Editor: Elise Thompson
Born and raised in the great city of Los Angeles, Elise joined her dad as he took Canadian relatives on endless tours of Olvera Street, The San Antonio Winery and The Griffith Observatory. This food, culture and music-loving punk rock Angeleno wants to turn you on to all that is funky, delicious and weird in the city. While Elise holds down the fort, her adventurous alter ego Kiki Maraschino is known to roam the country in search of catfish.
Music Editor: Bob Lee
Bob Lee started interviewing bands while working in college radio and later contributed to various publications including the late 80s fanzine Ben is Dead. As a drummer and singer, he has toured and recorded with bands such as Clawhammer, Mike Watt and the Black Gang, and Backbiter. He is the quiet, sneaky one of the band. When writing, Bob’s credo is, “All we have is the truth.”
Entertainment Editor: Simone Snaith
Simone Snaith is a writer and musician, living in a tiny studio with a feisty cat. She is a fan of Doctor Who, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Bat for Lashes, Wolf Parade, Kate Bush, Tumblr, Netflix, vampires, ghosts, evolution, time travel, gin, espresso, and making long lists.
Beauty Editor: Donna Lethal
Donna Lethal writes for her own blog (Lethal Dose), PCL, The Hair Hall of Fame, Celluloid Slammer, Find A Death, Scorchy Girls, Cold Dirt Press, and has a chapter in “Weird Hollywood.” Her book, “Milk of Amnesia” is now in bookstores. She lives in John Carradine’s old apartment and spends most days dividing her time between her 90lb pit bull and her 90-something neighbor.
Health Editor: Marga Mayhew
I grew up with a mother who was convinced that vegetable oil was a diet food and walking bare foot could give you anything from a cold to cancer! After I tipped the scale over 145 (which is far too uncomfortable for my 5’2″ frame) I knew I had to do something! I’m a lover of food and being a dancer my whole life I never once thought about what was being put into my body. Once I moved to Los Angeles and stopped dancing, that slice of Baklava became my arch nemesis. So fast forward 5 years and I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been. LA definitely makes you a heath conscious person and every time you blink there’s a new health craze you just have to try! So come on that journey with me! But don’t get me wrong.. just because I know better doesn’t mean I don’t indulge. My inner fat kid is always at the dessert bar waiting for me to join her.
Art/Photo Editor: Paula Lauren Gibson/AfroPix
When my father gave me a Kodak Brownie as a child, I feel in love with photography. I have been shooting pictures ever since. I am also an avid genealogist and can trace one of my family lines back to 1620! Check out my photography at afropixphotography.com!
As a child, Nyx always wanted to be a writer and an artist and that girl on the cover of the first Sabbath album. One out of three ain’t bad! (Profile Pic by M. Randall, 2010)
On bass
Piera’s life mimics that of Paddington Bear. Born in the deepest darkest Peru, she soon found herself a stowaway, landing in London sometime thereafter. She now resides in Los Angeles where she likes attending gigs, photographing casually, and wandering about the country when time and finances permit. She also enjoys writing short self-bios- in third person of course.
Brian Michaels is a defense attorney, photographer and writer. He can be found on the web at www.socalcriminaldefense.com and brianmichaelsphoto.com
Tawny was born in Pasadena, the City of Roses, and has been soaking up the fun and sun of the Los Angeles area her entire life. Tawny’s motto is: “Why live anywhere else?” A daughter of Angeleno culture, Tawny has a passion for strange movies and music, gets a chuckle out of vintage men’s magazines, finds inspiration in a perfect cocktail, pines for the days of whimsical architecture, wonders if it would really ruin the diet to have one Thai iced tea and whispers secrets to her dog before going to sleep at night.
President of The Fun Zone; The Center for the Study of Funism.
Specializing in Mud Pie Engineering, Imagineering, Infotainment and Consultant of Stuff. Colonel of the W.L.B. (Wax lips Brigade). Obsessive compulsive participant of the Center of Competence.
Michael
Michael is the editor and main contributor to South Bay Foodies. where he scouts out and documents good eats around LA. (Besides writing and photography, Michael is also an administrator for The LA Beat and has played an integral part behind the scenes to get the site happening -Ed).
Lisa Brenner
Lisa Brenner is a Los Angeles-based music & pop culture writer. When she’s not at the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Park or the Hollywood Forever Cemetery you can find her sitting quietly wondering why so many Yiddish expressions revolve around butter. Her likes include Pop Tarts, Pop Rocks, Pop Art, and Popcorn. However, she strongly dislikes Popeye.
Jerome Williams
After working 60 hour weeks and volunteering in his spare time, Jerome likes to have fun and be pampered. The Beat’s resident spa expert, he can guide you to the best foot massages LA has to offer. A fan of dining and cocktails, Jerome makes the rounds with enthusiasm, and just may take you along for the ride.
Dave Soyars
Dave Soyars is a freelance dilettante who is willing to try almost anything once. He knows a lot about very little but at least a little about almost everything.
Darlene is the curator of the Candy Wrapper Museum, which is comprised of her personal collection which she began as a teenager in the 70s. The CWM has been featured in numerous TV shows, magazines, newspapers and blogs, and made its art gallery debut in 2010 at the Scion Space’s “Palate” show.
Dan Clark
Anti-Bankster
Libby Lu
Libby Lu is more of a Libby less of a Lu. She loves to have a joyful heart but isn’t afraid to get saucy! Raised in the majestic Tizayuga, Hidalgo (yeah, say that five times) she definitely has Mexican pizzazz that on occasion will cause your nostrils to flare.. wink, wink. She loves God and loves her family and friends! One of her passions is making tutorial videos. Check her out on Youtube.
Now I’m at work, now I’m at home, now I’m asleep, let’s wake up and write something.
Dave Travis
Dave Travis was born in Hollywood during the Summer of Love. He started videotaping punk shows when he was 15 in 1983 and has been doing it ever since. In the 90′s he worked doing sound and editing on projects such as 1991 the Year Punk Broke, and Ready for PreSchool. Dave spent most of the first decade of the 21st Century teaching History and Economics in South Central Los Angeles. Dave later returned to video and began editing his old footage. The first release from his archive is A History Lesson Part 1: punk rock in Los Angeles in 1984 starring Redd Kross, the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen and Twisted Roots. In 2012 Dave Travis launches UHF.TV an internet punkrock video fanzine. Dave Travis has been playing Electric Cello in Carnage Asada since 1993.
Paul Gaita
Paul Gaita lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his lovely wife and daughter. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, MTV, Disney Newsreel and Arrive, among many other publications, and has been a DVD product reviewer for Amazon.com since 1998. He has interviewed countless entertainment figures from both the A and Z lists, but his favorites remain Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury and George Newall, who created both Schoolhouse Rock and the Hai Karate aftershave commercials. He once shared a Thanksgiving dinner with celebrity astrologer Joyce Jillson, and regrettably, still owes the late character actor Charles Napier a dollar.
Victoria Thomas
Brooklyn-born Victoria Thomas loves writing about flora and fauna, although she chooses to do so in an urban setting. An ill-starred excursion to rural, soggy “Mendonoma” (ew) recently reinforced Victoria’s lifelong craving for culture, happenings, museums, freshly baked bagels, Chinese, Indian and Mexican take-out, proximity to an ER, dry cleaning, and Target. She lives in Los Angeles.
…and in order of appearance:
Mike Means
Virginia Pelley
James Eliopolus
Heathbiter
The Rotund One
The Old Man
The Dude
Jordan Schwartz
John Collinson
Lisa Rosales
