Cal State LA wants memorabilia from your gig-going days for its underground music archive

Right around the year 2000, there was a club night in Hollywood called Clockwork Orange. Fans of The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus and other bands came for the DJ’s mix of their favorite songs but also for a vibe that welcomed people regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual and gender identity.

“I was a pretty shy person, and so that was a place where I could sort of be myself and express myself,” said Azalea Camacho, a regular there in those days.

She had just graduated from Workman High School in the City of Industry and was also clubbing at rockabilly music nights in Rosemead and goth club nights in downtown L.A.

Camacho said there was lots of memorabilia from those times, such as photos taken in and outside the clubs, ticket stubs and promotional fliers. They're the physical remnants of those supportive communities built around music and enjoyment, but many of them languish in shoeboxes and storage units, at risk of being lost — along with the memories attached to them.

Cal State LA has hosted Sounds of the Underground Archive for the last four years. It's an opportunity for people to donate their underground music scene memorabilia.

(

Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles

)

“I think the danger is maybe those stories are not being told, or people don't know about the story,” she said.

Keeping stories alive

More than two decades later, Camacho is now in a position to make sure those stories are kept alive. She’s head of special collections and archives at the university library at California State University, Los Angeles.

Four years ago, she and library staff created an annual day for area residents to donate or digitize memorabilia for their Sounds of the Underground Archive. This year it's on Thursday, Nov. 5. They’ll accept physical donations, but they’ll also have a scanner to digitize printed material, so people can keep items that are precious to them.

Camacho is hoping this year will bring in a bumper amount of memorabilia. It's taken time to get the word out, she said.

“From the actual community archiving day [we’ve collected] maybe 100 or less than 100 items. … It's not a lot,” she said.

She said they're on the lookout for a wide range of mementos, including:

• Fliers
• Handbills
• Zines
• Newsletters
• Posters
• Set lists
• Photographs (prints, negatives or digital files)
• Cassette tapes, CDs, or vinyl records
• Ticket stubs
• Wristbands
• Band merchandise (stickers, buttons, patches, T-shirts)
• DIY press kits or liner notes and correspondence (letters, emails, messages related to music scenes)
• Venue or collective ephemera (membership cards, schedules, announcements and more)