You’re Invited! LAMA Halloween Costume Party

Trick or Treat! Students and staff haunt the LAMA campus…

We absolutely love Halloween! Get your ghoul on at this year’s costume party, where we’ll feature live music, a DJ and of course, tons of costumes! Students, alumni, staff and their guests are required to wear a costume in order to attend.

While you are there, take a tour of our brand new LAMA North Campus. If you have an October birthday, come celebrate your day-of-birth with fellow Libras and Scorpios including LAMA staffers Wilber and Charisse!

For more information about the evening, and to register to attend, click here.

When:

Saturday October 26, 2013 from 9:00 PM – 1:00 AM PDT

Where:

LAMA North Campus (Use Del Mar entrance)

10 E. Del Mar Boulevard

Pasadena, CA 91105

-LAMA Staff

LAMA Alumni Band “The Fetching” Open for Everclear Tonight

LAMA Alumni band The Fetching finish rehearsal in advance of tonight’s show with Everclear. (photo via The Fetching on Facebook)

We are so excited to see Everclear perform  tonight but even better, alumni band The Fetching will open the show! A big congratulations to Santiago Granados and Tahkus as the band was picked out of many LAMA student/alumni bands who submitted for the opportunity to play.

Tickets can still be purchased for tonight’s special evening benefiting music education. A limited number of VIP tickets are available which include premium seating, exclusive “meet-n-greet” with Everclear, a pre-show cocktail reception with open bar and catering provided by Tender Greens and Zona Rosa Coffee and a signed collectible Everclear poster. A portion of the proceeds from this concert will benefit The Playhouse’s Wells Fargo Theatrical Diversity Project.

American rock band Everclear was formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 by lead singer and guitarist Art Alexakis. The band has gone multi-platinum with over 6 million albums sold in the U.S. and Canada alone, 8 Top 40 hit singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock, Top 40, & Adult Top 40 charts, including: “Santa Monica,” “I Will Buy You A New Life,” “Wonderful,” and “Father of Mine.”

“When I look back at what Everclear has done, I see a lot of things that have changed and a lot of things that have stayed consistent. But at the end of the day, I’m still doing the same thing I’ve always done. It’s still guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll, and I’m still just telling stories, which is all I ever wanted to do,” said Everclear’s Art Alexakis. “I’m proud of what we’ve done and I still enjoy it. And, I feel blessed that other people like it, too. The band and I look forward to performing our music at The Pasadena Playhouse.”

For more info visit: http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/box-office/special-events/one-night-with-everclear.html

-LAMA Staff

Have you been to Bodega at Market on Holly?

On Fridays from 6pm-8pm, catch LAMA musicians providing acoustic music for locals and shop guests. Last week we saw Lorenzo Grassi play and upcoming performances include:

May 31st – Mary Whisenhunt

June 7th – Mariela Arredondo

And more to come….

Bodega is Pasadena’s one-stop-shop for local and organic dairy, fresh flowers, produce, citrus and a host of housemade soups, fresh baked breads, imported pastas, local preserves and much more. We look forward to hanging with you at the next performance. See you at Bodega!

-LAMA staff

LAMA Musicians Play Open Market at One Colorado

This past Sunday, two LAMA bands played the Art + Design Open Market, a one-day event showcasing the art and talent from Pasadena’s leading cultural institutions including LAMA, Pasadena City College and Art Center College of Design.

Lorenzo Grassi (pictured) performed with his trio.

LAMA musicians The Lorenzo Grassi Trio and Maracas provided music as people checked out one-of-a-kind photos, paintings, illustrations, ceramics and handmade apparel and jewelry lining the cobblestone alleys of One Colorado‘s historic property.

Since its launch in 2003, Art + Design Open Market has provided visibility for more than 1000 artists and has served as a go-to destination for countless art collectors and enthusiasts.

-LAMA Staff

LAMA Spotlight: Local Eats

So you just aced your drumming exam. You’re exhausted and hungry! You are tired of Burger King so it’s time to check out other choices around campus and Pasadena in particular. We’re going to highlight a few local shops that keep us healthy and won’t break the bank, plus they are nearby! We also surveyed the LAMA Facebook page and added additional suggestions below:

1. Saladang – 363 South Fair Oaks Avenue  Pasadena, CA 91105 

Distance from campus: 30 ft 

Authentic Thai food just a few feet from campus? You KNOW that we eat here about once a week. From the fried tofu to the Stir-Fried Eggplant it is hard to go wrong here. For you vegetarians out there make sure you notice that their vegetarian Dishes are prepared with Fish Sauce so if you are allergic you might want to request if they can prepare it without.

Check out what other eaters have to say about Saladang on their Yelp page here.

2. Porta Via Italian Foods – 1 W California Blvd #312 Pasadena, CA 91105 

Distance from campus: .3 miles

Porta Via describes it like this on their website “At Porta Via, our passion is creating delicious foods inspired by the vibrant flavors of Italy, the Mediterranean and California in a modern café-style atmosphere that’s as warm and welcoming as an old neighborhood market. Our ingredients are fresh, our sandwiches handcrafted, and our soups made from original family recipes.” We cannot say enough for the atmosphere it really does make you feel like you are in a hip Italian cafe. You may get swayed by the delicious sandwiches but if you are health conscious you must try a “make it like you want it” salad. They give it to you in a large bowl and it is scrumptious.

Check out what other eaters have to say about Porta Via on their Yelp page here.

3. Zushi – 133 W California Blvd Pasadena, CA 91105

Distance from campus: .4 miles

Is there ever a bad time for sushi? In our world there isn’t. Located just .4 miles from campus Zushi will give you your fill of Avocado rolls, Edamame, and any kind of sushi you can think of!  Japanese food is often known as one of the healthiest cuisines ever. Bands that tour Japan often come back quite a few pounds lighter. Bonus tip: If you like spice load up your sushi with Wasabi to clean your palate!

Student/Alumni suggestions, in no particular order:

• Philly’s
• Burger Continental
• Tender Greens
• King Taco
• Lucky Boy
• Dog Haus
• Vince’s Deli
• Islands
• Dona Rosa
• Taco Trucks (walk outside LAMA’s front entrance and look left)
• Rubio’s
• Gerlachs
• Pita Pita
• Zankou Chicken
• Heirlooms

There you go LAMA students! Just writing this article got us pretty hungry so we are going to take a walk over to Porta Via and grab us a salad. If you get a chance to check out any of these places we would love to see your pics — post them on our Facebook wall or Tweet us. Happy eating!

-LAMA Staff

Introducing: Gnesa

Watch out Rebecca Black. Here comes Gnesa!

-LAMA Staff

Early Music Lessons Benefit Your Brain

We always thought we were a little bit smarter from all those years of music lessons — now we have some evidence to back it up. According to a recent New York Times article:

When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend all through life, at least for those who continue to be engaged with music.

Is that how all the LAMA students got those musical skills? Seems early music lessons extends to other aspects of their lives beyond the musical, according to Professor Nina Kraus, Director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University:

To learn to read, you need to have good working memory, the ability to disambiguate speech sounds, make sound-to-meaning connections…each one of these things really seems to be strengthened with active engagement in playing a musical instrument.

We love studies like this because we have said over and over that playing a musical instrument is an important skill for many aspects of life. We look forward to a future article that talks about the benefits of attending rock concerts in your mid-twenties.  To read the whole article visit: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/early-music-lessons-have-longtime-benefits/

-LAMA Staff

You Know You’re a Music Student When…

Summer Camp Students at LAMA College for Music Professions

1. You use scales to study music, not to make measurements in science class.

2. Instead of listening to your iPod in between classes you are performing the songs on your iPod DURING classes.

3. Rather than studying in the library you are recording in the studio.

4. Your teacher not only has a PHd but a Grammy as well!

5. While your friends are studying Protons you are studying ProTools!

So musician friends…what other ways do someone know they are a music student?

-LAMA Staff

The Mix is ALMOST Perfect.

Srsly, just a few more minutes and we’ll be done:

-LAMA Staff

 

Succeed in the Music Industry

Do you agree with this graph? Experts released data showing the newest profile for a musician who wants to succeed in the music industry. Of course, they left off “being a LAMA grad” which is right up there with Genius and musically gifted 🙂 But you are going to need a lot more than being Mac owner to get into LAMA!

–LAMA Staff