By Moving to Long Beach as a transfer student in 2023 unveiled to me a city that was constantly providing spaces to enjoy and create art.
Many students at Long Beach State may be unaware of all of the access we have to creative spaces as locals, beyond campus. It is imperative that students who are graduating and want to work in music and art look to our city as a place to plant seeds for a career.
Vine LB, a popular bar on Long Beach’s 4th Street, hosts shows regularly where Los Angeles and Long Beach based artists perform for the community for free on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Musical duo The Tulips performed at Vine before performing on our campus in early April, which opened my eyes to the other bars and cafés, such as Recreational Coffee, that serve as spaces for open mics where original work and creative networks are built weekly in the city.
Seth Reeder, musician and owner of Collective Visions Enterprises, takes pride in being the owner of a record studio in Long Beach.
“The people involved in music here feel much more genuine. We have so many resources and sometimes it’s not the wisest decision to go off to L.A. or somewhere else,” Reeder said.
Reeder said that he has drifted away from just being a recording studio owner, and is interested in artist development and strategy because of the talent that he has seen within Long Beach.
In southern California, it’s easy to feel as though Los Angeles is the promised land for those of us who want to pursue careers in the music industry. However, those of us in Long Beach would find it worth looking to our own city to begin careers here post-graduation.
If we do not create spaces to make art in the areas we reside in, communities do not thrive and industries feel overly saturated and competitive.
Reeder advised that being a voice of the city we come from and transmitting that perspective to major cities like L.A. is valuable to the music industry.
Students moving on to postgrad creative careers should not lose sight of the opportunities at our disposal here, in this iconic city and soon-to-be home of the Long Beach Bowl in 2026.
