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Monk Turner

Monk Turner
monk@blogdowntown.com

Ever since relocating to Los Angeles, Monk has tried to keep the fact that he is actually from the Bay Area a secret. Proud to call himself an 'honorary Angeleno,' Monk resides on the border of Little Tokyo and the Arts District where he writes and records concept albums.

A musician since the tender age of 5, Monk studied advertising and business at The University of Texas at Austin until he was shipped off to L.A. for a summer to work in the biz. It only took a week for him to realize that L.A. wasn't nearly as bad as people in the Bay Area make it out to be. Once he discovered downtown, it was love at first site.

Since then, he has been proud to call the 9th District home and is working tirelessly to meet every musician and creative person residing within its towering buildings and walking its vibrant streets.

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Recent Stories by Monk Turner

Arts/Culture

Dan Garcia of Radio Hill Recorders

By Monk Turner — November 10, 2009
6 Comments

Dan Garcia of Radio Hill Recorders

|Photo Gallery| Dan Garcia's resume includes a laundry list of some of music's top stars. Known in audio engineering circles as an electrical genius (he built his own sound board), these days Garcia brings in L.A.'s top talent to his Radio Recorders Studio located in the Historic Core. Recently, I found a time when he wasn't soldering wires or producing the next hit to find...


Arts/Culture

Mucho Wednesday's Ricky Garay

By Monk Turner — October 27, 2009
5 Comments

Ricky Garay takes a well deserved break

|Photo Gallery| Back in the late 90's there was a buzz around Latin Alternative music. Bands from all over the US, Latin America, and Spain were receiving major attention and creating a new type of music for a new generation. Then Ricky Martin had his comeback tour and left a giant turd on what could have been an amazing new music scene. Reggaeton was the nail in the coffin...


Arts/Culture

Waz

By Monk Turner — October 13, 2009
8 Comments

Waz & Jamie

|Photo Gallery| Boy leaves Midwest town for LA to pursue music. Boy gets invited to tour with Pete Yorn, does it, then goes solo. Boy meets Southern girl in a now defunct bar, gets married, starts a band, and moves to Santa Monica. Boy and girl quickly realize Santa Monica is wack and move to Downtown LA.


Arts/Culture

Central Second's Nick Ceglio and Pete DiBiasio

By Monk Turner — September 29, 2009

Nick Ceglio and Pete DiBiasio

|Photo Gallery| Silverlake has become synonymous with indie rock. As the scene was taking root there, a similar scene was getting its start in Downtown. Known as the Central Second Collective, a cluster of indie rock groups sprouted from 2nd Street Jazz in Little Tokyo. I recently met with Nick Ceglio and Pete DiBiasio to chat about the past, present and future of indie rock...


Arts/Culture

Cafe Metropol's Angie An and Paul Im

By Monk Turner — September 15, 2009

Angie An and Paul Im

Veggie Burger Man. It isn't a name I try to deny. After all, I do visit Cafe Metropol on a weekly basis and order the garden burger every time. Every once in a while I'll bring a group of people with me and they'll also order the garden burger. So I feel this title is well deserved. But it isn't just the garden burger that has led me to become a regular at... |Photo Gallery|