Tobias Daniels

Filmmaker Tobias Daniels at his L.A. haven, a balcony at the Grove

TOBIAS DANIELS 

At The Grove 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles (Mid-City West)

While several artists have opted to do their Jigsaw interviews at the Grove, none of them took me to the exact place in the shopping center that Los Angeles-based filmmaker Tobias Daniels did. In fact, I'm willing to bet that none of them even know about the hidden-in-plain-sight balcony that he refers to as his "hideaway."

"This is the best kind of secret because it's in such a commercial area. It sounds weird because it's the Grove, but it's like my little East Village," he shares. "When I was in the East Village I could watch people from my apartment. I would leave the windows open and stare at people, watch the world go by."

Albeit, there hasn't been much time for Tobias to do too much people-watching lately. On top of his day job as a videographer for PopStar! Magazine, he has spent the past six years working on Black Velvet, a feature-length documentary on African-American LGBT performance artist T-Boy. Filming has taken him everywhere from San Diego and Miami to Alabama and Berlin. Tobias finally has some time to breathe in between wrapping up post-production and preparing for the doc's theatrical release, so he is able to meet me at the Grove's famous fountain and lead me to his favorite spot in the entire city.

"The reason I brought you here is because if I'm editing, coming up with concepts or writing, I need that space to clear my head," he says, as we make our way to the Starbucks located on the third floor of Barnes & Noble, place an order and step out onto the balcony. "I either get a large hot chocolate if it's cold or a small latte and a triple chocolate chunk cookie. The great thing about this balcony is it's set back so you can spy on people without anyone knowing. The Grove has this piped-in, magical music, it's kind of like Disneyland here, and people do the weirdest things like dance and sing to each other. There are couples, gays and tourists – it's a people-watching situation that you don't really get anywhere else in L.A. I literally just stare at people until my own head is focused enough so I can sort through whatever I need to sort through idea-wise. I normally come in the evening after I've gone through the day and I've come to that point where my brain cannot process anything else, so I just stand here and watch people."

We watch shoppers walk along the road beneath us for a while, take in the amazing view of the Hollywood Hills and Tobias begins to tell me about his childhood. Although he was born in Jersey, most of his youth was spent in Iowa and Colorado. Because of his mother's love for film, no matter what state his family called home, movies were always a part of the household.

"Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple was the first time I was interested in the director, the actors and understood that the film wasn't just this thing to entertain me, that something bigger went into it. My first VHS was E.T. I was a teenager when The English Patient came out, and I've probably seen that 150 times. It's another sweeping epic, so put that and The Color Purple side by side, and that's one side of the coin," he begins. "On the flip side, I like the weird, dark and deep. Stanley Kubrick because I don't know how many people can do the weird things he did and get away with it the way he did. A lot of people have tried, and it's not art the way that he made it. I like scenes from Eyes Wide Shut, but I don't know if i like it as a whole. I like 2001, but I don't fully understand it. I'm not going to lie! Then, Federico Fellini because he was brilliant. It's like watching a song when you watch his movies, and they're weird also. There's a part in the middle of La Dolce Vita where I lose focus, and once I get through to the other side it changes my entire mood. 81/2, I like because it's about the crazy life of an Italian director so I'm glued to the screen the whole movie."

As a child, Tobias performed in choir and theater. In fifth grade he write, directed and starred in his first play, "Birds Fly North" about a flock of geese that, instead of flying south for the winter, flies to New York to hang out in Central Park. Performing continued to be his first love throughout high school and, just like that flock of geese, Tobias moved to New York to attend the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. 

There Tobias learned about script analysis, working with actors and being an actor. Around this time he was also featured in a Christina Aguilera music video directed by David LaChapelle, and was chosen to pose as a young Muhammad Ali in LaChapelle's contribution to the Taschen GOAT art book. All of these experiences, however, were not bringing Tobias the happiness he had expected.

"I woke up one day and said I'm not good at this – not that I couldn't do it, but I wasn't finding joy in it. My classmates said, 'You're good, though,' and I replied, 'It takes you five seconds to drop into a role. That process takes me two hours. If I'm going to do something that takes that much out of me, I want it to be something I love, that makes me happy," he remembers. "Thankfully at that time I was working on a friend's play, assisting with light and sound. I ended up running light and soundboards for equity stages and realized that I liked it. There was literally a moment when I was queuing the lights, the action of turning up the lights and the actor moved me, and I was filled with joy. I knew this was in line with what I want to do." 

To please his parents, he enrolled at the University of Illinois, majoring in liberal arts. He was able to meld his senior thesis with a TV pilot he wrote and was developing. The script landed at Nickelodeon, and Tobias was soon on his way to Los Angeles where the pilot would be produced.

"That went nowhere," he laughs. "It was a really horrible year after that, I had no plan B. Something told me to stay in Los Angeles, and I suffered through that first year. Then I got the job at PopStar!, and the pieces started coming together."

Even though his childhood was quite gypsy-like, Tobias has adjusted to living in one city quite well. I don't think he would rather be anywhere else than Los Angeles.

"I love that weather is always like it is today, that our only complaint for the past few weeks is that it's been a little humid for our fragile skin," he teases. "I have really awesome friends here. That might be a testament to working with really great people and out of that, developing great friendships. The word on the street right now is if you're artistic, you're either moving to L.A. or Berlin, so I feel like this is the place to be. I love Berlin, but it's not L.A."

Some of the places that make Los Angeles home for Tobias, include Harvard & Stone ("Their drinks are expensive but delicious and strong, and the bartenders are really cute!"), happy hour at El Carmen, a brunch of eggs benedict at Home or Alcove Café and burritos from Cactus Mexican Food No. 2 on Beverly. Since Tobias only lives a few miles away from the Grove in East Hollywood, he can reach his beloved balcony haven in a quick drive. 

It's apparent how much time he spends here, when the Starbucks barista asks him, "Do you work around here?" "No, I'm just obsessed with the Grove," he replies with a grin.

He often catches a double feature at the Grove's Pacific Theatres and raves about the Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Sorbet at the Bennett's Ice Cream Stand located at the Original Farmers Market next door.

As he finishes his latte and triple chocolate chunk cookie, we revisit his years spent in New York to the time when he first encountered T-Boy and the inspiration for Black Velvet was born.

"I was bartending, and he was the Friday-night DJ at the club that I worked at in Chelsea. He always had a good understanding of music – not just Bobby Brown sang this song, now Britney Spears is singing this song and I'm going to play the Bobby Brown version, but where did Bobby Brown get the original beats from, it's probably from a group like the Temptations. He would find a cool way of mixing the Temptations and Britney Spears; it always blew my mind. He introduced me to new music. It was about the time that hipster really began to take off, and he had that whole Solange, Afropunk vibe about him." Tobias recalls. "Eventually we became friends, and he told me what his real passion was: singing. He told me his story, about being in the pre-Don't Ask, Don't Tell Navy. He's a very tall, thin, statuesque man, who wears these crazy outfits. The best way I can describe him is if Grace Jones and Marilyn Manson had a lovechild, that would be him." 

Tobias was so struck with T-Boy's musical ear, flair and talent that he knew the performer would make for a fascinating subject for a documentary. As the layers of T-Boy's personal history became revealed, the crew traveled from San Diego to Miami, Alabama and eventually Germany to capture the entire story. To fund the the trip to Germany, the crew turned to Kickstarter, and  their goal was generously met. 

From the crowd-source support and finding an Emmy-winning Director of Photography (Greg Harriott) to shoot the film to the unexpected raw emotions expressed by T-Boy and his family in scenes, Tobias feels like luck has undoubtedly been on his side throughout this project. What began as a rise-to-fame story turned into something incredibly bigger in Black Velvet.

"It took so long to do this film because there was a bigger story about acceptance and his family that came to the surface when we were filming in San Diego. We just went there to get footage for his Navy years, and two weeks after that Don't Ask, Don't Tell was overturned. The story turned and became more about his struggle. I realized that the struggle in the end is what is giving him fans, it's what's making him a success [in Germany]," Tobias comments. "My cousin is helping me find a scholar to talk about African-Americans during the jazz era, like Josephine Baker, who went to Paris, Germany and other places in Europe to find success because here they were second-class citizens. It's the story of a lot of LGBT artists now." 

Tobias assures that Black Velvet may have moments that will make you cry and think about the bigger picture on certain issues, but it is anything but a depressing film.

"A lot of people have come up to me and said, 'This story needs to be told because it's a voice of a people.' I honestly wasn't going into it that way, but fully am embracing it now because it's how the story turned," he says. "Originally I wanted to make a movie about an artist who just happens to be gay, but now I'm fully embracing the gay because it has become a voice in it, a struggle unique to him but also a struggle of other LGBT artists. I don't have any answers, but all I have to do is say it out loud through the film. I'm not trying to find a solution, but I do know that I have to say it."

Tobias' own story is one of bravery in admitting that performing wasn't for him, which eventually led to him finding his true calling behind the camera; in taking the chance of life in Los Angeles where he had no job, family or friends to begin with; and in continuing to push himself creatively as a filmmaker.

"I have the same feeling now that I did when I was young, I knew in my heart that I was going to be in the biz. I'm the black sheep artist in my family, and there was always this 'I need to stick with this no matter what' [mentality]," Tobias concludes as he reflects on life as an indie filmmaker. "You make mistakes, and through them you learn other ways of coming to a shot that a director got with a giant budget. I can modify this and kind of get the Kubrick effect. [I've learned] that sometimes you have to do the best with the circumstances you're in. In the end, I will be a better director, a more flexible director, because of it. You can't always have the big sweeping epic, but sometimes you can create the same effect with what you have. It's about realizing that and letting go."

For more information, visit tobiasdaniels.com.

Amanda Raya

Amanda Raya's favorite spot at the Grove: the water fountain

 

AMANDA RAYA

At The Grove

189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles (Mid-City West)

At first Amanda Raya may seem like your typical 14-year-old. She loves shopping, Taylor Swift and communicating via Twitter. Once she starts talking about her music, however, it's clear that the pop singer-songwriter is more passionate about her craft than most teens are about anything.

"I love working on my music, creating and recording it," Amanda says. "I am really passionate about my music. I want people to connect with my songs, I want them to be memorable to many people."

Her drive and determination bring her all the way to Los Angeles from her home in Toronto, Canada, during summer break to do promotion for her first single, "Without No Doubt," which released last month. Although, the trip isn't that much of a sacrifice when you ask her: She takes every opportunity to express how much she loves the City of Angels.

"I love L.A.! I have family here, so we visit whenever we can," she shares. "I really like to go to the Americana at Brand, the Glendale Galleria mall and the beach in Santa Monica. When I was here in April we went to Universal Studios, which was really cool."

Today we meet at another of her favorite places in Los Angeles, the Grove. You never know what celebrities you might run into at the retail and entertainment complex. "Extra" is filmed here during the week, and there are free concerts throughout the summer (Sara Evans on July 17, Capital Cities on July 24 and the Backstreet Boys on July 31). Amanda's primary mission when she's at the Grove is shopping, though, and her favorite store is Forever 21.

"I really love the scenery here at the Grove, especially the water fountain when they do the water show with music," she admits. "It's just such a nice place to walk around." 

It's a sweltering day, so we take a seat in the shade to talk about her influences, future plans and even find out what a typical Saturday might entail back in Toronto.

"I would normally try to hang out with some friends. I'm on my phone a lot. If I have a lot of homework, then I would do some homework, but usually I like Saturday to be my chill day, so I wake up at about 12:30 p.m.," she says with a laugh. "On weekends, I sing all of my songs and try to go over them so that I'm prepared for any performances that might come up."

There's that strong work ethic shining through again. A fierce will is something that Amanda has cultivated since birth. Although she is visually impaired, she is far from handicapped. If anything, her impairment has made her even more fiercely determined to achieve her dreams.

"I think my positive attitude helps, but mostly it's my friends and family that have been so supportive with my music," she insists. "It's great to have them around because they're a really big part of this for me. I'm so grateful to them for being so supportive."

One of her sisters lends her voice to contributing background vocals on "Without No Doubt," which, Amanda says, makes the song even more special. Music is a big part of their household, with the sisters singing around Amanda playing the piano or listening to songs together. She first picked up the piano by ear at age 5 and recently started learning the guitar.

"I've always loved piano since I was young; it came naturally to me when I started taking lessons," Amanda remembers. "I play classical piano, too, so I have composed some classical pieces."

Currently she's completely focused on writing pop material, though, and it's usually a melody that will first sprout in her brain before lyrics begin to grow. Such was the case with the beginnings of "Without No Doubt."

"I can't just sit down and say, 'OK, now I'm writing a song.' That doesn't work for me, it has to come naturally like when I wrote 'Without No Doubt' during grade 8," she confesses. "I was sitting in class, and the tune just came to me. I kept on working on it, and then I performed it for our middle school talent show. My former grade 5 teacher fell in love with it and passed it along to who would eventually become my manager."

Aside from promoting the release of "Without No Doubt," constantly practicing and prepping for performances and gearing up to record more of her songs, straight-A student Amanda is set to begin high school in the fall. She has already signed up for vocal class and hopes to continue performing in school productions.

While she loves Broadway musicals like "Wicked" and "The Sound of Music," she is really into pop music, specifically Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Adele and Alicia Keys. She just attended a Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran concert in Toronto and came away with a lot of inspiration.

"Taylor Swift said a lot of inspiring things at the concert that I will remember. When she was young she always wanted to grow up because she thought bullying was just a school thing, but as she got older she received a lot of criticism. One critic even said that she couldn't sing, but nothing knocked her down," Amanda tells before reflecting on her own experiences. "It's just like me, even if people might say one bad comment about me, I won't let that knock me down. I won't give up. I will continue putting my music out there and being who I am."

Like I said before, Amanda Raya is anything but your typical teenage girl. She is on the road to becoming a true force to be reckoned with.

"Without No Doubt" is currently available from iTunes. For more information, visit amandaraya.com.

Verhoven

 

VERHOVEN

At Tom Bergin's (under new ownership, set to reopen Dec. 1, 2013)

840 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles (Mid-City West)

There is definitely an aura of mystery surrounding the L.A. indie-pop group Verhoven. When you visit their website, a solitary image of a group of stray cats with glowing eyes greets you. The interactive site permits you to click on those eyes to hear songs from Verhoven's new self-titled debut EP, but no other information is offered. And having their music stand for itself is precisely what the duo at the heart of Verhoven, vocalist/keyboardist Thrice Noble (aka Gabe Sokoloff) and guitarist Scott Glenn, aims for.

Although the pair, who co-write and produce all of Verhoven's music, formed the band just over a year and a half ago, they've been creating music together for years.

"We were both working at a music company, and he played me some early tracks. I really liked them and said, 'This is something that I could really collaborate with,'" tells Scott of how they initially came together. "So we started writing, and it turned into a project called Names of Stars. When that ended, we wanted to pursue a kind of carefree sound that we were liking at the moment, which is what we did, and ultimately decided to start a new project and go that route."

The camaraderie between the two is evident from the moment we take a seat in a booth at one of Scott's favorite places to hang out in his neighborhood, Tom Bergin's. The bandmates often poke fun at each other, but clearly have immense respect for one another as well. As Thrice and I order pints of Guinness, he tells me that in doing so, I'm missing out on Scott's beer consultation services.

"I am a beer, and alcohol in general, aficionado," Scott chimes in. "What's going on in California is pretty awesome. San Diego, Central and Northern California have some amazing breweries: Stone, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey. [Craft beer] is becoming a big thing."

Tonight Scott chooses the O'Hara's Irish Red, and he actually met its brewmaster, Seamus O'Hara, at Tom Bergin's one night. Most of the staff recognizes Scott, and his frequent patronage is going to be rewarded with one of the Irish tavern's famous cardboard shamrocks.

Tom Bergin's shamrock-adorned bar

 "I've been coming here for many years; my fiancée and I just moved down the street, so we've become regulars," he says. "We've always been enamored by the shamrock thing, and finally we were nominated by the staff."

Soon Scott's name will adorn a shamrock on Tom Bergin's walls or ceiling alongside the likes of Cary Grant, Tommy Lasorda and Kiefer Sutherland. Aside from the tavern's trademark Irish coffees and St. Patrick's Day extravaganzas that transform the parking lot into a beer garden, Scott recommends ordering the Fish and Chips, Corned Beef and Cabbage or the Irish Breakfast. Tom Bergin's chef Brandon Boudet hails from New Orleans and frequently does southern special like fried chicken and jambalaya, which is free whenever there's a Saints game being played.

Both Thrice and Scott made recent trips to New Orleans, where they fell in love with the city.

"I went for Jazzfest, and the best part of the festival was the food – all the mobile food stands representing all the local cuisine: gumbo, crawfish, étoufée, beignets," Scott marvels. "If you want to see live music, experience good culture and party all night long, New Orleans can't be beat."

Scott was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley but has lived in the area around Miracle Mile and Mid-City West for a while. When Thrice mentions that he loves naan, Scott readily has an Indian restaurant to recommend, India's Tandoori, "one of the best Indian food places in all of L.A." Thrice, who moved here from Florida seven years ago, has lived all over Los Angeles, from Mount Washington where he loved the vibe and establishments to Santa Monica where he likes the walkability. One commonality among their separate backgrounds is music.

"Like so many others, my parents forced piano lessons on me. It was classical, but pretty soon I co-opted those skills for more popular musical-related pleasures, learning to play songs by ear and then writing my own," Thrice remembers. "I didn't start writing lyrics until late high school. I think it's typical, songwriters seem to write music before lyrics; lyrics come when you get a little angsty."

"My mom was into rock in its 1960s heyday – Jefferson Airplane, Iron Butterfly, the Doors, the Mamas & the Papas. My dad was the classic '50s dad, and all we would listen to in the car was doo wop. I would get so sick of 'Rockin' Robin,' although I have a new appreciation for it since I've gotten older," Scott shares. "They never forced an instrument on me. I actually had to beg them for a guitar. My friend got one and could play a few licks that I could recognize from the Smashing Pumpkins and Metallica, and I thought, 'if he could do it, I can.' My mom said, 'If I get you this Squier and a little practice amp for $200, you better use it.' A year later, my brother would scream, 'He won't stop playing!' I was 15, and from there I got obsessed with it."

Scott eventually attended UC Berkeley where he started songwriting and playing in bands. When he moved back to SoCal, he went to the Musicians Institute for guitar and sound engineering. Many of his and Thrice's adolescent years were spent at concerts.

 "I went to a lot of shows in my youth, particularly between ages 15 and 19 because you couldn't go to bars or clubs, so it was the only place you could socialize and meet people," recalls Scott. "One of the most striking was when I went to see Nine Inch Nails at the Gibson Amphitheater, when they had just released The Downward Spiral. It was a really good show in terms of Trent Reznor's masterful auteurism, his complete control over every aspect – the stage performance, the production, the mixing of the electronic elements with live instrumentation, knowing how to work the crowd – was on another level."

"Super Furry Animals, probably the first non-classic rock, psychedelic band that I got into, also incorporated electronic elements into their live show and albums in a way that turned me on in high school. When Rings Around the World came out, that was the peak of my fandom," says Thrice. "The first time I saw them, a friend and I skipped school to drive three hours up to Orlando. That was amazing. Another summer in high school, I was traveling and lucky enough to catch Radiohead performing in Oxford, England. It was their first homecoming show since they had achieved fame. The openers included Beck, Supergrass and Sigur Rós, so it was an epic show."

As far as their favorite local venues, Thrice says that it would be Spaceland/the Satellite, although he jokes that his feelings towards the club have changed since he fell off a chair while performing there.

"He tried to do a karate/kung fu jump kick, but he was out of practice," laughs Scott.

"My pants were too tight," is Thrice's deadpan reply.

Since their days together in Names of Stars, Thrice and Scott have shared an amiable partnership, although their songwriting method is something they've definitely amended.

"The first album with our former band, a lot of the songs were germs from things we had written in our youth," Thrice says. "For Verhoven, we took a different approach: All of the songs were started from scratch by us together in a room. No one was bringing stuff to the table from the past."

"We wanted to try something different with this process, so we got together with his computer mini rig and synthesizer. I would have my guitar and we would throw down riffs and ideas what we refer to as 'nuggets,' which are seedlings of songs," Scott details. "We recorded them, then went back after some time to 40 or 50 of them and started eliminating, expanding on them until we got them down to 10, then we picked five for the EP."

From the darker edged lead track, "Manimal" to the more pop and dance-inducing "Moonshine Skyway," Verhoven's debut EP displays a successful marriage of the electronic and live instrumentation that Scott and Thrice became enamored with in the music that filled their youth.

"We have live drums mixed with drum samples to create an aesthetic that we feel draws on the best of both worlds. You get that mechanical dance feel of synthetic drums, but you also get the live personality to it, so it doesn't feel cold and heartless," says Scott. "'One thing we've struggled with from day one is that we have so many influences and like so many styles that we're always unsure of where the boundary is of how many directions can we go and still make it our own and have some level of consistency so it sounds like a singular point of view."

Although the band's name was not inspired by Paul Verhoeven or his films, as we finish our drinks, I decide to find out what their favorite movies from the Dutch director might be. Thrice admonishes my selections of Showgirls and Starship Troopers as the two worst from Verhoeven, while choosing Robocop as his own. Scott names Total Recall (for its stellar action/sci-fi moments and gratuitous violence) and Basic Instinct (for the sex and thriller twist and turns)

"Even though they weren't really an inspiration for the band, if you had to relate the Verhoeven movies to our sound, the direction of where we're going with it relative to our past is a lot more visceral," Scott concludes. "There is some futuristic sensibility to it and a lot of thinking about sex, drugs, aliens, ecstasy – the immediate sensations you happen upon in life."

The Verhoven EP is currently available. For more information, visit vrhvn.com.

STREET SIGNS - Be Good

If you walk along Melrose Avenue in Mid-City West, you'll see a bunch of these wheat pastings with E.T. telling us all to "Be Good."

STREET SIGNS - Trusto Hijacks G.I. Joe

You can't walk through the Melrose and Fairfax District without seeing a sign, lamp post or some kind of surface that's been bombed by the TrustoCorp, whose pieces highlight "the hilarity and hypocrisy of human behavior." They hijacked a few G.I. Joe: Retaliation film posters on the corner of Fairfax Avenue at Rosewood Avenue in Mid-City West, adding their logo and masking Bruce Willis' and Channing Tatum's faces.

STREET SIGNS - Doodle's Valentine

Yet another Snyder piece has popped up in the Melrose and Fairfax District – this time, on the Curson Avenue side of Typhoon Fashion (at 7601 Melrose Ave.) in Mid-City West. Doodle's Valentine went up just in time for the romantic holiday last month and shows Snyder's trademark character putting the moves on a classmate during math class.

Alex Manos of Beverly Hills Car Club

Beverly Hills Car Club's Alex Manos at Petersen Automotive Museum

ALEX MANOS of BEVERLY HILLS CAR CLUB

At Petersen Automotive Museum 

6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (Mid-City West) 323-930-2277

Growing up, my dad was obsessed with cars. We always had at least four of them – ranging from Mercedez-Benz sedans to a DeLorean DMC-12 and various Ferrari convertibles – even though there were only two drivers in our household. The main chore my dad had for my sisters and me on the weekends was to wash, vacuum out and wax each vehicle. Instead of loving these classic automobiles, I was pretty much indifferent to them.

That is, until I met Alex Manos.

The owner and founder of Beverly Hills Car Club took me on a recent visit to one of his favorite places in Los Angeles, Petersen Automotive Museum, and his enthusiasm was infectious. We were in the lobby for just a few minutes to snap a photo in front of the museum's sign, and he can hardly stand still in anticipation of showing me all the cars.

Alex Manos with the 1916 Miller Golden Submarine

 "As a kid I always grew up around classic cars. My parents had a Volvo 1800S, a two-door sports car, Aston Martin lookalike. It was really cool. They also had a Volvo Amazon," remembers Alex. "So, classic cars have always been a passion and something I've had a love for."

The first model to come into view as we begging exploring the Petersen is a gorgeous 1963 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, formerly owned by Emmy-winning director John Frankenheimer and his wife Evans, and Alex tells me about his previous visits to the museum.

"One of my first times here was for a party being thrown by Snoop Dogg. I remember seeing the 1938 Alfa Romeo here and the 1949 XK120 Jaguar," he shares.

And yes, he recognizes each car on sight and can immediately come up with the make, model and year in every instance. When I remark that he could spend an hour just looking at the details of all the cars, Alex corrects me, saying, "Much longer than an hour! If you are passionate about these automobiles, just staring at one is a relaxing thing. It's like staring at the ocean for some people, staring at these cars."

One could really take an entire day to take in everything at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Their current exhibits include Sculpture in Motion: Masterpieces of Italian Design (running through Feb. 3) – in which Alex could be heard to exclaim, "What if you rolled up to a club in this car?!" – and Aerodynamics: From Art to Science (running through May 27) that showcased sleek and completely unique body designs, like the 1916 Miller Golden Submarine. The museum unveils a new exhibit, Fins, Flash, and Flying on Four Wheels on Feb. 23 with more than a dozen iconic vehicles with fins, including the 1959 Cadillac, 1937 Delage Aerosport and 1952 Spohn Palos.

You don't have to be as avid a car lover as Alex to enjoy the museum, though. Some of their permanent exhibits, like Hot Wheels and Hollywood Gallery: Cars of Film and Television, appeal to everyone. Besides a Batmobile and Robin's Motorcycle, there's the 1965 Mercedes-Benz from The Hangover and, in honor of the new Gangster Squad film, the Petersen hosted an exhibit of costumes, props and vehicles driven by actors such as Emma Stone in the movie.

Alex with the 1965 Mercedes-Benz from The Hangover

Being approached by several celebrities who were intrigued by his ride is actually how Alex was struck with the idea of starting Beverly Hills Car Club.

"About 12 years ago, I bought a 1962 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors. I bought the car from a guy who had owned it for 30 years and was the manager of the service department at a Lincoln dealership. So the car was perfect mechanically, and everywhere I drove it people would try to buy it from me. Shaquille O'Neal pulled me over. Hype Williams chased me down," he recalls. "After a while, I was like, 'You know what, I'm going to sell this car and get another one.' I sold that car, and it just started escalating from there."

Alex's next car was a convertible that needed some work.

"After I sold that first Lincoln, I started restoring cars. I bought a convertible, painted it and started getting into the restoration aspect of it. It really gives you a deeper love for the cars because you're doing so much work on them."

Since he's always had a creative flair, it was easy for Alex to envision what the convertible would end up looking like, and he found a lot of joy in dreaming up the details, like what color combinations to use. Alex's uses this same keen eye to discern a car's ultimate potential when purchasing cars to sell through Beverly Hills Car Club, which he founded in 2008.

"Our cars come through dealers, auctions and the Internet – a bit of everything. We have cars from $1,500 all the way up to over $200,000. We're probably the only place that's like that, where you can buy a car for $2,000 and then the next car down is $200,000. It gives everyone a chance to find their dream," he says. "The great thing about this company is that if you only have a small budget, you can still buy your dream car. You can build it up and put money into it slowly."

Beverly Hills Car Club really do have something for car collectors from any walk of life. They basically buy and sell each model as-is. Most of their inventory is comprised of European cars, but they do buy and sell Ford Mustangs and Thunderbirds as well as Chevy Corvettes. Right now they have a 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE Coupe, like the one in The Hangover that's at the Petersen, for just $1,250. Since it needs a lot of restoration work, it's the perfect starter car. They have a 1973 Porsche 911T Targa in good condition for $26,500 and a pristine 1938 Peugeot 402BL Eclipse Decapotable for $189,500. You can visit their showroom in East Los Angeles (4576 1/2 Worth St.), where they have two warehouses with 50,000 square feet full of classic cars.

The 1953 Nash-Healey on display at the Petersen elicits a funny story from Alex.

Alex with the 1953 Nash-Healey

"I had that car there, [points to] the Nash-Healey by Pinin Farina. It was a restoration project. A friend of mine from Coldplay was here at the museum, took a picture of this car and sent it to me because he had seen the one I had at the dealership. He said, 'I don't know if you know what you have!' I replied, 'Oh, I know what I have,'" Alex says with a laugh.

Although the Ferrari 275 GTB is one of his favorite cars and he has a special affinity for Mercedes, Alex admits to falling in love every time a new vehicle is brought to their showroom.

"Every time a car gets here, it almost feels like a rare, new find, and I get obsessed with that car until the next one comes."

It's this passion that makes Alex's excitement so palpable whenever he talks about classic cars. It's his fervent dedication that fuels Beverly Hills Car Club to strive for the best and bring collectors the most rare automobiles imaginable.

"We serve customers worldwide, so we have people asking for all different things. With these cars, no request is crazy. That 'want' everyone has who is in this business or has this as a hobby, to find that one rare car that nobody else has – there's just something about it. That's what I think makes us successful, that there is so much passion and love for the cars that it just drives you more. If someone has a job, and they're not happy with what they're doing, it shows. If you go to a restaurant and the chef hates his job, then the food doesn't taste good. If you go to a restaurant and they love what they're doing, then the food is delicious."

Beverly Hills Car Club is located at 4576 1/2 Worth St., Los Angeles. For more information, visit beverlyhillscarclub.com.

The Beverly Hills Car Club showroom

L.A. LANDMARKS - Canter's Deli

 

CANTER'S DELI

419 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles (Mid-City West) 323-651-2030

Walking into Canter's Deli is like stepping into another dimension where time stands still. With its art-deco furnishings, autumn-leaves ceiling and framed newspaper articles and black-and-white photos adorning the walls, you feel as if you just entered a 1950s diner. While hoards of tourists visit the delicatessen every day to get a taste of its legendary charm, its the colorful cast of local regulars who fill the booths into the wee hours of the night and make Canter's one of my favorite L.A. landmarks.

After the 1929 stock market crash, Ben Canter and his two brothers lost their New Jersey deli and transplanted their business to Boyle Heights, Calif. in 1931. Canter Brothers' Delicatessen thrived in the Jewish center of the city, but when the area began to change Ben relocated to Fairfax Avenue with his wife Jennie, daughter Selma Udko and son-in-law Harold Price. The established Canter's at the location of the old Esquire Theatre in 1953, and ever since it has remained a family-owned business, open 24 hours a day except for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Canter's authentic, Jewish-deli comfort food is what it's known for. Whether you come for a Number Seven breakfast (bagels, lox, cream cheese, onion, tomato and olives), a bowl of Matzo Ball soup and a Monte Cristo sandwich for lunch or a full Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, you're guaranteed to leave satisfied. While they're known for their Pastrami and Corned Beef Reubens, they offer some pretty unique sandwiches, such as the Mac-Attack, with bacon and sharp cheddar melted over a scoop of macaroni and cheese pressed between slices of sourdough bread.

The first thing you see after walking through Canter's doors is the bakery case. Savory bagels, loaves of challah, piles of buttery cookies, layered apple strudel and rich cheesecakes sit encased in glass. Some of the most mouth-watering treats to be had at Canter's are the rugelach. The most popular flavor of the Jewish pastries at the restaurant is the Chocolate Chip Rugula, which are so rich and decadent.

Located in the heart of the city, it's no wonder that celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Sydney Poitier, Johnny Depp, Prince, Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe have all noshed on a plate of Canter's famous pickles. The Turtles mention the deli in their song "Oh Daddy," and it's featured in Ann Patchett's novel The Magician's Assistant, films like I Ought to Be in Pictures and TV shows like "Entourage," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Private Practice." In 2010, Canter's joined the L.A. food truck race with its own truck, bringing some of its most well-known dishes to the streets of the city.

The main attraction for me has always been Canter's cocktail lounge, the Kibitz Room. In Yiddish, 'kibitz' means to speak informally or offer advice, and since opening in 1961, the Kibitz Room has hosted many interesting chat sessions over well-poured glasses of alcohol. I started visiting the lounge to check out local bands and was often surprised to see well-known musicians grab the mic for an impromptu midnight jam session. Throughout its history, Kibitz has seen everyone from Frank Zappa, Fiona Apple, the Doors, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and Rick James grace its stage. Most notably, Ben and Jennie's grandson Marc Canter's high school friend Saul Hudson and his band spent several of their early days hanging out in the lounge. They would later become known the world over as Slash and Guns N' Roses, and Marc documented their rise to fame in his book, Reckless Road.

STREET SIGNS: Diamond in the Lotus

This stencil is part of Free Humanity's Diamond in the Lotus Project, which aims to plant "positive subliminal seeds of Consciousness in urban areas." This particular piece is on Spaulding Avenue (just off Melrose Avenue) in Mid-CityWest.

Dylan Hyde

Dylan Hyde at Dylan's Candy Bar

 

DYLAN HYDE

At Dylan's Candy Bar

6333 W. Third St., Los Angeles (Mid-City West) 323-930-1600

Rising pop artist Dylan Hyde and CEO/Founder of Dylan's Candy Bar Dylan Lauren not only share the same first name, they both have an immense love for candy. Even though the L.A. branch of the candy empire built by the daughter of designer Ralph Lauren has only been open since September, Dylan Hyde's sweet tooth has led him through the Dylan's Candy Bar doors at least five times in the past few weeks, and he doesn't even live in the city. The demands of Dylan's hectic career usually bring him to Los Angeles from his native San Diego multiple times a week, and whenever he has the chance, this candy store is his favorite destination.

"I push them to take me here all the time," he says.

The 'them' Dylan refers to is his manager Richard Allen and producer Taran Peirson, co-owners of the label that Dylan is signed to, Crissy Field Records. As we step into Dylan's Candy Bar, Richard and Taran begin to explore the store on their own as Dylan takes me through each section. It soon becomes evident how much he loves the shop because he knows exactly where everything is. From his absolute favorite sour candies (sour belts, Warheads, the Pucker Powder bottling station) and candy canes to pop rocks and the many flavors of gum, he shows me everything – even the fashion apparel section.

"I would love to get a shirt to wear, just because my name's on it," he grins.

Whether it's a pair of rain boots covered in colorful candy images or a special Dylan's Candy Bar Whirly Pop, there's something to satisfy every craving at the shop. Currently they showcase an election section with red, white and blue gum balls and presidential candidate dispensers, as well as a mustache area that Dylan goes crazy over. And, of course, there is Halloween candy galore: lollipops and gummies made to look like body parts, candy corn and chocolates wrapped in ghostly foil. I ask Dylan what he's going to be for Halloween, and his answer reveals another of his passions.

"At first I was going to be my favorite superhero from DC Comics, Flash, but they don't have any Flash costumes. My next favorite is Batman, so I think I might be him. I'm always a superhero; I have a thing for superheroes. Taran and I read comics all of the time, we keep up with all the series. The local comic book store, they know us when we walk in," he shares. "Flash is my all-time favorite, I'm more of a DC guy than Marvel, although I do kind of obsess over Spider-Man. But I love the Justice League: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern – all of them."

Although Dylan's Candy Bar is his first stop whenever he comes to the Original Farmers Market, I wonder where else his addiction to sugar might lead him.

"We'll usually walk through the Farmers Market. There's a Chinese place that we go to [China Depot] and a really awesome doughnut place [Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts]. I get the old-fashioned glaze doughnuts. Right next door is an ice cream place [Bennett's Ice Cream], and obviously, I have to hit up the ice cream place," laughs Dylan. "I have this conflict all of the time: My favorite flavor is really cookie dough, but my brain says that my favorite is mint. So sometimes I have to mix them together."

Dylan has also been combining fun with his love of music from a young age when his family would go to Sunday family karaoke night at the Flinn Springs Inn near his grandparents' house.

"I used to do a song by Smash Mouth ['All Star'] off the Shrek soundtrack. I was obsessed with Shrek, I could probably still recite some lines from it," admits Dylan. "I would sing that same song every single time at karaoke for two years. I would also do Billy Joel songs, but mostly I would do that Smash Mouth song."

Although Dylan eventually grew out of the Smash Mouth song phase and began to play the piano, drums and guitar, the influence of Billy Joel has been a constant throughout his life.

"Billy Joel is my all-time inspiration. I've been listening to him since I was 4. We used to put on his Essential album with all of his hits; we would play it all day. Whenever we were in the car, that was the only thing I would ever let them play. My granddad really liked Billy Joel and would play some of his songs, like 'Piano Man,' on the piano," he says. "His songwriting is actually similar to how I try and write. When I write a song I don't do both melody and lyrics at the same time. I sit down at the piano and record with my phone, or I start singing melodies, just random things, and try to catch them. Afterwards, I plug my phone into speakers, and when I hear something I like I'll go back to it and figure something out with those chord progressions then sit down and do a melody. Or vice versa, sing a whole bunch of stuff then sit down at the piano. Billy Joel does kind of the same thing, he does one or the other. I watched some of his interviews, and there's a CD where there's about 20 people there listening to him and he sings a song and talks about how he wrote it, how it was produced, the story behind it. I used to listen to that all the time, and it's what started everything for me, with music."

Dylan began performing in musical theater productions at CYT San Diego, and one of his favorite performances there was in "Peter Pan."

"I was one of the twin Lost Boys. We had liberty spikes of hair, it was really crazy and fun. That's where I met my manager, Richard, actually. He was doing makeup and costumes for the show," he remembers. "Two years later I was doing one of my first professional shows, '13,' and Richard and Taran went to see it because they knew the director – who was the same director of 'Peter Pan.' My part had a lot of R&B vocals, and after seeing me perform, they wanted to work with me."

Besides signing Dylan to Crissy Field Records, Allen created a webseries around Dylan called "Amazed," which debuted in May. The mystery/science-fiction series was inspired by retro TV programs like "The Twilight Zone" and "Scooby-Doo," a show that Dylan is very fond of.

"When I'm at home I'll pull up 'Scooby-Doo' episodes On Demand," he says. "I like spooky, eerie stuff, but I do get scared. Ghosts freak me out, but I can't stop watching it. I like being thrilled."

You may recognize Dylan from "Amazed" or the YouTube videos he's posted of himself doing covers of Justin Bieber songs. He's also posted a video of a cover of Pink's "Perfect," which is preceded by Dylan sharing his own personal story of struggling with hearing impairments since he was born. He's undergone multiple ear surgeries, and there are two things he always turns to when he has particularly bad days.

"One is Dakota, my little sister. Having a bad day, she can definitely pull me out of it. Back when I had surgeries I would be out for months, it was a struggle because at school you get annoying to other kids by saying, 'What? Huh?' all the time. I had that frustration, and music was the thing that pulled me out of the hole," he shares. "When you plug your ears and sing, you can hear it in your head. I could always hear myself singing fine. The room where I grew up playing the upright piano at my grandma's, it has a wood floor that vibrates. The sound would vibrate through me, and I could hear it. Doing music was something I could relate with. It listened to me, I could listen to it."

With singles "Love Is," "Running Free" and the recently released "Gone" showcasing Dylan's unique vocal style that fuses the influence of legendary artists such as Frank Sinatra and Joel with a contemporary flair like that of John Legend and Michael Buble, Dylan is oftentimes dubbed a "neo-crooner." "Gone," produced by Peirson and Shawn Campbell (who discovered Cody Simpson), is a perfect example of old-school swagger meets contemporary pop flavor.

"I've looked up to Shawn for a couple of years now because I was a big Cody Simpson fan. I knew who Shawn was, and when he came up to me at an event and said he wanted to work with me I was like, 'What?! Shawn Campbell wants to work with me,'" says Dylan. "My dream is also to be a producer. I want to be a record label executive besides being an artist, so being able to work with other producers is pretty cool for me. Working with Shawn and Taran together on 'Gone,' it was a great collaboration. They're brilliant."

Dylan is currently working on material for his debut album, coming next year, and a music video his next single, "Crash Into You." Angelenos can see him perform this Saturday, Nov. 3, at Pop Explosion.

"I might do a John Legend song, 'Tonight (Best You Ever Had)' [on Saturday]. I want to make sure I do stuff that new fans can relate to by doing a John Legend song that they know, then I'll do my single and maybe a Whitney Houston song," he shares. "It's a total rush on stage. In Nashville, everyone was freaking out; they had signs that said 'Dylan Hyde.' I did 'Love Is,' and everyone sang along with it. That was super cool. Things like that are awesome. You either do music, or you don't. Everyone has that thing that speaks to them. A lot of my friends, it's sports or skating. Music was just my thing, my whole family's thing really. Every single person did theater. My granddad had his own show in Vegas as a tap dancer, my grandma and granddad met each other at a show. It's in my blood, I grew up around it and it just spoke to me."

Dylan is also getting set to embark on a promotional tour to New York City, his first trip to the Big Apple. But one locale in the city will be completely familiar to him, the site where five lucky fans will get the chance to come to a meet and greet with him: Dylan's Candy Bar's flagship store in Manhattan.

"It's going to be an intimate thing, I'm going to bring my guitar and just jam with them. It's going to be fun," he says. "I love doing those kinds of things, meet and greets, because I get to be one on one with the fans."

"Gone" is currently available. For more information, visit dylanhydemusic.com.