LAist Interview: Michael Walker

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As any Angeleno will tell you, Los Angeles is less a unified city than an assemblage of distinct districts and neighborhoods. Due to the fame or notoriety of its inhabitants, some L.A. neighborhoods take on mythic status. Michael Walker, a journalist who resides in Laurel Canyon, explores the legendary attraction and inspiration his neighborhood--if you can call winding canyons a neighborhood- held for a generation of rock and roll legends, their fans and assorted SoCal bohemians.

Michael's book " Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood,” contains rare photos of the area in the 60s and 70s as well as stories from its denizens about what really went down there. Michael has a companion blog that features details about life in the canyon in the present day as well as audio interviews with musicians like Graham Nash and Chris Hillman about their times in the area in the 70s.

Tomorrow, we'll continue our LAist Interview with Michael as he answers questions in the guise of a Laurel Canyon resident, circa 1973.

How long have you lived in Los Angeles, and which neighborhood do you live in?
12 years, Laurel Canyon.

Why do you live in Los Angeles?
I got tired of living in New York, though I miss it terribly.

What inspired you to write "Laurel Canyon"?
I wanted to read a book about the canyon but couldn't find one. So I wrote my own.

How difficult was it to obtain the photographs in the book?
Thanks to Henry Diltz, who was sort of the canyon's court photographer, it was a pretty easy, though choosing was hard; he and his assistants and I spent an afternoon pawing through his archives, this great treasure trove of the '60s and '70s rock scene in L.A. So many of Henry's photos are almost iconic; I was trying to find some that hadn't been used before. Still, I couldn't resist his famous photo of Joni Mitchell leaning out the window of her bungalow on Lookout Mountain.

How did/does Laurel Canyon inspire musicians?
Well, the sheer physical beauty of the place in an urban landscape as unsparing as L.A.'s is inspiring itself. But you have to remember that in the '60s there were no cell phones, no Web, no email, even no answering machines. It forced people out of their houses and encouraged collaboration. Laurel Canyon enhanced that by the proximity of so many grossly talented musicians living literally across the street from each other. There was a lot of hanging out that you see less of today because people can email and text message and send not only ideas but photos, songs, whatever, instantly. Or write and play all the instruments for songs themselves with ProTools. That would have been unimaginable back then.

What is your opinion of the LA music scene right now? Do you have any favorite LA bands?
L.A. will always be a vital music center, but because of the reasons I listed above I think cities and "scenes" are becoming less essential to the creation of music. I remember going to San Diego and Seattle in the early nineties and writing about those scenes, and the musicians and their friends were completely intertwined with one another, especially in San Diego. There was real sense of a very close, extended family. I don't know if that's the case in L.A. anymore.

Where in LA do you like to go to listen to live music?
Catalina Bar & Grill is nice for jazz, though I preferred the old space. I used to go to Largo. The Knitting Factory when the crowd is behind the band.

What phrase or adjective is overused to describe or explain our city?
I can't think of one in particular; what I notice more is that people haven't updated their L.A. stereotypes since Woody Allen codified them in Annie Hall 30 years ago.

What is a story about Los Angeles that you are longing to tell or remains untold?
In a city where locals actually pull over for fire trucks and pedestrians wait patiently for the "Walk" sign, why turn signals are optional.

What's your favorite movie(s) or TV show(s) that are based in LA?
Movies: The usual: "Double Idemnity," "L.A. Confidential,"Chinatown." "Shampoo" really holds up as completely capturing the time it represented. "Training Day," too.
TV: So much of TV shot in L.A. in the 60s and 70s used the city as sort of this bland anytown wallpaper. "Entourage" is doing a good job of presenting the city as it looks through the eyes of young Hollywood guys on the make.

Best LA-themed book(s)?
City of Nets. Last Tycoon. The Player.

What is the "center" of LA to you?
The Sunset Strip and Laurel Canyon.

If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose?
I already do.

People stereotype Los Angeles as a hard place to find personal connections and make friends. Do you agree with that assessment? Do find it challenging to make new friends here?
The irony of that is that native Angelenos are among the friendliest people I've met anywhere--unpretentious, smart, savvy and usually really funny. Most of the friends I've made since moving here grew up here.

What is the city's greatest secret?
That winter is the best time of year.

What do you have to say to East Coast supremacists?
Bulletin: Nobody cares.

Where do you want to be when the Big One hits?
Standing on my deck. It was added to the house after they toughened up the building codes after the Northridge earthquake. The thing is so wildly over-engineered you could build a three-story house on top of it. And plus from what I've read, the shaking we got during the Northridge quake could exceed what certain parts of the city could expect during the Big One, thought it was last much longer. If the deck goes, there's no hope anyway.