Written
February 9, 2023

With the ever-growing state of the young band scene, a flourishing smorgasbord of live auditory art is found at the end of every passing week. Whether it be another prestigious music venue that has been “coup-ed” by a wave of passionate teenagers, or the backyard of a sacrificing volunteer: live music is more easily accessible than it ever was before. The increase of young bands in Los Angeles brings drastically different people together on a common ground and inspires more young people to do the same. 

All it takes to start a band is a group of like-minded people, a desire to create, and dedication. And a room with enough power outlets to go around. With the unending plethora of music that can be found online, the love and appreciation for this art form are much more widespread. Rather than having to go out of your way to buy an LP or CD, you can stream almost any song in the world. Spotify alone holds over 82 million songs, along with 60,000 new songs added every single day (musicianwave.com). This unwavering world of sound is being explored by younger and younger audiences as it begins to ingrain itself in our culture. Our generation has dove into the bottomless cookie jar of inspirational music, turning that inspiration into aspiration. This entertainment form becomes a coping mechanism for many, which morphs into a means of expression. Creating your own art when there is already a labyrinth of media yet unexplored is the truest form of self-actualization known to the modern world. 

With the abundance of music, comes a roadblock. Because there is so much art already out there, some perspectives reduce any new media to one of two categories: either groundbreaking or plagiarism. People that share this outlook may feel discouraged about making art, as anything that they would try to do likely had been done before. The idea that the worth of art is determined by its similarity to past works is unnecessary, and often, self-inflicted. Under this same line of logic, even the newest and most experimental of music should be considered a conglomeration of past works. The yearning to categorize media is becoming more and more futile as the lines between genres waver. In many cases, the line disappears entirely. As artists weave and intertwine their own personal experiences with a means of expression, they place a new meaning upon a chord or melody which have also been used for a completely different outcome. The individual experience brands the music with personal authenticity. That worth is priceless. This is not to say that plagiarism in art is obsolete, but just because something may sound similar to something else, does not make it the same. And frankly, there is no such thing as art that is formed untouched by inspiration. 

The young Los Angeles music scene is amidst wild growth. And this ever-growing state of creative expression among the youth is a hopeful sign of rebirth. The flourishing young creative space is a reaction to the fast-paced digital age and causes its forebears to pay attention to the youth who demand to be seen and heard.

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