The Arts District of Los Angeles (ADLA) has become so hip that new businesses in surrounding areas claim neighborhood status even if they stretch over what might be considered official boundaries. However, an area now commonly referred to as “South of Seventh” and what I coined years ago as the “BADlands” (BAD for “Beyond Arts District”) is actually part of the ADLA’s storied past and it is where one of the coolest, off-the-radar places has recently opened.
Tucked away (but in plain sight) on a little-traveled street near the Arts District’s original Clubhouse (a speakeasy-style hangout in the late 1980s), the House of Guvera is the U.S. flagship location and content division for Guvera, a global streaming music company that identifies the best playlists, music, and #tags of local bands and musicians for users of its smartphone app. The 4,000-sq.ft. space can hold up to 300 people and also serves as the offices for Guvera’s Los Angeles team.
I recently toured House of Guvera, and recorded an episode of my Downtown Muse “The AD LIVE” podcast. (You can click here to listen if the player below does not automatically start.)
As an event venue, the House of Guvera hosts live, intimate performances with established and emerging artists and is also a unique space to host events for brand partners around the world. Its website extends the onsite experience to online visitors who can enjoy original content ranging from short films about the music that inspires creative minds, to interviews of artists on tour, photography of live music, and branded content.
“Our goal is to bring the music experience to life in its rawest form and leverage our level of access to give music fans a point of view they don’t get to see on a regular basis. We’re a small team, a handful of guys who have been living in LA and loosely involved in music, with a pre-existing connection to a lot of our featured artists,” states Jake Denney, content director, House of Guvera. “Brands now provide as many resources to artists, if not more, than labels and we wanted a space to leverage that gave brands a way to interact with a music-loving audience, while providing free intimate shows of the highest quality to LA’s music fan base. House of Guvera and our work with brands is the evolution of music as a business, and where the industry is going right now.”
House of Guvera offers curation and creation of original content to create deeper, more engaging experiences on the Guvera streaming platform. Based in Australia, Guvera currently operates in 20 countries and its clients can create branded channels or environments with curated music, film, and content that reflects the brand’s personality. Guvera brand partners include Boost Mobile, Victoria’s Secret, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Nikon, Corona, 20th Century Fox, Kia, and many more.
“It’s exciting to open our flagship venue in one of the coolest emerging art scenes in the world, downtown Los Angeles. Next for House of Guvera is the screening of our first short film in Vietnam, beginning work with two new directors to film our first music documentaries in Panama and Russia, and the opening of our new House of Guvera venues in Bombay, India and Melbourne, Australia,” said Guvera‘s founder, Claes Loberg.
The space has received acclaim for its attention to beautiful sound – bringing in Chris Owens, one of LA’s most in-demand sound designers and recording/mixing engineers, to build the acoustic treatment. He most recently built the production suite for Atlantic Records, the audio room for the VICE post-production facility in Venice Beach, the acoustic treatment for Buzzfeed’s new in-house films production facility, and more. The venue’s interior design featuring steel furniture and unique lighting was a collaboration with the Arts District’s very own Brian Thoreen.
House of Guvera is the content division of global music streaming company Guvera. Within the past year, House of Guvera has worked with more than 140 artists on various projects in 15 countries, with a collective social media reach of over 60 million fans. More information can be found on their website.