proud to call himself an honorary Angeleno, Monk resides on the border of Little Tokyo and the Arts District where he writes and records concept albums.
