
Sleep, Drink, Record: Gold-Diggers Is LA's Music Haven
Jan 30, 2025
From a rapper’s grandiose penthouse delight to the sleaziest dive bars spinning vinyl, PAPER is giving you a first-hand look into the Big Apple’s most hype-worthy music experiences in Seriously, What Are You Doing?— straight from the music editor's mouth. Are you or someone you love feeling restless in the city that never sleeps? Here’s what you should be doing (seriously!).
As NYC-obsessees, we sometimes forget to give Los Angeles credit where credit is due, let alone in a column typically saved for Big Apple antics. Blame it on the intercity one-upping, the house party vs. bar afters discourse, or increasing envy caused by our repressed longing for wide open spaces, nearby beaches and ample access to green juice — the kind that makes my icy, L-train riding, greasy dollar slice munching little heart beat with jealousy.
Alas, in one of those “need to get out of the city” fits us New Yorkers often have, a plan presented itself to catch up with some dear homies and get couples massages with pop star Bishop Briggs, respectively. So PAPER boarded a flight to sunny LA, with escapism, tacos and hunting down some rarely covered music lover spots in mind. Lucky for this column, we found one... which was basically three.
As someone who just recently started navigating the subway without her Google Maps on full volume, I’m not even gonna pretend to know how to get around LA. Even though (not to brag!) I do have a few friends who are willing to drive to LAX (literal saints, and I am bragging!) I did my best to save them this time around by using Blacklane — a chauffeur service that lets you pre-book rides. Fancy? Yes, but also time-efficient. Plus, on the way to drinks before seeing LCD Soundsystem play at The Shrine, I felt like a real rockstar. Plus plus, as a lover of a ride (the song by Lana Del Rey and generally hopping into any backseat), Blacklane allowed me to experience all that music LA had to offer with an easy button.
Before hitting the City of Angels, I did some online sleuthing to find out where I should stay in the city — something that screamed, "I love music and maybe a bit of luxury and also would like to run into PAPER cover stars while I’m there." The answer? A bar, venue, boutique hotel and recording studio snuggled up in East Hollywood, called Gold-Diggers. Renovated from a sleazy Santa Monica Boulevard haunt, it still holds hints of a previous bikini bar, drunken rock venue, and film and recording spaces turned hotel rooms and studios.
The concept, from owner Dave Neupert, is simple: “Sleep. Drink. Record.” That’s basically how the campus is laid out, too. You’ve got the venue downstairs, a boutique hotel upstairs and, in the back, a recording studio (before I leave to return to NYC, I get a tour from Simon Horrocks, co-owner and studio manager, who says later that day Rebecca Black and Orville Peck are stopping by.) Not only is the whole space immaculately decorated, but it also keeps so much of the retro feel of LA’s storied music history, bringing a building that stayed vacant for decades back to bustling life.
After checking in at the venue (your front desk could never), and walking upstairs to hang out in the green room for my room to be ready, I’m welcomed into a well-lit space by an Aquarium Drunkard vinyl — made exclusively for the hotel by Justin Gage, of Aquarium Drunkard, AKA the hotel's music director. There are also large paintings commissioned from Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts hanging over beds, and an ample amount of records to play and flip through (like a Live from Carnegie Hall Tina and Ike Turner vinyl). Guests get tokens for drinks at the bar downstairs and they’re automatically placed on the list for any gigs playing below the boutique hotel during their stay.
Gold-Diggers feels like a fairy tale for music lovers, but their path to success hasn’t always been effortless. They stayed alive during the pandemic by live-streaming performances and switching up their offerings as a place where artists could come record and stay during the pandemic. And now, as LA comes together to create resources for those impacted by the devastating wildfires, Gold-Diggers has had multiple benefits and gigs, with ticket sales going directly to the Music Cares charity to provide critical health and welfare services to the music community (more info on how we can all help here).
So yes, although I will always be an NYC truther at heart — here’s to Los Angeles with all its music, ingenuity, space (did I mention space) and optimism. So, as a sign-off, for now, and send my best to all my friends on the West Coast during unimaginable times, I leave you with this quote from Gold-Diggers: “Be gentle on yourselves and others, check in on your loved ones. It's in moments like these that we find comfort in the strength of community and the transformative power of music and art.”
Photography: Gold-Diggers
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