originally posted October 8th, 2012 here.
In 2004, we were throwing the idea around of opening an LA store. The mgmnt wanted a piece of that LA sunshine and to get involved with the burgeoning beats scene. Blu Jemz hooked us up with his friend Adam from Stussy, and he pointed us to an awkwardly narrow strip of Fairfax. At that time, Fairfax was quite different than what it is today. The stores on this strip catered almost exclusively to the elderly Jewish community, except one. Like they did with their Lafayette location, Supreme pioneered an unrealized location that was strategically positioned. So amidst all the bakeries and a crosswalk away from Supreme, we opened up Turntable Lab LA in 2005.
When we designed the store, I wanted it to be the nicest looking DJ store anyone had ever seen. Working with a fledgling husband and wife architecture company (who designed the space nearly for free as a portfolio piece) and inspired by a trip to Tokyo, we went on to create a space that was in sharp contrast to the cramped, dingy, carpeted "DJ" stores of our upbringing (with Herman Miller chairs at the listening station nonetheless).
Along with the space comes the people who work there. We've been lucky to have some amazing DJs and producers to be a part of the Turntable Lab LA family. Although it was ultimately their own hard work that brought them success, I like to think that the Lab was part of the process. I especially remember when I interviewed Jason (aka Nosaj Thing) for one of our first hires. He quietly and sincerely explained to me that he wanted to leave a higher paying gig at Guitar Center to be closer to the scene via the Lab (it worked!). Or the time I had to let go of Willie (aka Gaslamp Killer). The business side of me did it because of logistics (DJs schedules aren't built for full-time jobs), but as a friend, I knew he was one cusp of something bigger that the store couldn't accommodate (a similar situation that faced Gina Turner). I was going to name everyone, but I didn't want to leave anyone out. However, I gotta give a shout out to our current crew, our most solid we've had since opening: Jedi, James Del Barco, Prince Klassen, and Young Chris (plus our past managers Blu Jemz, J.Kim, D.Yosh and Dary).
It's been 7 great years on Fairfax, our lease is up, and we've decided not to renew for various reasons. We've been looking for a replacement space for half a year now, but we just haven't found what we want (almost took a space a block from Amoeba). In the end, we didn't want to move to another space unless it was some more than it is now. Therefore, Turntable Lab LA will be going on hiatus (starting Monday, October 15th, 2012) until further notice. To continue following our LA story, please follow us on Facebook.com/TurntableLab.
So please come by the store this week and help us celebrate our 7 years on Fairfax. Firstly on Tuesday, October 9th, we're going to have the Fairfax session of Turntable Lab Tuesdays with an incredible roster of resident DJ Revolution, DJ Babu and Mr. Choc from the Beat Junkies, and DMC champ P-Trix. Then for the rest of the week culminating on Sunday night, we'll have friend of Lab DJs spinning throughout... there will probably be some beer involved too.
as always thanks for all your support,
sincerely,
the mgmnt
