I’ve been knee deep in work for Monday Nights: L.A.’s Scene of the Century, 2005-2016, the exhibition of photos and ephemera from Sean Carnage’s DIY show series that opens at Leiminspace in Chinatown on August 2. I’m one of the co-curators for the show and wrote an essay for the catalog, so my brain is half-stuck in the ‘00s and half-living in the present day, which is strange. I didn’t think the world could possibly be more grim than it was in the midst of the Bush era, but, here we are. Endless war, Fox News and the Great Recession seem quaint in comparison to the red cap crowd’s brand of reality show fascism. 

What made the ‘00s bearable, at least here in Los Angeles, was underground culture. Monday Nights was a big part of that. I think the first one I went to was Halloween of 2005 and I continued to go often throughout the duration of the series. At Monday Nights, I saw so many wildly creative bands/artists play— some of whom I wrote about at the time for L.A. Weekly and other publications— but that was just part of what was happening in the city at that point in time. There were other club nights and venues, not to mention the parties in lofts, warehouses, backyards and living rooms. Once, I even went to a show in a storage unit in Chatsworth. 

There was a lot going in Los Angeles and it was happening across genres. Most of this flew under the radar of mainstream press, who were too busy chasing celebrities around West Hollywood to care, but there was still enough of an independent and DIY media infrastructure where word traveled. So, it wasn’t all that difficult to hit up a synthpunk show, an underground hip-hop night, a secret movie screening and a rave in the same week. TBH, I probably went to a few of those in the same night, even when I was an extremely broke grad student working multiple jobs. Getting around L.A. was a lot cheaper then too. 

It’s not that there aren’t cool, DIY events happening now. There are. However, it’s much more difficult to have a thriving underground scene in 2025 and that’s not just because of the cost of living. Once we submitted to the algorithm, those rules that tech bros put in place for their vision of a world that’s always scrolling, we unwittingly locked ourselves into timelines that grow narrower with every like. Now we spend our days mindlessly scrolling through remixes of decade-old goth memes, influencers reading “secret histories” off Wikipedia pages and ads for high-priced reunion shows. 

Moreover, when the game is go-viral-or-go-home, everyone from bands to DJs to promoters feels the pressure to waste their time making “content” that fits with what the platforms want people to see/hear just so they can get five people to pay attention long enough to say they might go if they can stop scrolling or streaming long enough to get out of the house. All of this is terrible for breaking down barriers, fostering community, all the things you need to do to keep music and art scenes going. 

Right now, I think the big takeaway I got from reliving the ‘00s is that, if we want our underground scenes to thrive, we have to put ourselves back in the old internet mindset. It’s just one means of communication, not the only option.

Over the past couple years, I’ve seen more show flyers posted on light posts around town and that’s heartening, but I would love to see more paper flyers. IDK about you, but I’m more likely to remember something is happening when I have a physical reminder than if I save a post. 

Direct message your friends. I can tell you from personal experience that individually inviting people works better than just hoping that people see your Instagram post. At the very least, you can gage their responses and make notes on who will always be on your guest list and who won’t. 

But there’s more to the old internet state of mind than paper flyers and direct messaging people. It means unlearning everything we’ve internalized over the past 15 years about personal branding, social media best practices, monetizing your life, etc. There’s a lot more to say about this phenomenon, because, tbh, I think that push to capitalize everything is at the heart of what’s wrong with the whole damn world right now. But, I have to get back to work, so consider this the start of a series of posts that I’ll return to after this month’s deadline crunch passes. So, for now, I’ll just leave you with this message from the ‘00s. If you’re compelled to make music and art, do it. Don’t worry about who is listening. If you’re compelled to document the world around you, do it. Don’t think about the audience. Be creative and experiment and, I’m certain, somewhere along the way you’ll meet at least a few other fellow travelers.

And, definitely check out  Monday Nights: L.A.’s Scene of the Century, 2005-2016 this August. Maybe it will spark some inspiration. 

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Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram  or Bluesky for more updates.

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