Unlike many of its neighbor cities, Pacific Palisades is not associated with many pop culture moments: Venice will be forever linked with The Doors, Malibu has Bob Dylan and the Traveling Wilburys, and Prince’s muse, Apollonia Kotero, was born in Santa Monica. Despite the extraordinary and enduring talents of Randy Newman and Stevie Nicks, the Palisades is more usually associated with people who make a buck off the artists, managers, lawyers and white-collar wranglers, than the talent itself. There is, one weary musician said, a famine of live music to unleash wild creativity in the Palisades, or indeed in west Los Angeles. “We export it all to east LA, and then the world.” But there is hope: Vintage Grocers hosts live outdoor music nights at its Malibu location and might transfer the tradition when it opens at Palisades Village in summer 2018. And pop music creativity is bubbling up from underneath the Palisades, both with a new generation of performers finding their voices and more established acts stretching their reach. There is rock, jazz and even a little funk. And, maybe, one day, some hip-hop. They deserve to be heard, even if the most popular venue these days is online. On the night after singers rocked the stage at the Mr. and Miss Teen Palisades contest, here is a spotlight on just a few of our local rock and pop artists.
The globally successful indie pop band Grouplove—also shouted as “GROUPLOVE” on their more extroverted days—came into being in 2009 at the Ikarus artists’ commune in Crete, when Andrew Wessen (third from left in picture), former punk guitarist and St. Matthew’s School class of 2000 alum, met his four future bandmates.
They have gone on to perform around the world, from Coachella to Glastonbury, and this summer will play at the mighty Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, as well as the Leeds and Reading festivals in Britain.
Best-selling albums such as “Never Trust a Happy Song” are no longer enough: Their, shiny high-energy art-pop has also been sampled for Apple adverts and video games such as “Madden NFL” and “NASCAR: The Game,” which is where the real money is.
—JOHN HARLOW
At 13 years old, Palisadian Trinity Rose was the youngest chosen out of 40,000 contestants to be a part of NBC’s “The Voice.” Though she didn’t make it very far that season, Rose can be seen in background scenes and may audition for a different talent-based show in the near future. But no matter what happens, she’ll keep singing. It’s what she does. Rose began to pursue singing and song writing at the age of 7. Her first performance was “Here Comes the Sun” at a piano recital at the age of 8. Now, at 14 years old, she said her favorite thing about performing is making people happy with her music and helping people feel an emotional connection to something. The young singer may look familiar: Rose has performed at the Palisades Rocks the 4th concert. She’s also played the role of Princess Fiona in “Shrek the Musical,” put on by Theatre Palisades. Rose has been in New York, working with Broadway veteran Charles Du Chateau on a new EP, which will feature new renditions of classic songs. She returned to California this week to perform at Wings Over Malibu, a fundraiser for Malibu-based Emily Shane Foundation at Casa Escobar. When she’s in town, Rose said she “loves that everyone knows each other.” She frequents Toppings and The Yogurt Shoppe, “always bumping into a friend.”
—SARAH SHMERLING
Fresh off his first SXSW showcase, Robert Tilden—who performs his solo work as BOYO—is a young Palisadian artist on the rise. BOYO’s eclectic sound could be described as a form of cosmic pop, defined by youthful, singsong melodies and an experimental, lo-fi approach. Tilden—born and raised in Pacific Palisades—touts The Strokes as a major influence on his approach to music, alongside Weezer’s “Pinkerton” and The Pixies’ “Doolittle.” UK music website Third Outing called Tilden’s debut album, “Control,” “unpredictable, pure and beautiful.” A second LP, on indie label Danger Collective Records, is expected out this year.
—MATTHEW MEYER
Part real estate, part musician: Palisadian Marty Lloyd balances his time touring as the singer-songwriter in the Freddy Jones Band with working at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in The Village. The band was signed by Phil Walden in the ’90s and was compared to artists like Dave Matthews, Hootie and the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow, Sister Hazel and more. The Freddy Jones Band—which curiously does not include any member named “Freddy Jones”—lineup features Lloyd, bassist Rich Ross, guitarist Dave Preston and drummer Ryan MacMillan. To this day, Lloyd and his bandmates continue to work with Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Justin Niebank in Nashville. Their most recent record, “Never Change,” came out in summer 2015. One of Lloyd’s upcoming gigs is singing the national anthem at Wrigley Field on July 5. —SARAH SHMERLING
You cannot have too many ukuleles. That is the message from the Ooks, who sprung out of a crazy folk jam in Venice seven years ago, created an instant YouTube sensation with a cover version of MGMT’s “Kids” and have never stopped strumming with that Hawaiian-style love. Today’s Ooks HQ is at the Amazing Music Store off Swarthmore, where co-founder Patrick Hildebrand, musician and surfer, teaches, records and transcribes rock hits such as Radiohead’s “Creep” or Prince’s “Purple Rain” for a mass of four-stringed masters. Whether at their annual bash or on the concert circuit in Europe, they are always out for a good time. As they say about themselves “What the Ooks lack in marketable style, exorbitant youthfulness and unrelenting buzz, they make up for in ukuleles.”
—JOHN HARLOW
Wardell is the indie folk (think Mumford & Sons crossed with The Strokes) duo Sasha and Theo Spielberg, offspring of Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw—whose nickname, for mysterious family reasons, is Wardell. Their first recording, “Opossum,” was picked up as an NPR Song of the Day and they have since played the festival circuit. More recently they have signed up with a professional music management company and composed their debut album, which had the working title “Amalfi”—a nod to their Palisadian origins.
—JOHN HARLOW
Two singers from last year’s Mr. and Miss Teen Palisades are still judged by peers as strong musical forces. Sophia Eberlein, who composed a lullaby in praise of the Palisades, has been invited to sing at local events, including the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce annual dinner. British-born singer-songwriter Jackson Hamm, whose anthemic “Stuck” was the high-energy song of the night and is still popular on YouTube, is studying music business in New York.
—JOHN HARLOW
Paul Burkhart is a Palisadian music fixture—he got a job at Pacific Palisades’ premiere music shop, The Music Bag, shortly after it opened, played countless house parties as a member of Palisades High School’s class of ’77, and still brings the music to this day, both as a teacher at the Amazing Music Store off Swarthmore and as a guitarist in the newly formed band Mojo. The Amazing Music Store is a re-brand of the original Music Bag shop where Burkhart first landed an after-school gig decades ago. He’s worked there on and off since, teaching guitar, bass and ukulele to the next generation of Palisadian musicians. Burkhart’s also part of the all-Palisadian collective Mojo, featuring Burkhart and Scott Hunter on guitar, Rick Gutierrez on bass, Shevlin Smith on drums, Steve Wilkins on keyboard and Valerie Clifford as vocalist. Mojo currently has a demo (and a Facebook page) in the works. Expect “bluesy rock and roll with a heavy dose of jazz, R&B, blues and funk.”
—MATTHEW MEYER
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
