Janelane

UPCOMING SHOWS: Pehrspace, Save the Smell Fest, and Echo Park Rising

2016-07-06T12:53:00.001-07:00

Photo by the incredible Michael Haight

We have two shows coming up that we are soo very excited to be a part of!!

The first is on Sunday, July 17th with Surf Curse and Alex and Derek of Cosmonauts. If you haven't heard already, Pehrspace is ALSO being demolished like the Smell :( This show is one of the many in July that is being held to raise funds for Pehrspace's relocation. It is all ages and $5 suggested donation as always. If you can't come out to the show, visit Pehrspace's GoFundMe here to help them reach their goal of $16.k.

The second show is August 6th in LA (location TBA) for the Save the Smell fest, another show working to raise funds to locate one of LA's most cherished DIY venues. Gregory of Dreamgaze, Chris from Top Acid, Jim Smith, and I have been working together over the last few weeks to put together this crazy production and it is going to be absolutely unreal. I will be posting more info on this show later this week and next week. Again, if you cannot make the event and feel compelled to help, you can donate to The Smell's GoFundMe campaign here.

~* \m/ DIY 4EVER \m/ *~

The third show is on August 19th for Echo Park Rising at a 'lil sandwich shop called Trencher. We play at 8:30! More info on that comin' yr way as the date gets closer!!

Peace love n chicken nuggets xxxx

NEW DEMO: "Before You Could Try"

2016-06-26T14:01:00.003-07:00

If ya didn't know already, Janelane has a soundcloud that is basically a graveyard of demos and live recordings. We have a new demo called "Before You Could Try" up now! This one will not be on our album but might be re-recorded in the future for somethin' else. Peep it here:

https://soundcloud.com/janelanemusic/before-you-could-try

LYRICS:

VERSE 1:
Lately when I've been waking on a Sunday morning
Not even out of bed already tears are flowing
All the time, all the time
Can't make it through a sentence without memories that
Make me wanna throw up barely eaten breakfast
All the time, all the time

CHORUS:
I feel uncomfortable and so different
Doing the things we did hand in hand and
Now it's a stranger in my picture frame
Whether a late night drive on the freeway
Smoking a cigarette, I hear your name
Fade to a whisper every passing day

VERSE 2:
Worst was the very moment that you kissed me
You felt my lips devoid of all that you were missing
Heart said goodbye, before you could try
Patience, and taking turns when wishing on the stars
Their luminescence gave us comfort in the dark
Turns out the light, wasn't so bright

CHORUS

NEW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: 6/29 @ Junior High w/ The Love-Inns, Hana Vu

2016-06-03T11:14:00.002-07:00

Woo!!! Very excited for this show because its all ages & with two really adorable n sweet bands! You can listen to Hana Vu here and peep the Love-Inns Facebook here. Junior High is a brand new, all-ages, DIY venue in Hollywood that, according to their website, is also a gallery and retail store w/ some pretty cute stuff (most of which is v pink so it already has JL approval):

Enjoy this loverly evening with us all at 5656 Hollywood Blvd (just 2 blocks from Hollywood/Western station if yr transin' it). June 29th (a Wednesday)/all ages/$10/starts at 6pm, see ya there :)

The Smell Matters

2016-05-29T13:31:00.001-07:00

UPDATE 5/31/16: You can now donate to keep The Smell alive! Click here !!

The Smell, L.A. DIY Institution, Receives Demolition Notice via Pitchfork

When The Smell's owner, Jim Smith, posted on Facebook two days ago a picture of a notice that LA's most important all-ages, DIY space was to be demolished, I know I was not the only one who's heart sunk to the bottom of their stomach. I cannot stress how important The Smell is to Los Angeles, not just to me but to anyone that has grown up in LA going to shows and or in bands braving the underground music scene. There are very few venues that are willing to take a chance on a band that was started in some crusty kid's garage a week before and where "pay to play" is a foreign concept. General admission has consistently remained $5 despite the venue's significance and notoriety skyrocketing over the years (the most expensive shows with bigger headliners only happen a couple times a year ranging from $8-15, and the most expensive show for the Smell's 18th anniversary was $18). Jim has always enforced the "no drugs and alcohol" rule, ensuring that it is a safe space for minors. Simply put, The Smell is and always has been about being a welcoming environment for people of all ages to hear and play music. No one is paid to work at The Smell. The fact that The Smell has survived for 18 years because of volunteers is of the one of the purest examples of how a genuine love for music and the arts prevails.

The first "local" show I ever attended was at the Smell when I was 12 years old to go watch my childhood friend Chloe's first band Wild Youth (Chloe is now killing it as the lead singer of Kitten). It was at that show that I had one of my first magical "light bulb" moments where I realized I wanted to be in a band too. My older sister Gina would bring me along to shows to watch her punk band Smelveteen, as well as to go watch her friend's bands like Heller Keller and Anus Kings. I'd gone to go see just about every band Harmony and Cleo from Girlpool were in when I was 17, two girls that have inspired me in ways I couldn't even begin to describe, who I probably wouldn't have become friends with if it weren't for all those conversations in that little alley on Harlem Place. The Smell was one of those places that made me feel invigorated; its inclusive energy made the idea of starting a band seem feasible, not the dauntingly unattainable dream that plagued my heart. I would dance like there was no tomorrow with the sweetest pierced, colorful-haired young folk that I had just met that evening, many of who I didn't even realize were about to play next due to any air of pretentiousness being completely non-existent. Not much has changed since then; any time someone eats it in the pit at the crazier punk shows, no less than five hands immediately extend to yank the individual back up to keep on dancing. Even if there are only four people in the audience, 1 of those 4 is undoubtedly dancing their ass off to the band onstage, applauding after every song. The kids that congregate at The Smell are some of the kindest, most supportive people I have ever met that consistently make it a point to make sure whoever is onstage feels appreciated. Even Daniel, The Smell's security guard, always waits with young girls waiting for their rides home so they don't have to be alone at night.

Our first show ever at The Smell on June 3, 2015 w/ No Age & Casinos

I am now 19 and have played The Smell 6 times with Janelane and twice with Peach Kelli Pop. I wouldn't be able to count the number of shows I have attended over the years, but I can tell you that each and every one has been just as fun, exciting, and sweaty as the first. No one gives a shit that sometimes you can't hear the vocals because they probably know the words to their friend's songs anyways. I've seen boys dancing with each other in the front row, some of them wearing dresses, all of them not giving a fuck what you think about them. One girl braved a barrage of pit-stains and crust punks and dove to the floor to grab my mom's phone when she got too close to a mosh pit and it slipped out of her hand. I've witnessed guitars going out onstage mid-song and members of headlining bands, without hesitation, bolting to the back to grab their own, thrusting it into the hands of the guitarist onstage. As a new band, you have limited options on places willing to allow you to book a show if you don't have a full album out or a zillion Facebook likes or super high contrast black and white pics that look like they are from an Echo and the Bunnymen rarities album. The first show Janelane ever played at The Smell was headlined by No Age when we had only just released Peaches and Cream, and no one really gave a shit who we were (what fucking venue would let a band thats barely played any shows open for No Age?!) . People that said they had come to see No Age came up to us after we played and told us they loved our music, buying our cassette despite that night being the first they'd ever heard us. The exposure and experience The Smell has granted Janelane and so many other bands is invaluable. At one of our last Smell shows, I was nearly in tears from the fact that my friends (and faces I recognized from coming to our shows at The Smell but I hadn't actually ever spoken to) were there smiling back at me, mouthing the words to Janelane songs. Performing at The Smell has never felt like "I am the singer onstage and people are watching me"; it has always felt like a big party that everyone is just happy to be present at.

I cannot speak fondly enough of this venue and I still am completely dumbfounded that Los Angeles is allowing this to happen. There hasn't been much information released on the actual demolition date of the venue, but if you are reading this I highly encourage you to go to as many shows at The Smell as possible these next few weeks, and to sign the petition linked below (maybe LA will give a damn if they see how many people agree on its historic and cultural significance?? who knows...). I know whatever happens, The Smell will live on and always hold a special place in the hearts of the kids that have made it what it is.

SIGN HERE AND SEND TO YOUR FRIENDS: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-smell

www.thesmell.org