Moving to L.A??? Advice please??? (Burbank, Culver City: fit in, 2009, cheap apartments)

[sixxfixx420]

Hi, i am moving in march 2009 to L.A with my brother and my nephew. We are muscians that are moving there to pursue our music career, the music genre is melodic heavy metal in the vein of killswitch engage, korn, staind, etc. We are wanting to know information on living costs, acoustic gigs in bars/clubs playing covers do they pay, is it popular?, safest places to live, is the music scene big? Any muscians to fill out a band possibly? If we save up 12,000 should that be enough to cover a few months of bills? How hard is it to get into an apt complex? Background check, credit check? Thank you in advance for any help and advice you can give.

[jagIV]

12000 should be fine for awhile.

Some apt complexes will look at your bank acct if you are moving in from out of town, so have them look at an acct with 12,000 in it.

You'll get credit checks, acct checks, possibly a lengthy application process, and they might call your ex landlord. Every place has different standards.

Since you're into the music scene, you might want to look into living in these areas: Los Feliz, Silverlake, Atwater Village, Hollywood, Culver City, Palms. The last two are probably the more affordable of the ones listed, and have lots of apartment availability.

The only thing I think you might have a problem with is the type of band you want to start. People aren't really into the Korn, Staind sound anymore. MGMT, SilverSun Pickups, Band of Horses and Autolux are the more trendy bands in LA besides the mega huge popular bands.

Good luck!

[texasdreamss]

If you are looking to fit in with the other talents of LA then Melrose would be a good fit, lots of aspiting actors and music folks make those areas their habit. You can live in west LA, culver city as well, go to craigslist.org and look up the rental prices. You can also get a 60 day membership at westsiderentals.com and find tons of great neat places.

[sixxfixx420]

I cant believe they look at ur bANK account??? damn...they serious huh? lol thx for the advice, how bad is the economy over there right now? We are from SC so its pretty bad over here

[Tasksgirl]

Not sure where you are from - but it sounds like you are from an area (possibly Texas?) where it's full of monster apartment complexes with "leasing offices" and extensive leasing process. L.A. is not like that ! There are the complexes that are like that but most people are priced out of them. Most people, especially muscians and such, live in smaller buildings of anywhere from 2-20 units. Mine has 14 and that's about average. It is usually not that complicated at all to get into a new place. They did a credit check on me ( and I was only 18 with new credit ) and required a deposit and that was it !

The music scene is huge and I can see you being extremely happy somewhere in the west side. A bit more expensive but you will find exactly what you want. Los Feliz, Atwater, Silverlake are good places too as someone mentioned.

[sixxfixx420]

Im from SC so here it seems they are kinda prejudice in who they want in their community but i am soooo glad to hear wat u said...my credit is not great but i have been in the same place for a long time....job and apt so maybe that will account for something....i cant wait to get there....we are gonna try to get a job at a guitar place or maybe make money by doing acoustic shows in bars/clubs if they pay decent...thks for the advice

[amc760]

Originally Posted by sixxfixx420

I cant believe they look at ur bANK account??? damn...they serious huh? lol thx for the advice, how bad is the economy over there right now? We are from SC so its pretty bad over here

I dont know if they actually look at how much you have in the account...I was actually worrying about that recently, looked into it a little bit. I figure they just need your bank account number to verify you have an account, and its not really in bad standing.

Im not 100 percent though.

[ConsideringLA]

Take a close look at the North Hollywood (NoHo) arts district. Many, many aspiring and even established musicians in NoHo plus plenty of rentals and access to the whole scene.

On divulging bank accounts ... I have always left that section blank and never run into an issue - ever.

[amc760]

Originally Posted by ConsideringLA

Take a close look at the North Hollywood (NoHo) arts district. Many, many aspiring and even established musicians in NoHo plus plenty of rentals and access to the whole scene.

On divulging bank accounts ... I have always left that section blank and never run into an issue - ever.

I agree, Ive been looking at North Hollywood a lot lately, and theres TONS of cheap apartments up there. Plus you have access to Hollywood from the Metro stop up there.

[ConsideringLA]

Originally Posted by amc760

I agree, Ive been looking at North Hollywood a lot lately, and theres TONS of cheap apartments up there. Plus you have access to Hollywood from the Metro stop up there.

I'm in Burbank for family reasons. Knowing what I know, the south part of NoHo right around the arts district / possibly Toluca Woods near Chandler would be my bet if I were kidless / single. Cheap, hip, accessible to all of LA via mass transit, walkable, and safe relative to much of the valley and LA. Downside: hot. That's what the pool is for