Mount Analog Brings Flair to Figueroa

Meet the new cool kids on the block.

Not even a month old yet, Records, with its bright blue walls, sleek interior and retro stereo collection playing music by the register, is already paving its own path on Figueroa.

“We opened three weeks ago, on July 14,” said Zane Landreth, who co-owns Mount Analog with Mahssa Taghinia. “This is both of our first buisness. We felt like we had a really good vision for what a solid store could be in this area.”

Landreth said that he and Taghinia felt Figueroa was missing music.  

“There's no record store here, you know?” Landreth said. “You have on York, which does a great job. They're friends of ours. In Silver Lake there’s Vacation, in Echo Park you have Origami then Eagle Rock there's Permanent. We want to be that for the Figueroa area.”  

Both of the owners have a background in music. Landreth has done management and production and Taghinia is affiliated with the label Finders Keepers and has worked in record stores for most of her life.

“We tried to make it a combination of our aesthetics, to create a space where we could sell good and interesting music to people, couple that with books and with what our friends are creating,” Landreth said. “We’re also trying to do a lot of in-stores with DJs and live bands. We also wanted there to be a home for the Finders Keepers label.”

Landreth said the store is unique in the type of music that it covers.

 “We're one of the only stores in Los Angeles asides from Amoeba that carries dance records,” Landreth said. “We try to carry as large of a selection as we can, so that if you’re looking for something you can probably find it here.  We have everything from indie-rock to cool disco stuff to interesting house stuff to full on techno.”  

They decided to open up the store in Highland Park after learning that a space had opened up from the owners of .

“We're really good friends with THIS gallery right next door, they let us know the space next to them was open and it seemed like a really awesome place to go,” Landreth said.

Rather than go into Hollywood, or Downtown, Landreth said that he and Taghinia selected Highland Park because they felt it had a lot of promise.  

“There's a lot of people who live out here, just because there isn't like a big venue to draw folks to shows doesn't mean we couldn't do that here. That's what we're trying to do with all our in-stores. Bring the attention here,” Landreth said.

In addition, he said, the store is really accessible.

“It’s so easy to get out here, the freeway runs right down here, the Metro runs here,” Landreth said.

Landreth thinks that businesses will continue to come to Highland Park because the real-estate is reasonably priced and that has attracted more families to come and settle down here.

“People have moved to Highland Park because it’s more affordable and businesses are starting to follow that because now there's more people out here to sustain them,” Landreth said.

So far, Highland Park's arts-loving community has been receptive to the record store, Landreth said.

“People seem to be really excited to have a record store on Figueroa,” Landreth said.  “Some of the older folks walk in and they say, ‘Culture is coming back to Highland Park!’ I think people are really excited to see it and we’ve tried to create a really pretty place.”

Landreth said they never came to Highland Park with the intent on “bringing culture back” though. The pair just enjoy the area and wanted to bring their own twist to it.

“In the used to have a , it was an artist street,” Landreth  said. “It wasn't our intention to 'bring it back to the good old days,' I wasn't here in the good old days, but it’s a good neighborhood and our friends own a shop right next door, so it’s been fun to be here.”

Though York hasn't experienced the quite the same business boom as York Bouevard, it is home to some of Highland Park's most longstanding cultural institutions, including .

Landreth said he did have some ideas for the street as it continues to grow.

“Thinking really short-term right now, I just really want a coffee shop across the street. I’d like to see people taking more advantage of this area. It’s such a beautiful street, such a fun part of town. I’d really like to see more young folks coming in and continue making something cool happen here.”

For more information on Mount Analog check out their website, Facebook and Twitter for upcoming in stores and events.