One might think a punk rock concert isn’t the place for patience, but it is; the community at The Smell is different. Ali Bilal stands on stage yelling, “It’s all good! It’s all DIY! ” He explains that the show’s current delay is due to a malfunctioning speaker. He tells the crowd it’ll be five minutes, it won’t, it’ll be 20. “Remember when I said the show is about to start? Now it is!” He’ll exclaim. No one cares about that in The Smell, though.
Jim Smith and his two friends, Ara Shirinyan and Jarrett Silberman, opened The Smell in Jan. 1998 in North Hollywood, though only Smith still has ownership. About 20 years ago the venue moved to Downtown after being priced out of their old location, and it was there that The Smell quickly became a staple of the Los Angeles punk rock scene.
Smith, Shirinyan, and Silberman opened The Smell after the closures of Jabberjaw and Cafe Impala, two iconic live music venues in Los Angeles. Wanting to keep the live music scene alive, The Smell was created to emulate the atmosphere of both closed venues.
Nothing is more important to Smith than the spirit. The Smell’s musical guests include Boygenius, who played a secret acoustic show just days before the group would win three GRAMMYS. The band has since gone on an indefinite hiatus, meaning Smith accidentally hosted their final show. He loved it.
Smith however takes the most pride in acts that reflect what The Smell is about – the community. He loves anniversary shows, when an artist who got their start at The Smell comes back to play. He used the band No Age as an example. “They started out as kids,” said Smith. “Barely out of high school coming to shows here, and then booking shows and volunteering, and running sound, but also playing music, and then eventually they formed this band…they got pretty big, they signed to some big independent labels. But, they still come back and volunteer, help out – whatever we need.”
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024, The Smell has been resilient in its effort to hit that milestone. In 2003, city code violations shut the venue down for months, and reopening did not seem likely,. However, rallying from Smith and the club’s fans kept it alive.
In 2016, The Smell, along with their neighboring buildings, were set to be demolished by its landlord, L&R Group of Companies, who wanted to repurpose the property. It is unknown what the plan was, but most of L&R Group’s investments are in parking lots, including multiple near The Smell. Once again, the backlash was intense and ultimately it was community work that saved the venue. Shows to #SaveTheSmell were played, and the demolition was canceled not just for The Smell but also for its neighbors.
Smith is grateful for the community involved with The Smell. “It’s great, [and] not only in times where we are under threat,” he said. “Just day to day we could not do this without folks coming here every night volunteering.”
Even with the community support, the threat from L&R Group remains strong. Smith sees parallels between what happened to his venue in 1999 and now. Just before rent rose to the extent that made The Smell move out of North Hollywood, a metro stop had opened only a couple blocks from the old location. Recently, Historic Broadway Station was put in just a five-minute walk from The Smell in Downtown. Moreover, with other businesses owned by L&R Group having shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith fears how long the landlords will be content with buildings sitting vacant before another demolition notice could appear.
Beyond the threats of closure, Smith could not be happier with his club and its future. “[The Smell is] all-ages, DIY, community-oriented, volunteer-run,” he said.”We try to make it a safe space so it’s inclusive and so anyone can come here…what we do here is driven by the people who come here.”
Smith has consistently backed up these words with actions. After former President Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, The Smell gained recognition for painting “not our president” on the outside of the venue. “I think the people here tend to think about the community more than just the music community,” said Smith. “The outside world, what is going on, it is not just something you can separate from the music.” The club also features a sign calling out wealth inequality in Los Angeles.
The people feel it, too. “I hate everyone at my school! But I love it here!” Yelled high a school student named Saiah, outside of the graffiti-filled bathroom. He and three friends would then simultaneously yell, “I love The Smell!” during an interview in the poorly lit alley where the club’s entrance can be found.
The Smell does not exist without its community. Not only is the venue volunteer run but it is adored by fans and artists alike. “It has a lot of history…it’s been around forever,” said Elijah Napuri, bassist of Who Cares. Napuri expressed excitement over getting to play the venue for the first time. He told a story of being there as an audience member; he said the singer of the band he was seeing attempted a stage dive, only no one was there, so he landed on the ground. Napuri’s bandmate, Abi Cruz, echoed his sentiments, “Music revolves around the youth,” said Cruz, stressing the importance of having clubs in Los Angeles open to all ages. The crowd at The Smell is truly of all ages, far from only young people, but the whole community is proud of its role as an introduction for kids to punk rock and all forms of live music.
