Mark Stefanos
A new permanent address for electronic music arrived in the Arts District last weekend, Oct. 9-10. ORIGIN, at 613 Imperial Street, marks the first fixed venue from longtime local promoters Roni Mehrabian and Cyril Bitar. The pair have more than two decades of combined experience shaping the city’s underground calendar through brands including SBCLTR and Minimal Effort and events like Brunch Electronik and The Maze.
The space reworks the site previously known as LOT 613 into an indoor-outdoor club of roughly 1,000 capacity. A main room sits alongside a large patio, allowing the venue to shift between late-night club sets and open-air daytime gatherings. Designer Marc Dizon, whose earlier work includes Brooklyn Mirage and Hakkasan, shaped the industrial shell into a flexible, forward-looking environment. A custom KV2 Audio system was installed to deliver consistent sound from the floor to the mezzanine, with a separate outdoor rig for patio events.
Opening night on Friday, Oct. 9, belonged to MRAK, the solo project of Carmine Conte (half of Tale Of Us). Saturday was split with Brazil’s Malive and Greece’s Liva K headlining an afternoon outdoor session, followed by Kölsch inside after dark. The dual format previewed the weekly rhythm ORIGIN plans to maintain — Fridays for established and independent electronic bookings, Saturdays alternating between daytime outdoor parties and late-night house and techno.
In a neighborhood that has seen both cultural energy and post-pandemic challenges, the opening positions ORIGIN as a steady home for the scene. The founders have described the project as a long-term effort to keep electronic music, art and community activity alive in LA.