The Brief

For many bands, finding a unique sound comes from years of trial and error.

For L.A.'s LA LOM, it all started with percussionist Nic Baker showing up to play their regular gig in the Roosevelt Hotel lobby with only congas — no drum kit.

"I was working there for a while and I was able to convince the managers there to give me a jazz night," Baker told LAist's AirTalk. "They were asking for jazz at the time, but really I wanted to start a more Latin-influenced band."

So Baker just...didn't bring his drum kit one day. A strategic omission? Perhaps. But Baker and his bandmates — guitarist Zac Sokolow and bassist Jake Faulkner all born and raised in Los Angeles — point to that decision as the beginning of their journey to discovering a unique and quintessentially L.A. sound. The band combines the rhythms of traditional cumbia and Mexican boleros with the reverb and guitar twang of 50s and 60s rock and soul ballads.

These days LA LOM, which stands for Los Angeles League of Musicians, has graduated from playing for passing patrons at the Roosevelt. They've sold out venues, opened for Vampire Weekend and played with Beck. They have a record deal with a major label. They've performed in festivals in front of thousands with musical giants like Lionel Ritchie, Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson. And now, they're gearing up for a tour that will take them across the U.S. and Europe through the end of 2024.

Following the August release of their debut album The Los Angeles League of Musicians, and ahead of their upcoming tour, the boys of LA LOM sat down with LAist's AirTalk host Larry Mantle to talk about finding their sound, their musical influences and their success in the local and national music scene.

LA LOM released their eponymous debut album on August 9, 2024 on Verve Records.

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Courtesy Jessica Weber

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A family affair

Faulkner, Sokolow and Baker all point to musical upbringings as the main influence for their sound. Sokolow grew up playing with his dad, a well-known musician in L.A.'s bluegrass scene. Faulkner comes from a family of artists in Venice.

"Me and Jake have known each other since we were about 15 or so. We grew up playing a lot of rockabilly and country music together," said Sokolow.

Baker, meanwhile, draws his musical influence from his grandmother, who came from a musical family in Durango, Mexico and became a prominent DJ on Spanish language radio in Tucson, Arizona.

"My grandma and Zac's grandpa are from Latin America, and I think us being inspired by their music growing up has influenced our music as well, so it's just wanting to emulate something familiar," said Baker.

Finding their sound

When the three got together as a trio in their early days at the Roosevelt, they played covers of 60s soul ballads they grew up listening to on radio stations like K-EARTH 101.

But as more people started showing up to the Roosevelt to hear them play and dance to the music of their childhood, Sokolow says it was then that they started experimenting.

"We started playing cumbia, and a lot of the first cumbia we played was based on the Peruvian cumbia style...where the electric guitar is playing the melody as opposed to the accordion-led cumbia of Colombia," said Sokolow. "We all found that we all had that in common that we really love that music and...we started playing those songs and...especially with the Mexican boleros, people were resonating with that and a lot of people said oh, I grew up listening to that music with my grandparents."

It was at this intersection of the 60s rock and soul ballads and the cumbia and bolero music they all grew up listening to that LA LOM found their completely unique sound. Their song "Rebecca" off their debut album is a clear homage to those ballads — Baker gently dusts his drums with brush-style sticks while Faulkner's deliberate bass line and Sokolow's vintage guitar licks would make you swear you're slow dancing at the sock hop in 1965 or sharing a milkshake with two straws at the soda shop.

Other tracks from their new album like "San Fernando Rose," "Moonlight Over Montebello" and "Ghosts of Gardena" pay homage to iconic L.A. neighborhoods and locations and show their dedication to the cumbia and boleros that raised them. Close your eyes and listen to their song "Figueroa" and it's hard not to imagine yourself cruising down the renowned Highland Park street in a convertible with the top down on a warm summer night.

The power of a great cover

And while they're breaking ground recently with original music, it's been some of the covers that brought them early attention. The video of their version of Fito Olivares' "Juana la Cubana" has more than a million views on YouTube and remains a staple of their live sets. And it's often these covers that help connect multiple generations.

"My favorite thing to see is...for example, at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, somebody brought their whole family — kids all the way through the grandmother who came on stage and danced 'Juana la Cubana' with us," said Faulkner.

While some musicians try to channel someone influential in the way they play, LA LOM says they aren't really trying to replicate anyone's sound.

"When we do our covers, I'm always just imitating the melody of what's often an accordion or sometimes a saxophone or a synthesizer," Sokolow explained. "I don't know, I guess I'm not really channeling any particular guitar players. I'm just thinking about the melody and playing in my own style."

"I think a lot of the sound is based off us being a trio, primarily," added Baker. "So it pushes you to fill in space in a certain way. I play multiple percussion instruments at the same time and Zach's trying to fill in all these different parts, and Jake's holding it down on the bass. It creates this trifecta of sound."

Look good, feel good. Feel good, play good

There's a famous quote from NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who was known for not only his otherworldly athletic ability but also his flashy outfits: "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good."

And while LA LOM probably wasn't drawing directly on Sanders' advice when finding their look, they knew that getting it right on stage and in their videos was key to drawing eyeballs. They point to not just their look as a band, but the vintage look of their videos as something that's helped people discover them. And when you watch them it's pretty clear — they look good, they feel good and they play good.

"Nick has a really good vision for how the band should look," Faulkner said. "And so he directed these videos that we made with our friend Jacob Butler who shot them. And through that I think we've had a lot of luck and good fortune in people liking what we do. A lot of it's, all the videos are based off kind of nostalgia and that old school feeling."

And what's more old school L.A. than, say, a 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo, the namesake of another of the songs from their debut album. The video begins with Baker on driving conga drums and a bouncing baseline from Faulkner before Sokolow's guitar comes in from above to seal in that feeling that you're riding in one.

"For the video, we found a 1972 Monte Carlo and drove it on to location and had Zac get out of it walk up to his guitar, pick it up and start the song that way. So that long organ intro is as a result of him getting out of the car," said Faulkner.

Where can I see them?

This month, LA LOM sets out on a tour of the southwestern U.S. that includes stops in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before a return to California in October to play a handful of shows across the state in late September and early October.

While their show at The Mayan on October 18 is sold out, as of this story's publication there are still tickets left for their shows at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown and the Ventura Music Hall. You can also catch them at Ohana Fest in Dana Point on September 29. In November, they head to Europe for a tour that will take them to the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany before a return to the U.S. in December to play a handful of shows on the East Coast and across the Midwest.

For a full list of upcoming shows, click here.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several significant rule changes for the 99th Oscars, including AI protections for actors and writers as well as expanded eligibility for international films.

In a statement to NPR, the Academy on Saturday said the changes are in response to listening to the global filmmaking community and addressing barriers to entry in its eligibility process.

The Academy added that its rules and eligibility standards have always evolved alongside technologies such as sound, color, and CGI, and that AI is no different. Awards rules and guidelines are reviewed and refined each year.

A blow for Tilly Norwood 

Among the most noteworthy changes, the Academy now explicitly states that only roles, "demonstrably performed by humans with their consent" are eligible for Acting awards. In other words, AI creations like the much-hyped Tilly Norwood cannot hope to win a Best Actress Oscar anytime soon.

Particle6, the production company behind Norwood, did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on Saturday about its creations' ban from consideration. In March, Norwood commented, "Can't wait to go to the Oscars!" in an Instagram post announcing its newly released music video.

The Academy also requires screenplays to be "human-authored" and said it reserved the right to investigate the use of generative AI in any submission.

Meanwhile, qualifying flesh-and-blood human actors can now be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances get enough votes to land in the top five. So, someone like Anne Hathaway, who has five major movies scheduled for release in 2026, could now theoretically sweep the nominations – though that outcome seems extremely unlikely.

"If an actor has an extremely prolific year, might we even see someone swallow up three of the five nominations?," wrote Deadline's awards columnist and chief film critic Pete Hammond about the changes. "Probably won't happen, but it's now possible."

Under previous rules, an actor could only receive one nomination per category. If they had two high-ranking performances in Best Actor, for example, only the one with the most votes would move forward.

International films prioritizes filmmakers over countries

While international films can still be the official selection of their countries, now they can qualify by winning the top prize at a major international festival such as the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, or the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Historically, countries "owned" the nomination, and only one film per country was allowed. The new rules allow multiple films from the same country to compete if they are critically acclaimed, and it shifts the honor from a geopolitical entity to the filmmakers themselves.

Largely positive response

The changes have prompted a largely positive reaction from the film community on social media, such as on the popular The Shade Room entertainment and celebrity-focused Instagram feed, where commenters widely praised the "human-only" move to protect creative jobs.

The Academy's Awards Committee oversees the rules in tandem with branch executive committees, the International Feature Film Executive Committee and the Scientific and Technical Awards Executive Committee.

The rules are scheduled to go into effect next year, covering films released in 2026.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Los Angeles changes fast, and oftentimes that means some of the architectural relics of our shared past get swept up and paved over in all the "progress." (RIP Garden of Allah.)

But there are still places where you can find ruins that tell a tale, like a long-forgotten speakeasy reputedly for old Hollywood near La Crescenta.

The ruins are still there 

On a recent afternoon, author and local historian Mike Lawler led me just beyond the boundary of Crescenta Valley Park. Joggers like me might have seen an old, towering stone arch shrouded by bushes there — and wondered what lies beyond.

Turns out there was once a place called the Verdugo Lodge back there and Lawler has spent years excavating its history.

A car speeds away from the lodge onto New York Avenue. The stone archway that still stands can be seen in the background.

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Kadletz Family Archives)

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“It was a very high-end speakeasy for a time,” Lawler, who also helps run the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, said. “An amazing thing. And all the ruins are still here, just like this arch.”

Lawler said we don’t know exactly when the lodge was built, but we do have some of the picture starting in the late 1920s. The place was set up kind of like a timeshare where people bought 10 x 10 foot ‘tent lots’ that gave them access to on-site amenities. There was a golf course, stables, trout stream, a swimming pool — and a lodge with gambling and alcohol.

“The Crescenta Valley in the teens and '20s was a hotbed of moonshine, prostitution, all that stuff," Lawler said. "It was a quiet little community. But in all these canyons up here, stuff was going on. Illegal stuff!”

We don’t have a full guest list, but Lawler said it’s likely at least a few Hollywood types had gone up to the lodge to circumvent Prohibition era laws.

In some ways, it was kind of like the original glamping. Lawler said patrons probably weren’t doing much sleeping, though.

“They might have been unconscious!” he said with a chuckle.

Lawler led me to a road that swooped around a meadow. We passed by a massive swimming pool nestled into the hillside.

Once known as the “Crystal Pool,” it’s now empty and fenced off, with pitch black locker rooms below.

The exterior of the locker rooms for the old Crystal Pool.

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We continued our journey up the hill and eventually arrived at a cascading stone stairway.

And at the top, the big show: overgrown with orange monkey flowers and goliath agaves lies the foundation of the old Verdugo Lodge, with lofty stone fireplaces the only guardians keeping the surrounding oak trees at bay.

Lawler takes out a floorplan that one of the former owners drew up for him.

“This is what it was laid out like on the inside. So a dancehall, and band stand on that side... And then upstairs was the gambling,” Lawler said.

Lawler had in hand a copy of a Los Angeles Times article from 1933 he found. The headline reads: “Revelers Flee in Lodge Raid.”

“The police that raided it were here at 3 o'clock in the morning. And there were still 500 people here. And they said it was the classiest joint they had ever raided... Anyway, people were diving out of windows and everything,” Lawler explained.

In a ruin like this, covered with moss and overgrowth, the imagination can run wild, too.

The archway that still stands outside of what's now known as Mountain Oaks.

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Lawler pointed out a questionable door jam below the old dancefloor that’s been cemented over.

“That is a door. So what is behind there? So there’s a room in there that got walled in for some reason,” he said.

What we do know is that, sometime after the raid, the tawdry Verdugo Lodge and the surrounding land were purchased and then renamed Mountain Oaks by the Kadletzes — an entrepreneurial family who had run everything from a Turkish bath to a mini golf course. Over the next few decades, the family would rent the place out to local groups for recreational retreats.

The future of Mountain Oaks 

After they sold it in the ‘60s, Lawler said Mountain Oaks faced a “nightmare” of development threats. Over the years, some of the subdivided "tent lots" had been combined and sold off, Lawler said. A dozen private homes now stand on these pieces of land, next to the ruins of the Verdugo Lodge.

A map showing the Mountain Oaks public property acquired by The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA).

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Last year, with help from the City of Glendale, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant among other funding sources, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) put up $6.1 million to acquire 33-acres of the land — not including the private lots where the homes stand — so the public can continue to roam the meadow and ruins.

Paul Edelman, MRCA's director of natural resources and planning, said his group will continue to manage the land, doing things like brush clearance, trash pickup and sign maintenance. And he said there are no current plans to remove the ruins or make any major changes to the property.

“If somebody comes up with a grand idea where they can find some funding for us to do something to enhance it, we’re always open to it,” Edelman said.

The purchase was good news for local preservationist Joanna Linkchorst.

“I grew up directly up the hill. But I always saw the sign that said ‘private property’ and didn’t really think about it until several years ago when I finally asked Mike. And he said, ‘Oh yeah, we got a resort speakeasy down the street,’” Linkchorst said standing among the oaks and overgrowth.

Linkchorst, who founded the group Friends of Rockhaven to preserve another nearby historic site, said it’s been amazing to see all of the decaying structures that were still hiding out at Mountain Oaks.

“There’s almost like these little ghosts in your head as you imagine what it was like when there was a beautiful wood floor and there was a second floor that people came jumping out of,” Linkchorst said.

Now, let’s check in to the Overlook Hotel.

That’s the fictional place Stanley Kubrick brought to life in his 1980 film The Shining, loosely based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.

A local architect who hails from South Pasadena meticulously crafted a 3D model of the iconic space so Shining fans everywhere never have to check out.

‘I just couldn’t stop’ 

At his day job, architect Anthony Chieh mainly works on residential and boutique commercial spaces. But over the course of five months, he spent his nights meticulously recreating a virtual replica of the Overlook Hotel from the film that first scared him when he was 12.

Of course he started with the deeply haunted Room 237. That’s where Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, has a terrifying encounter with a ghostly woman.

Chieh's 3D rendering of Room 237

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Anthony Chieh

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“But once I started, I just couldn’t stop,” Chieh told LAist.

“I ended up modeling the Colorado Lounge, and then after that I was thinking maybe I should make the lobby and then arriving to the Gold Room, and then Grady’s bathroom.”

“It’s like a rabbit hole,” he said.

Users who download Chieh’s free 3D model can fly through all of those spaces, immersed in atmospheric sounds and music from the film.

“It’s interesting to dive into these kind of fictional environments and try to make sense of it,” Chieh said. “And the hope is people will get a different perspective once they’re in there.”

Kubrick’s take on the Overlook was famously inspired by real hotels like the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and the Ahwahnee in Yosemite. But the interiors you see in the film were created on sound stages in England.

“Real architecture, physical buildings, are built for people to live. And for movies, these are more meant to express the emotional aspect of things. It’s a psychological construct,” Chieh said.

In a recently published video essay on YouTube, Chieh dives deep into those psychological constructs and how, as he puts it, “Kubrick designed the Overlook Hotel not as a backdrop, but as the film's true villain.”

How spaces scare 

Chieh said during the monthslong process he was reminded of the power of architecture and design in the real world too – whether it’s an uncomfortably repetitive carpet design or a claustrophobic hallway.

“A physical construct can affect your emotion,” Chieh said.

“You can use it in a way to make people feel comfortable and you can also use it in a way to create fear.”

Chieh's 3D rendering of the Torrance's apartment in 'The Shining'

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Anthony Chieh

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What’s next for this architect moonlighting as a 3D modeler?

Chieh says he’s thinking about giving the spaceship from “2001: A Space Odyssey" the virtual treatment next. Or maybe turning to a local non-fictional space, like the Stahl House.

That is, of course, if he can ever escape the Overlook.