Gigging & Busking In The US – 2008 – Photos
In the summer of 2008 we returned to LA for the second time. We experienced so much in just four weeks of us staying there and filmed all three videos for our “California Dreaming” project!
However, this photo album focusses on all the busking and public performing we did when we weren’t filming.
We played in open mics, at our friend’s house and on the beach. All of it was thrilling beyond belief for our 14-year-old selves. We learnt so much in such little time there, and looking back it was wild how adventurous and unconventional our parent’s approach to “holidaying” was 😉 It makes us laugh sometimes and we’ll be forever grateful for those experiences. Other kids talked about beach holidays or city sightseeing while we did improvised video shoots in the middle of the desert or busked for some extra pocket money on Hollywood Boulevard.
The year prior, during our first California visit, we made friends with a fantastic guitarist called John Parschauer who we reconnected again with during this visit in 2008. He gave us some guitar lessons and was kind enough to organise some small gigs at Hennessey’s in Laguna Beach for us. We played for diet coke with lime and the fun of it, and retrospectively we think it’s hard to overstate the importance of these small experiences so early on in our lives.
We were only 14-years-old, our English wasn’t great at all, and we were playing in pubs on the other side of the globe for people we had never met before. But everyone was so kind and supportive!
Since we already had our video and equipment with us, we offered John to film and record him perform some of his songs so he could post them on YouTube. We went up Mulholland drive into the Hollywood hills and did just that! You can watch the finished videos on his channel here.
We also made friends with a family in Woodland Hills/LA who invited us to their 4th of July party where we made music with the other kids there. It was a blast!
Another friend we had made the year before, called Dusty Leer (the old man with the hat in the photos and in the ‘Hotel California’ video) had us back for his open mic night in ‘Sol Grill’ that year, too. We stayed in touch for many years to come and he watched us turn into better musicians. He was such a kind soul. He sadly passed away in 2019 so those picture with him means a lot to us. Click here to watch a video we posted in his memory ♥
On our off days we went busking to places like Newport Beach/Santa Monica Beach/Laguna Beach and on Hollywood Boulevard, and all in all we crammed a staggering amount of experiences into that trip. We are lucky we got to see all that so early on in our lives and are still hoping for at least a 3rd US visit in the future.
Stay groovy y’all!
Mona & Lisa
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Come on back!!!!! It’s been 13 years now. And like the song says, “Please Come to Boston”!! Mike.
Wow Mona and Lisa, thanks for sharing your experience on that great 2008 adventure to Southern California, it sounded like a dream, befriending all those people, performing at different places. The kind of adventure one can only dream of, and you both did it at 14! It was really nice to see that video of you both with Dusty again showing you guitar skills. And to think your magnificent San Francisco video came to fruition through all of that. So awesome to see a glimpse into those times you spent there.
I spent a lot of time up on Mulholland Drive in the early 90s driving around in my then new Mustang, and all over those other places you mentioned, fond memories for me too.
Sol grill looks like such a cool and cozy place to listen to music, would have loved have been there for one of your very early small gigs. Loved seeing your busking photos, wow, and you even busked on Hollywood Blvd! That has to be right up there with in front of the Cavern of the coolest places to busk. Nice to see a young and fresh Lisa’s Lampi Bampi and Mona’s Tiger. 🙂
I hope you both, along with Michaela and Rudolf can make more dreamy memories and adventures like that soon when the world puts these crazy days behind us. Really enjoyed reading your write up, thank you!
Such great photos! And great experiences you had too! It sure takes some nerve to do all that at that young age but when you have that kid of talent I guess it makes it that much easier.
I actually was out in the L.A. area (El Monte to be more accurate) back in 1981 to visit a girl I met through music correspondence. She said said “wouldn’t it be great if you could come out here for my birthday?”. Well, I looked into it and did! I spent 2 weeks out there seeing the sights of L.A. and was hoping to experience an Earthquake while I was there but alas it never happened. I had a great time but California is a little too laid back for my N.Y. frame of mind!
Thanks for the photos ladies!
Cool pictures! I can’t imagine putting myself out there at such a young age. Y’all were brave!
Great, fun photos! You had to be a couple of the bravest 14-year-olds ever. Thanks for posting.
Great pictures. Be sure to let us all know if y’all do make it back to the states.
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