I became infatuated with California ever since my brother won the Thiel Fellowship and moved out promptly from college RIT and moved to the bay area.
I then soon began to visit often and fell in love with the creative energy of the state. Maybe it’s generational striving, but this place attracts creatives. Maybe the pull continues because creative jobs are considered ‘real jobs’ here. It’s the place where all the kids go who feel isolated in their obsessions in high school.
Early in my music production career I wrote this Cali song.
I felt like the only one in high school who probably knew what Logic Pro X was. Not sure if I was but it felt like it. Pursing creativity as a path isn’t a popular accepted choice for a lot of America it feels like.
They really need to get on board though because those jobs are going away and creativity is the future economy.
With such a high number of people working for works sake to pay the bills and not enjoying their job where I’m from, it was refreshing to meet people who were passionate.
The weather is amazing too. I first came to LA after I won a scholarship to Grammy Camp at USC for audio engineering.
Sadly the California government has gotten restrictive and excessive and the housing prices have increased exponentially. The smog and air quality has improved over the years but I can’t help but wonder and be concerned when I look out to the mountains and see the fumes.
There is a mass exodus of California to Texas, Nevada. Will those people move in and vote back in the high tax polities they escaped from? Who knows.
I’m so very excited for what Elon Musk is doing. Tesla, Solar City, Space X and most recently the Boring Company. The boring company is digging tunnels under LA to help alleviate the traffic with high speed rail skis essentially. Crazy things happen here from people that are really changing the world. It’s intoxicating.
They sold the
Maybe I place too much value on where at live as a salvation. But also you can’t deny the effect of the people around you.
The mountains are amazing. The views. But fire and earthquake risks always looming.
I consider moving though since I feel conflicted between the old music business of moving out here and networking backsides and making connections and relationships. A lot of it is still that. But the internet has been opening it up. Soundbetter and Airgigs are making it really easy to work with producers and musicians remotely. YouTube careers are a thing.
Maybe there are benefits of living low cost in the country and working on your craft away from the distractions, the hustle and bustle of the city. As a New York transplant I do not understand the enticement of New York City, maybe one of you can write a post in response to this analyzing NYC.
According to freedom in the 50 states, New York ranks #50 and California #49. I feel this is an exponential difference though. In NY if your car registration expires then one day later you’ll be busted. In California there’s 90 days before you need a plate. There are so many cars that drive around with dealer plates or even no plates.
That doesn’t fly in New York, and this great painting of a plate did not pass well. I commend thee effort here.
Maybe this all too much outward focus and is a waste of time and I should just focus internally on my own projects instead.
29 million cars and 40 million people in California. That’s probably the highest ratio of people to cars.
Are the sites to see still fun when you go see them every single time someone comes to visit you?
Idon’t feel like there’s a lot of great info on truly researching and learning and picking a place to live. More often than not it’s random, people are born one place and just stay, due to inaction, ignorance, maybe it’s due to momentum, maybe it doesn’t matter.
The internet has really opened up the economy to a global economy. Maybe living in the hub for your industry 24/7 is a cliche now. Maybe just visit for conferences and do the Deep Work away from it.
Eventually the endless networking and talking wears out when you don’t have a high output and lots of recent works. Maybe get discovered online and then move? Maybe don’t move at all because you can build a career online from anywhere now?
The whole idea of where you live or even going to college as being a barrier to entry for success now are both in question. I realized that the college part is true but I’m just starting to accept that maybe where you live isn’t a monopoly on success.
But if I leave the city, is it giving up? Did the city win and eat you up?
If I leave it’ll be bittersweet but it doesn’t have to be permanent. Maybe it doesn’t matter at all.
