I should have clarified that I was in West Hollywood not for composing, but because I came to L.A. to be a rock star. (That didn't happen, obviously, but that was why I came here.) This was the mid 80s, and since the storied Sunset Strip was in West Hollywood, it was the place I figured I had to be.
If I were moving to L.A. now, West Hollywood would still be nice, and it's very central, but it's obviously not the rock mecca that it was. For composing, Silverlake sounds good to me. The Valley is good, too, although I'd lean south and maybe east. I'm partial to Studio City, not just because we live there, but because I think it's the highest concentration of "industry" people, aside from Santa Monica or Topanga. Cost is an obvious factor, though.
One problem with more expensive areas (other than the "more expensive" part), is that in ritzy areas, your neighbors are less likely to be "up and coming." Stephen Spielberg would be a fun neighbor, but the odds of him actually hiring me to score his next movie would still be zero, even if I lived next door.
Now that I think about it, I think the exact area is less important than simply getting out of the house. Poker games, golf, kids' school events, whatever. Heck, when my son started school, I tried to convince my accountant to let us deduct his tuition as a business expense, because the networking opportunities were insane.
I started typing some stories about that (as we all know, I can go on and on when it comes to my favorite topic - me!), but I realize I should be careful that I don't paint too glowing a picture. With my son's schools, for instance, I've met lots of cool people, including directors and producers, a couple of which turned into gigs. But I don't go to these school events (or games or whatever) with networking in mind, because that wouldn't be very fun. Plus, realistically, if I'm chatting with some producer about a period piece he's doing, there's no way I'm going to convince him that I, a rock and roller who stumbled into Barbie and Hip Hop, am the perfect guy to give him his orchestral score. Especially since people at that level almost always already have a guy. I'd rather just enjoy the conversation.
The truth is that even in Los Angeles, even if your kids go to an artsy progressive school, even if you're invited to chummy poker games, even if you're meeting people right and left ... this is still a near impossible business to break into. So I don't want to make it seem like my story could happen to anyone.
Especially because my story was set in a totally different time where there were opportunities to make a name for yourself through sheer perseverance. I'm primarily a keyboard player and I arrived in Los Angeles at a time where keyboardists were becoming production kings. Sequencing and sampling were new, and that was our domain.
It was also expensive, which was actually a good thing, because every nickel I made went into more gear (believe me, I can save), so I could buy more than everybody else. I had a $3/day food budget (yes, really), I had no furniture, not even a chair, and I sold my 280Z and bought a former coroner's station wagon for $600. (Looking back, I'm baffled that women would go out with me.)
That frugality bought me (over time) a cassette 4-track, an MSQ-700 sequencer, a Prophet 2000 sampler and an SP-12 drum machine. (Along with the usual synths and my trusty Ibanez.) One guy would later joke about me, "We knew Mike was our guy when we went to his apartment and there was nothing there but food and gear."
Nowadays, any bozo with a laptop can get into this game, but back then, my setup was rare, and that opened a lot of doors, including starting a decent songwriting career, since I could demo my own songs for free. That got me my first gold record, which I mention because putting that on the wall gave me still more credibility ("Wow, Mike must be legit!") which opened even more doors. In that same vein, this is why that DJ hired me, because he could hear me making tracks through the paper thin walls.
Now ... I realize this is totally self-indulgent, but this has all got me reminiscing. So if you'll indulge me, here's the first track I made when I got my P2000 sampler. (Getting that first sampler was a huge deal to me.) This was around the time of Paul Hardcastle's "19", so I sampled Ginger from Gilligan's Island off my TV speaker, and I played it live against a 2-bar sequenced bassline and beat:
View attachment Ginger Rap.mp3
The point of all this (before I got lost down memory lane) is that the mid 80's isn't 2022. I have a certain arrogance that makes me think that if I were starting over and moved to L.A. all over again, even in today's environment, I'd still make it. Because I'm that good, dammit! But ... would I? The competition today is staggering, and unlike in my day, the price of admission is peanuts, so its harder to stand out.
With that said, good composers can, and do, stand out. Mind you, I don't know that I actually am a great composer, or a great songwriter, or a great keyboard player. But I think I am, so even with the much worse odds today, I would do it all again. The cost/benefit analysis probably says don't come here, and I'd know defeat is likely. (To be clear, it was then, too.) But for me, I would have to do it, and I think that's ultimately the deciding factor.
Hmmm, even by my standards, that is one rambling post. I'll offer as an excuse that I have a really bad cold and I may be overmedicating.
