The Gear Lost in the Fires: As NAMM Arrives in Anaheim, Manufacturers Step Up to Aid Musicians

The Gear Lost in the Fires: As NAMM Arrives in Anaheim, Manufacturers Step Up to Aid Musicians

The annual trade show NAMM (National Association of Music Manufacturers) opens its exhibit doors at the Anaheim Convention Center today, just weeks after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires impacted scores of musicians, producers, mixers and executives based out of the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and the Altadena areas.

In what’s become a painfully familiar scene among the L.A. music community, lives have been completely upended in the fires’ wake and tools of the trade — gear, instruments, archival recordings and home studios — ruined. Indeed, a running list of music professionals grappling with such loss has ballooned to nearly 400 and includes producers Bob Clearmountain, Greg Wells, Madlib and Mark “Spike” Stent, among others, as well as session and touring musicians and formidable jazz players.

With so many in need, several music instrument companies represented at the convention have rolled out programs to help, including Gibson Guitars which, through its philanthropic division, Gibson Gives, has joined forces with Guitar Center to donate $250,000 to the recovery of music programs and musicians impacted by the fires. L.A. musicians can apply here for a special one-time grant through February 28.

Fender, a company founded in California with offices in Corona, has committed $100,000 to help replace instruments and gear lost to the disaster. There is a form on their website here for musicians to submit their details and requests.

The Palisades and Eaton fires took a toll on two very different economic classes of music industry professionals during the biblical conflagration. The flames which whipped through the small town, exclusive Pacific Palisades neighborhood struck noted Grammy- and Emmy-winning production legend Bob Clearmountain’s Mix This! Studios — including his Bösendorfer grand piano — on Rivas Canyon Road. Not far away, Wicked music producer and Adele collaborator Greg Wells’ state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos mixing room and studio were also casualties of the blaze.

The two held an incredible conversation through Instagram posts, with Wells writing to Clearmountain, “I’m so sorry… We got wiped out too, home and studio,” with the famed mixer answering, “I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through the same thing. It’s so totally devastating! We should have a drink together sometime!”

Clearmountain has dedicated himself to helping fellow musicians, producers and mixers get back on their feet.

Louise Goffin also lost everything, including invaluable recordings made during her Warner Bros. record release party, where she played “Manic Depression” on electric guitar only to have the power go out and finished it as a candlelit acoustic session. Her partner Hayden Wells set up a GoFundMe page like so many others have done. “Our instruments, recording equipment, and my studio that I poured so much time and passion into — it’s all gone. Family photos, keepsakes, and the little things that made our house feel like home have turned to ash.

“While I’m grateful that my family and I are safe, I’m in shock. We’re starting from nothing, and it’s overwhelming to imagine what comes next. I never thought I’d make a page like this, but I don’t know where else to turn.”

Over in Malibu, Cisco Adler’s Cocoon, his recording studio and talent incubator, just down the PCH from the house he grew up in with his brothers and dad, famed music producer (and Laker fan) Lou Adler, was also destroyed.

“My childhood home, and one of the only constants in my life, is currently safe,” Cisco posted on Instagram. “For that I am grateful. The studio house and all that is in it is gone physically, but the memories and music remain. I don’t think I ever locked the place once in my life. It was protected by those who shared good times there and their love for it. We made so much music here with so many amazing people. And we will again.”

The Palisades was home to many celebrities and industry executives, including established musicians like Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist, composer and producer Jeff Lorber, who has worked with Kenny G, Dave Koz and Eric Benet, among others. Lorber had lived in the same Palisades Drive house with his wife and two cats since the early ‘80s, until it was burnt to the ground last week, along with his home recording studio and all his gear. 

“I was wearing an iWatch, which warned me there was a fire nearby,” he tells the Hollywood Reporter. “When I walked outside the studio, the flames were burning the canyon right in front of us. There were a bunch of houses under construction which were already engulfed. Soon, it was surrounding us on all sides.”

The destruction from the wildfires represented a double-whammy to many musicians and producers who have retreated to home studios since the Covid lockdown amid overall budget constraints for film and TV composers. The fire not only left them homeless but deprived of the tools to make a living.

Lorber is not sweating the losses, even though they included such rare equipment as three vintage Minimoogs, an Oberheim Matrix 12 analog synthesizer (“Those are worth $20,000 to $30,000 if you can find one”), a handmade Yamaha S6 grand piano and an SSL 4000 mixing desk he bought from George Martin from his AIR Studios in London.

“I’m looking forward to starting from scratch, seeing what I can do with the least amount of gear,” he says. “I’m working at a computer I just bought. I’ve got a couple of hard drives I saved from the studio. Most of the software companies are being pretty cool about helping musicians who lost stuff. But I have been wearing the same socks all week.”

On the eastern side of the city, by contrast, the Eaton fire leveled much of Altadena, a modest, mostly middle-class area east of Pasadena featuring more affordable home prices and rents for artists and musicians, including both well-known like Ry Cooder (whose property reportedly emerged unscathed) and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith (and wife Mandy Moore) as well as hopefuls like Olivia Saperstein of local power trio Pegzilla, described as “stoner death metal with lyrics that challenge the patriarchal status quo.”

The 37-year-old Boston transplant’s rented home in the Altadena foothills, where she had lived for the past three years with her husband and the band’s bassist Juan, was burned to the ground. Having moved to L.A. a decade ago, Olivia recently married and her partner left a lucrative gig as a corporate graphic designer to live out his wish to make pizza, which he did at Side Pie Marketplace on the city’s bustling Lake Avenue, the downtown commercial district which was also destroyed. All the group’s gear and instruments, including a rare Ludwig drum kit — there are reportedly only 500 in existence — were stored in their home’s garage, along with a vintage Fender Bassman and Mustang.  

“That was equipment we needed to play shows we had to leave it all behind. We’re going to have to figure something out if we’re going to play anytime soon, which is a bummer. Of course, we’re sad about it, but in the grand scheme of things, we have our health, we’re all still here and hoping we can recover through the local music community and renter’s insurance.”

The music community has come together to help their own in the current crisis, with benefit concerts springing up all over town. Local musician David Jenkins, one of the co-founders of Wild Honey, the non-profit music organization which puts on tribute concerts for the likes of Big Star, Lovin’ Spoonful, Nuggets and The Band to support autism research, works at the Santa Monica music instrument store Truetone Music, which he says will also offer support the best it can.

“I know at least 20 musician friends who have nothing but the shirt on their backs and maybe a suitcase,” he says.

Another Wild Honey principal, Paul Rock, suffered some minor damage from the high winds to the backyard stage set-up at his Eagle Rock home, which recently hosted performances by the likes of ex-Television guitarist Richard Lloyd. He is still figuring out what his non-profit organization can do to help.

“We’re kind of waiting to see who needs it the most,” adds Rock. “Right now, it’s chaotic, with a great deal of money floating around. It seems everybody has $20,000 in their GoFundMe accounts. And putting on a concert is not the most efficient way to raise money.”

With all the fire, mudslides, earthquakes, flooding and droughts in Los Angeles, it still remains a destination for creatives the world over, who will undoubtedly continue to flock here, come hell or high water.

“I like it here,” insisted Lorber. “I enjoy being around all these talented musicians.  And the weather’s great.”

Despite her losses, Olivia remains an L.A. booster, too.  “We’re not going anywhere,” she insisted. “For the love of rock ‘n’ roll, we’ll be OK.”

NAMM continues through Friday. Among the manufacturers participating are AKG, Audio-Technica, Eastman, ESP Guitars, JBL Professional, Pearl Drums, Remo Inc., Roland, Shre, Sony Music, Universal Audio, Yamaha and Avedis Zildjian, all of whom are offering replacement programs or other forms of assistance.