Beginners for First Time Again

0

Samantha Barbera found herself rocking out, again, at the Austin, Texas, music festival South by Southwest last month.

The senior concept producer at Playa Vista ad agency Deutsch LA is also the lead singer for Beginners, an indie pop band.

Barbera, 33, said the experience was much better than the first time she played at the festival with her former band, Malbec, in 2008.

“The first time we did it as part of a tour so we were in and out,” she said. “This time we were there Tuesday to Saturday – played a couple shows, had meetings and hung out.”

The band performed a mix of new songs and those featured on its first self-titled album, which came out last year.

“It was incredible,” Barbera said. “All these venues are like 200-capacity rooms so it’s super intimate and packed. We were really excited to be there.”

Have No Plan, Will Travel

When Ross Resnick, the 30-year-old founder of West Hollywood startup Roaming Hunger, a smartphone app that helps users find local food trucks, was traveling in Costa Rica with his wife, Evelyn Taft, he took an unintentional camping trip.

The couple thought it would be romantic to travel spontaneously, without planning their itinerary. When they arrived in the beach town of Manuel Antonio, every hotel in the area was booked. They soon learned it was Semana Santa, the week before Easter. People from the surrounding regions had come to celebrate by the beach.

As night fell, the couple grew tired of dragging their luggage around and being bitten by mosquitoes. They came upon a campsite and paid a local a premium to sleep in his tent for the night. When they were awakened in the middle of the night by a giant crab, their screams woke up the entire campground.

“In the morning we got these looks, people laughing at the hopeless tourists,” Resnick said. “We learned our lesson that planning ahead for a trip abroad is critical.”

Staff reporters Subrina Hudson and Hannah Miet contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at ccrumpley@labusiness journal.com.

No posts to display