By now, I’m sure we’ve all heard of Sean Carlson’s naïve, yet blossoming music festival, FYF Fest. Omnipresent dust bowls created by Titus Andronicus mosh pits, Big Freedia booty poppin, oppressive heat, unforgiving water lines, disorganization perpetuated by lost guest lists, Mountain Goats, and Panda Bear. The good, the bad, and the ugly, were all present and those reviews have become as ubiquitous as the Local Natives mustache trend.
Aside from all of those mice (really, a mouse ran across from me while I was sitting) and men, a covert mix of DIY organizations were present at the festival maintaining FYF Fest’s overarching ideal of collaboration and communalism. Underground organizations such as FMLY, Paus, and L.A. Record harkened back to the roots of FYF Fest’s original intention.
FMLY, with their tagline “those who were strangers have turned into friends,” strives to resurrect (or create, perhaps?) a socially conscious community within the sometimes obnoxious and overwhelming L.A. community. They are most notable for their concerts sprinkled throughout L.A., bike rides, music collective, and art awareness. A fusion of sorts, the easiest way to categorize them, in their words, is a “big group hug.” A handful of artists from FMLY have been played on KXSC and there have been a couple of in-studios aired on KXSC! Find out more about FMLY at www.thefmly.com
Paus, a fairly new arts collective, brings free arts & crafts to Los Angeles shows and events. They are often at FMLY events with face paints and other various arts supplies that will bring you back to a time when gluing macaroni on construction paper was your main concern. To find out where Paus is going to be next, find them at http://pauslosangeles.com/.
Finally, the most established of them all is L.A. Record, an independent music publication. The periodical contains facets of any other music periodical such as album reviews, concert reviews, interviews, and concert photography. Their uniqueness though stems from a dedication to the music scene in L.A. that is not readily visible. If you enjoyed the random eclectic line-up at FYF Fest, I guarantee you will enjoy the contents of L.A. Record. With a constant rush of new music coming out, L.A. Record highlights some of the best new music and helps you sift through the mountain of shoegaze-jungle-garage-rock-psychedelic-meme-adfhsf. Www.larecord.com is the place to be (plus you may have seen them at this past year’s KXSC’s fest!).
Though we are all pushing for Mr. Carlson to install more porta-potties and free water fountains, we can take solace in his unwavering commitment to pushing DIY-based organizations and mentalities to the forefront.