Sam Slovick

Home grown: Mo tips his hat to mix tapes

The Brand New Grind

Sam Slovick
The first of the day’s raindrops hit my windshield as I get on the 110 and head for South L.A. on this uncharacteristically gray day. Exit Slauson, roll past the block-long graffiti mural. Didn’t take but a few minutes and I’m in the hood. Choc Nitty’s late, of course. I’d......
Magic kingdom: Silversun Pickups

Weird Scenes Inside the Silver Mine

Sam Slovick
“Then I called Mark, the kid from the Pedantiks, and we arranged to meet at Texarkana. He said he was bringing the guy Sam from his group. Anyway during dinner we talked about rock, I guess. . . . Sam’s teeth are bad and he looks grey, but I guess rock and roll isn’t......

Tales of the (Inner) City

Sam Slovick
“What’s up?” asks the decidedly adolescent voice on the other end. It’s around midnight when I return the call from Fred Heinrich of Inner-City Filmmakers, a nonprofit that recruits high school kids to get involved in filmmaking. So I’m surprised anyone picks up, let alone a kid, who in my......
Vigilant: Angela Moore-Hodge (below)

Dying to Get Off Skid Row

Sam Slovick
The Baltimore Hotel, an SRO on Fifth and Los Angeles streets, is right out of a Bukowski blackout. The people in the lobby are mostly seniors, and they look all but dead. An ancient man wearing pants that haven’t been washed in weeks is glowing with jaundice. He’s the healthiest......
Photo by Kevin Scanlon

Mr. Old School

Sam Slovick
Hey, What’s the difference between The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times? Horoscopes. L.A. Times got horoscopes. It also has superstar journalist Steve Lopez. This Tinseltown columnist is busy as hell these days. In fact, I know of three movie stars and a highly sought after Westside dominatrix......
Stars in his eyes: Darrell wants to be an astronomer

Coming of Age in the Mouth of Madness

Sam Slovick
Adam and Joel are Skids, kids who came of age on Skid Row. Back when they were on the streets, they had a running joke they’d tell the girls from school about where they lived. “We would tell ’em, ‘We have a big house. It’s like a fucking mansion,’?” laughs......
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Inside the Box With the Super Dope Cops

Sam Slovick
Crack in the Box I haven’t seen Javier for days. When I’m driving home, I can usually spot him after midnight lurking on Los Angeles Street near Fourth, or haunting Little Tokyo... stalking tourists, begging for coins during the daylight hours. Sometimes he’s on Olvera Street behind the Perpetual Adoration......

Mr. Right Now

Sam Slovick
Dial tone . . . 213 559 2300 . . . funky porn music . . . “Welcome to Mr. N. , your best place to meet the hottest guys from all over Southern California. If you’re an experienced caller and want to get right into the action, press 1......

The New Urban Frontier: A User’s Guide

Sam Slovick
My rating scale for those out prospecting downtown digs is not unlike Hotel.com’s 5-star system, with some obvious differences. Since the levels of amenities, facilities and services that I’m rating don’t lend themselves to stars, per se, I will employ a 5-shopping-cart scale. The fewer carts, the more derelict is......

Down on Main Street

Sam Slovick
Photo by Kevin ScanlonDowntown Los Angeles has been calling my name for years. Shooting me up with lofty Architectural Digest interior imagery — from a dirty syringe. I dismissed her call and moved to the Westside, but when my landlord doubled the rent on my canyon cabin, the siren call......