Arrival Story: Alejandro Cohen

KCET Departures asks, "What's your or your family's Los Angeles arrival story?"

Today, we hear from musician, deejay and member of the creative collective dublab, Alejandro Cohen:

"I arrived in Los Angeles in late August 1996.

"Back in 1994, I had met a guy named Dore, who is now my friend, through my family. I was born and raised in Buenos Aires and Dore was there visiting for about six months because his father was there for a work-related trip.

"After becoming good friends, Dore invited me to Los Angeles. I never quite understood the type of invite, but according to him it was only to visit. For some reason I understood he was going to help me move to LA.

"In any case, fast forward two years later and Dore is picking me up from the airport at LAX after I stayed for ten days in Mendota, IL. I was there visiting a girl called Jenna who I never heard of again and with whom I had a great adventurous time before heading to Los Angeles.

"The reason I came to this city to live is a mix of reasons, none of them really clear, even to me. My trip to LA was a mix of moving to the U.S., going on an adventure, a long vacation, pursuing music, getting lost and everything in between. In many ways, I still feel the same.

"In 1999 I met my wife for the first time at Hop Louie, in Chinatown - that's where the magic happened!

"My old band Languis played live gigs all around the city. We all used to hang out a lot at Mr. T's [Bowl & Nightclub], in Highland Park -- Languis played there as well.

"I chose Los Angeles simply because my friend invited me here, otherwise, I would have never chosen the west coast, but rather NYC. Although the whole car situation wasn't immediately appealing to me, the city and its people received me so well that now I can't imagine myself living anywhere else in the world."

-- Alejandro Cohen
(as emailed to Jeremy Rosenberg)​

Photo credit: Frosty