June 8th, 2012
ljdigital
Zoom LJ Digital Student Jeff Sizemore Story Featured on Zocalo From his article, “DIY to Stimulate Your Senses: Browsing the Shelves at Downtown L.A.’s The Smell” by Jeff Sizemore I define myself as much by my love for music as by my love for books. So my first trip to The Smell, a tiny do-it-yourself music venue in Downtown L.A., was an experience deserving of excessive cliché (eye-opening! life-changing!). The bands I heard altered my perception of how music could be played, distributed, and enjoyed. But as I waited for them to start (with the tardiness characteristic of DIY concerts), I was just as enlightened by the venue’s small but eclectic communal bookshelves. The entrance to The Smell is dressed up in a collage of graffiti—everything from simple tags to more intricatewheatpaste poster art. As you step inside, the stimuli are overwhelming—not just the glorious cacophony of a band or a DJ set crackling through the ancient PA system, but also the venue’s namesake. As you enter the lobby from an alley, a bouquet of cigarette smoke and bodily humors wafts over you. Read more at Zocalo.

LJ Digital Student Jeff Sizemore Story Featured on Zocalo

From his article, “DIY to Stimulate Your Senses: Browsing the Shelves at Downtown L.A.’s The Smell”

by Jeff Sizemore

I define myself as much by my love for music as by my love for books. So my first trip to The Smell, a tiny do-it-yourself music venue in Downtown L.A., was an experience deserving of excessive cliché (eye-opening! life-changing!). The bands I heard altered my perception of how music could be played, distributed, and enjoyed. But as I waited for them to start (with the tardiness characteristic of DIY concerts), I was just as enlightened by the venue’s small but eclectic communal bookshelves.

The entrance to The Smell is dressed up in a collage of graffiti—everything from simple tags to more intricatewheatpaste poster art. As you step inside, the stimuli are overwhelming—not just the glorious cacophony of a band or a DJ set crackling through the ancient PA system, but also the venue’s namesake. As you enter the lobby from an alley, a bouquet of cigarette smoke and bodily humors wafts over you.

Read more at Zocalo.

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A blog created by the Literary Journalism Department @ the University of California, Irvine, dedicated to discussions about non-fiction narratives in this ever-evolving era of E-books, E-readers, Blogs, Instapaper, The Atavist, Byliner, Amazon's Kindle Singles and all other new media outlets open to promoting great journalism. LJ Digital is managed by Asst. Prof. Erika Hayasaki and Cleo Tobbi, intern and UCI literary journalism student.

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