John Dwyer, photographed by Nolan Wells
Over the last few years, there's been a lot of talk about the "San Francisco garage rock scene," primarily because of critically adored records and livewire shows from Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, the Fresh & Onlys, Sic Alps, Mikal Cronin, and many others. (Aaron Leitko wrote a 2011 Pitchfork feature about it called "Positive Destruction".) Suddenly, it seemed, the Bay Area was playing host to a renaissance of garage weirdos and studio wizards.
But all good things must come to an end. Sic Alps have dissolved. The Fresh & Onlys' Tim Cohen lives in Arizona. On January 1, Thee Oh Sees' John Dwyer decamped to Los Angeles. Ty Segall, who relocated there a year ago, helped him move.
Segall and Dwyer are two in an increasingly lengthy list of artists who have migrated to Los Angeles. King Tuff, Woods' Kevin Morby, White Lung's Mish Way, Jessica Pratt, and Peach Kelli Pop have all reportedly moved to the city semi-recently.
That's not to say everyone is leaving San Francisco: Producer Eric Bauer (Segall's go-to studio collaborator), former Sic Alp Mike Donovan, Sonny Smith, Kelley Stoltz, and plenty of others are still around. There are some impressive showings coming from the city by gnarly punk bands like Scraper, Life Stinks, and CCR Headcleaner. But for his part, Dwyer felt that his time in the Bay Area was up.
"Basically I am moving to L.A. for a breath of fresh air (ironic, I know)," he told me in an email. "I've been in SF for ages and I'll always love it, but it's time for new horizons. Seemingly overnight, [San Francisco] has filled up with phone-scrolling, blank-faced wanderers (particularly in my neighborhood). I prefer a taco to a vintage glasses store any day. So yeah, time to shove off. Seems like a lot of artists, visual and musical, are hightailing it out."
Segall moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his sister. (He grew up in Orange County.) But he understands why his friends are starting to leave San Francisco. "It’s hard to cut it, man," he said of the city's cost of living, which poses a harsh financial reality for working artists. "If you’re not makin’ money, you just can’t cut it." Segall has friends who have been evicted from formerly cheap housing and not able to find another affordable living situation in the area.
That's one of the perks of Segall's move to L.A.: He was able to afford a place with a garage, and now, an in-garage studio. When I ask him about his studio, he downplays its capabilities, calling it "semi-legit" and "a weird import bootleg of a professional studio." But while it may just be Ty's demo studio, he's been working on records by bands like Endless Bummer, the Zig Zags, Wand, and White Fence.
Tim Presley, aka White Fence, is another Bay Area expat who moved to L.A., though he made the journey about 10 years ago:
I realized I could do whatever I wanted in this creative desert. I didn't have to answer to aging punks, bitter drunks, greedy landlords, and the fog/cold-inducing sinus infections. Do not get me wrong, I love the Bay. It's my DNA, and always will be. 924 Gilman St. is still my church. I just needed to move to a wide open vast, outerspace to be on my own, and find myself…. re-invent myself. Personally, I've found it easier to disappear in L.A., which is very important to me.
There is this draw to it, a creative freedom that goes beyond that "Hollywood dream," and for those not concerned with that "dream," it is a place where creative people can come together, swap ideas; its a place of artistic cultivation. Plus I think there is a certain seedy, creepy mystery that has always lived here. It's a good place for the freak, and the phantom.
Lance Barresi, co-owner of Permanent Records and member of Endless Bummer, moved to L.A. from Chicago to open a new Permanent location. He said he's begun to notice more artists moving to the area:
I don't think the underground scene here is as vibrant or communal as it is in Chicago, but as more bands move here, I think it could be just as good or better. I think a lot of people avoided moving to L.A. previously because they got the wrong idea about what L.A. is all about. If you visit L.A. and end up getting stuck on the westside or in Hollywood, you might not think L.A. is the place for you. However, if you're into the kinds of things we're into and you visit Northeast L.A., you'll probably have a much better experience... The Northeast part of L.A. is rapidly becoming one of the raddest places to be in America, especially for people into going to shows, buying records, and going to cafes, bars, and restaurants.
Both Segall and Dwyer have plans to return to San Francisco for creative purposes. Dwyer's label Castle Face is still based in SF. He says he plans to continue the label's new Live in San Francisco LP series, though he said he might do some live records in L.A., too. And while Segall has built his own studio, his partner Bauer just signed a lease to keep his studio open for another seven years. "I’ll always work with Bauer—he's King Riff, man," Segall said. "It definitely is a huge reason to go back and work there and do stuff in San Francisco."
At some point while Segall helped Dwyer move, the two made plans to jam. When I asked if Segall thinks it could turn into something bigger, he said, "Dwyer and I have always talked about doing something, but we’ve never had the time to do anything." Now that they're in the same city again, it could happen. "Maybe we can figure something out," he said.
White Lung seem like they're due for some new music sometime soon. King Tuff has seemingly been in the studio. There are debut LPs coming out from impressive newcomers like Endless Bummer and Morgan Delt. Ty Segall is working on new material, getting the Segall Band back together this year, and producing albums for a bunch of bands. Dwyer's got a solo album and a new Oh Sees album out this year. It goes without saying, but things are definitely brewing in Los Angeles—a huge city positioned for a potentially huge 2014.