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. Who could say for certain? 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.
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
"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.
