The Smell
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The Smell is a punk rock/noise/experimental venue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. [1] The Smell, notable for its DIY ethic, is home to many of the area's avant-garde performers and artists. A few who are known as Smell "regulars" include Ancestors, BARR, Carla Bozulich, David Scott Stone, Health, Lavender Diamond, The Mae Shi, Mika Miko, No Age, Silver Daggers, Thrones, and Upsilon Acrux. The venue is maintained by Jim Smith, one of the four original organizers of the club, a constantly evolving group of volunteers, and the Danny Frank security street team.
The Smell continues in the tradition of Los-Angeles-based underground clubs such as The Masque and The Jabberjaw. Aside from its primary function as a live music and performance art space, The Smell hosts a library, a vegan snack bar, and a gallery space. The venue predates the conception of the Gallery Row district in which it is located. The Smell and the relatively new Gallery Row both border Skid Row.
[edit] History
The Smell was founded by Ara Shirinyan, Jarrett Silberman, and Jim Smith as one of the few all-ages art/performance spaces in Los Angeles, after the demise of two local venues, The Jabberjaw and The Impala Cafe, during the same week in late 1997. The Smell opened just a short time later, on January 8, 1998. It was originally located by the intersection of Magnolia and Lankershim in North Hollywood, but when the cost of rent rose during the NoHo Arts District boom in 1999, the venue relocated to cheaper Downtown Los Angeles. Shirinyan gave up his ownership before the venue's move, so Silberman, Smith, and Mac Mann constructed the new space. Silberman left in late 2000, leaving only Smith to carry on with its maintenance. The venue continued to thrive, serving as a community hub for punk, experimental, noise and weirder electronic music fans, underage and otherwise. However, fire-code violations forced the club's closure in February 2003. Instead of shutting down for good, Smith, now its sole owner and its only full-time employee, used his own money and worked with volunteers to renovate the venue. Since reopening in September 2003, benefit shows help keep the space open and up to code.
