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Is the word Hipster even allowed to be used anymore without disdain dripping from the user's tongue? Is it outdated? What about the connotation - good, bad, both? The Anti-Hipster's Guide to LA is a listing of people, bars/clubs, musicians/DJs, artists, installation, etc etc that may be deemed hipster-centric but don't really carry the negative connotation of the word (meaning pretentious, inaccessible, you get my drift).
Sitting in Cafe 101 on Super Bowl Sunday, drinking hot cocoa with a shitload of ubersweet whipped cream on top, I waiting for a few minutes before the arbiter of East side cool, Mr. Franki Chan arrived, the sun blinding me - I was thinking, how it was possible for someone to be here roughly 4 or 5 years to have garnered such a massive following in the fickle Hollywood/LA nightlife scene?
So when he finally arrived, I asked.
You moved here from Seattle, why LA - how long have you been here now?
A friend and I took trip to San Diego in the summer of 2003, and on the way back, we stopped in LA for a bit. Was kind of done with Seattle, and it seemed like a bigger challenge. Plus, there was like this big migration of Seattle friends, that I had no idea was going to happen.
I still hang out with a lot of my friends from there that moved here. There is a sense of family in Seattle, not so much here - LA just seemed to be a different monster.
What do you think was your greatest asset in being so successful in this industry?
I think that we did something that was generally different to the audience - it was basically what we used to do in Seattle, it was pretty normal there.
When I came to LA, I had about $1000 in my pocket and didn't know anyone. One of the two or three kids I knew here, was a manager at of the Beauty Bar and the brother of a friend of mine back in Seattle. He knew about my parties back in Seattle and asked if I wanted to do a Thursday night. I was always was the annoying kid who drew the fliers and booked the shows. But it was a pretty good way to meet people.
Har Mar Superstar moved here right around the time I moved here from Minneapolis, didn't really know him but I had booked him in Seattle. He also knew the manager at Beauty Bar so I asked if he wanted to do something with me there.
And with my background booking shows in Seattle, it allowed me to be able to have people who would DJ, like members of Interpol or Modest Mouse, which helped a lot.
What do you think about the LA nightlife scene in general?
It's changed a whole lot over the last 4 years, it's pretty healthy, kids doing a lot of cool things. Used to be there were just various clones of 1 or 2 parties, very Hollywood, very indie or something more fun, but now, the lines have become more blurred. More recently, there's been a backlash, Top 40 got old really quickly, people are hungry to hear more. You used to be able to count the DJ pull on one or two hands, now there are 40/50.
So, Check Yo Ponytail, how long has it been going now, does the crowd seem to be evolving or do you think that you just have a regularly massive and consistent following?
Almost 2 years, the 2nd year anniversary is the first week May. I think there is a concentrated base, but CYP is unique in the sense because it is talent based, not night based. They've been more genre based, so each artist brings in their own audience. One night it'll be more band based, then hip-hop based, then indie based.
Luckily, I can book the bands I want to book. We're able to do shows that I wouldn't have been able to do when I was involved in other places, and those types of shows like Justice, ride the fine line of party and show.
We rise above the average environment, fun and easy going but with world class talent, very much a marketing niche. We try to keep it unique.
You do Check Yo Ponytail in other cities, how often, are these monthly or....
IHEARTCOMIX! appears in other cities but CYP usually pop up as one offs. We're gonna be at the WMC this year.
Do you plan on going international?
Just had first international party in Norway OYA, in August. We're trying to do slow build, we never try to bite off more than we can chew. Refining and revising, building staff so we can reach the long term goals. IHEARTCOMIX Records tour in the fall, sort of a blend of Check Yo, a fusion of both sides.
Are there clubs that you go out to, other promoter nights that you hang out at when you're not doing your thing?
Yea, Cha Cha, Dance Right on Thursdays, Vine Bar Tuesdays, Awesometown on Weds at the Short Stop, Mondays - Fucking Awesome at Beauty Bar, Dance @ Arena Tuesdays, PYT @ Jimmy's.
Do you consider yourself a hipster?
Definitely.
Do you think there is a negative connotation to the word?
Don't really think about it, it has both good and bad sides, don't really do the things that come with the bad side of the term. I mean, I come from a punk background and not really the background that most hipsters stem from.
You could use other words, like trendsetter or tastemaker or scenester. But I don't really think about it because it's one of those questions I don't have a real answer to. Hard question to answer about yourself because who in their right mind would be totally honest about it?
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with all due respect i don't see how this was an ANTI-hipsters guide to LA. more like a list of the coolest places to be if you ARE a hipster.
i'm sorry but really, the places discussed in this post are the most hipster-infested bars in LA. using anti-hipster and franki chan in the same statement is a fucking joke, especially when he CALLS himself a hipster. also all hipsters are pretentious - it's the name of the game!
From the writer...when I say Anti-Hipster I am saying from my POV as an anti-hipster, as someone who, quite frankly thinks the term needs to be retired. Not all hipsters are pretentious, but most are, which is why I wanted to see if the people I profile take issue with the word or whether they identify with both the good and bad connotations. That said, I hang out at a few of these places and feel comfortable, don't feel marred by the pretentiousness, the list he gave is where he feels comfortable as a self-labeled hipster - I am not providing those particular places in the column of places to go, just inquiring as to where he likes to hang out.
So, in doing this guide, it is going to be compiled of people and places that may occasionally be deemed hipster-centric but are inclusive of whatever other "labeled" groups might come along.
FC calls himself a hipster but recognizes that a. he comes from a punk background and b. doesn't really condone or identify with the negative aspects of the word, ie the pretentiousness.
I don't think most of the asshole hipsters we identify with the group actually identify themselves as hipsters...