LA LOM
LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
Nicholas Baker, Zac Sokolow, Jake Faulkner make up the Los Angeles League of Musicians, better known as LA LOM. The California natives reinvent twentieth-century Latin beats for the new generation, trading fiddles and bongos for their more common counterparts. The result? A cult following— spurred at the Roosevelt hotel, now stretching as far as Japan— and a two-year tour that’s just concluded, giving the trio a moment to reflect on their sold-out success. Amidst the release of their live record, LA LOM sits down with Reserved to discuss their recent tour, their blended roots, and how the city that raised them influences their sound.
How did you begin making music together?
Nick: I was working at the Roosevelt Hotel, at their jazz night. The first thing I did was try to figure out who I knew that could help me do this. I reached out to Jake, who I went to school with. Zac and Jake met at a guitar store that Zac worked at when they were teenagers. They had a separate band together for many years. We started gigging, and we really liked the music we created together for that hotel. Eventually, we recorded an EP based on the vibe we cultivated at the Roosevelt. Everything took off from there. We started playing clubs and bars more often. It was a delightful surprise, how many people came out to see us and how strong of a reaction we got.
LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
You all began in the incubator of the Roosevelt, allowing you to get a pulse of what LA’s tastemakers wanted to listen to. How did this insight influence your tracklist and the music you’d go on to write?
Nick: When we started out, we focused on the repertoire we had in common, songs we could all play well. We played three hours a night, three or four days a week, so there was a lot of space to fill. At first we were doing a lot of covers of ‘60s soul tunes, something with which we’re all familiar. We jammed on those songs for a while, before getting into romantic boleros and early Latin, Mexican, and Cuban music from the ‘30s and ‘40s. It fit well with the atmosphere of the Roosevelt. Pretty soon, we started making up stuff that was in the vein of the covers we were doing. We would create on the spot. A lot of the songs we made up there ended up being tracks we recorded for our first album, songs we still play all the time.
Guitarist Zac Sokolow from LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
You have such a unique sound, imbued with Latin influence. How does personal experience inform your sound?
Nick: I grew up playing a lot of Afro-Cuban music learned from my mentor that I met when I was just a little boy. I was very inspired by the music my grandma would listen to. She was from Mexico, originally, so it was a lot of 1930s Mexican music. That was the common denominator of Latin sound, like me playing congas instead of drums, things like that. This origin of the sound later led to Cumbia, when we wanted people to dance more. We knew that from growing up in LA; it’s everywhere.
Zac: We have played in various bands together for years, trying different styles: rockabilly, early country, but also Sicilian music from the turn of the century. I play banjo, mandolin, and fiddle. In LA, the musicians I grew up playing with mix up multiple genres across cultures, because that’s how our worlds melded. Norteno and Tejano styles also play a part in our sound. From the outset, we’ve stayed super open-minded to allow ourselves to follow tunes that speak to us.
Bassist Jake Faulkner from LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
The three of you also have a storied resume of expertise in uncommon instruments. Has this felt like a certain super power in setting yourselves apart in today’s scene?
Zac: A lot of the instruments we play are traditionally Latin, but the reason it sounds the way it does is because of our diverse background in genre. And, traditional Latin sounds very different from most traditional music given the instruments they used and what was available.
Percussionist Nicholas Baker from LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
Where does the name La Lom come from?
Nick: I was living on a street named La Loma, which translates to “the hill”. We figured we couldn’t just be named “the hill”, but it sounded nice, so I created the acronym: The Los Angeles League of Musicians, delete the “A” at the end.
Jake: Working at the Roosevelt and all around LA, there may be someone else on tour when one of us wasn’t available. We really had a league of guys who were working on this amorphous sound that we were developing. The core was always the three of us.
LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
You guys have been touring for months. How has that experience been?
Nick: It’s a pretty intense amount of traveling. We’ve had such a big year in a lot of ways, but we haven’t really had time to think about it. When we take a second to reminisce, we realize, “Wow. Well, we did play the Hollywood Bowl. We played Red Rocks. We sold out the Wiltern.” In the moment, we did what we necessarily had to do. Now, we’ve had nearly two weeks off to soak it in.
Two years ago we started touring, so it hasn’t been that long at all since its surpassed gigs around LA. Since then, it hasn’t stopped. We’ve gone all over the U.S. and toured in Europe a few times now. We did one show in Mexico City and have plans to go back to Mexico very soon. The Latin American audience is really important to us. Hopefully, Australia and Japan are coming up, too.
Nicholas Baker, Jake Faulkner & Zac Sokolow from LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
How has it been to witness the reaction to and appreciation of your international sound across different demographics?
Nick: A lot of it was pretty surprising, especially within non-Latin countries or low-Latin population cities. It seems like everyone connects with the music. Omaha, Nebraska was one of our craziest shows. You drive around and don’t see anyone who would be a fan. You wonder, “Who’s going to come to the show?” They show up and they’re great people. We make music that makes people feel good. That connects every kind of person from all over the world.
LA LOM. Photography by Alexander Thompson.
