Cook House LA: Where music and community intersect

Written by Katherine M. Fernandez

Close your eyes and picture a recording studio. Did you imagine a family-style Sunday dinner? Then you might be thinking of Cook House LA, a North Hollywood recording studio unlike any of its predecessors. The creative minds behind the business are Steven Grier and Daniel Manteca, friends who came together through their love of music and realized that the bond they cultivated was just what their communities were missing. 

“It’s a safe space for people to come create,” said Grier. “There’s no judgment. You can bring a song that you started and haven’t finished and we’re going to listen to it and come together and cook up and make something beautiful.”

Grier, who already owned several recording studios prior to establishing Cook House LA, recognized that their clients needed more than just a space to record; they needed fellowship. Grier and Manteca, who have worked with the likes of Kanye West and Raphael Saadiq, co-founded Cook House LA with an emphasis on community and collaboration in all aspects of their business and created their Youth for Peace program with those values in mind. 

“Youth for Peace is a program where we work with kids from the age of 12 to 19. They come in, and we build a song from the ground up. Everybody records a little bit, everybody writes, everybody does every part of the music production.”

The program – which Grier and Manteca hope to revitalize and relaunch – found so much success that the young artists involved were formally invited to President Obama’s Inauguration in 2009.

“When we did it in the past, we did five songs and created music videos for them,” explained Grier. “They got the whole experience of what it felt like to be an artist. We released the music and it was such a success and we got to see how it impacted these kids lives. We really killed it when we did that program and now we’re in North Hollywood and it’s time to bring it back because we see more of a need than ever before. The school system is pretty messed up and there’s not a lot of after-school programs and some schools cut music entirely. A lot of kids are just out there and you know, sometimes when people are just out there, they make bad decisions. Youth for Peace is a place where young people can come and understand the different skills and the different job positions in music. We expose youth to the different roles in the industry and then show them how it all comes together.”

With so much innovation in the current music industry, Grier and Manteca knew they wanted to find new ways to reach their audience. They came up with the perfect plan to marry technology and community at a time when everyone in the world felt isolated and estranged: live streaming. 

“The studio is called Cook House LA, so we were trying to come up with something that would make people gravitate towards the studio and feel welcome,” said Manteca. “We developed the idea of a backyard barbecue-style cookout and have local artists that we work with just come in on Sundays and jam with us. You can have a musician that’s just starting their journey and a professional musician side by side learning and communicating and just creating a vibe.”

If you arent exactly musically inclined, Grier and Manteca still got you covered. Cook House LA also offers podcasting and live streaming spaces complete with 4K video and professional lighting set-ups, a dance room, and a rehearsal lounge. Tune into Cook House LA’s Sunday Cook Out at https://www.twitch.tv/cookhousela or visit their official website cookhousela.com for more information.