Sounds of the Underground 2025: Diasporic Kinships

In the fall of 2023, Special Collections & Archives at the Cal State LA University Library launched a symposium and archive titled “Sounds of the Underground: Music Scenes in LA from the 1960s-2000s” to shed light on the rich and diverse musical heritage of Los Angeles. Spearheaded by a collaborative team of faculty and staff, the project aims to document and celebrate the vibrant and lesser-known music scenes that have thrived in LA over the decades.

Through these initiatives, we aim to document how music fosters a deep sense of belonging, influencing people’s self-fashioning of personal style and the development of identity for countless individuals across Los Angeles. To achieve this, we rely on the generosity of individuals and organizations who share our commitment to community storytelling and cultural preservation. With the support of our campus partners and community, we can acquire new collections, enhance our digital infrastructure, and bring awareness of the archive through engaging programming.

1. Establish Cal State LA’s Special Collections & Archives as the primary repository for LA’s rich and diverse underground music history.
2. Broaden access and awareness of the Sounds of the Underground Archive, including the on-campus research symposium and music festival for both academic and public audiences.
3. Recognize Cal State LA as a leading hub for underground music scholarship and community-centered archival work.
4. Develop the archive, research symposium, and music festival into a signature annual cultural event that fosters student engagement and community pride across Los Angeles.

Lifelong music-lovers, we know it takes creativity, innovation, and risk to embrace an event series encompassing many departments, third-party entities, and community partners. But with combined decades of academic, archival, and event experience, the planning committee is well-equipped to utilize generous sponsorships in unique and interesting ways that speak to the needs and wants of our students.

• Approach: We are moving beyond a single event by creating a holistic, annual initiative that uniquely connects students, campus, and the local community.
• Uniqueness: Unlike typical archival collections, research symposiums, and music festivals , SOTU closes the gap between archival work and student engagement. Our initiative brings archival objects to life through direct student research and inquiry, creating new opportunities for students to develop their own research agendas.
• Proven Success: We have a proven track record of success, with two prior events, seven archival collections acquired, faculty curriculum integration, student research presentations, and strong community partnerships with organizations like Chicx Rockerx and Plaza de la Cultura y Arte.
• Growth & Expansion: Forging strategic partnerships with the LAPL, Angel City Press, and various student and academic organizations, our growth strategy includes introducing new programming events like documentary screenings and developing a festival by expanding our artistic lineup to include more bands and DJs. To increase our reach, we launched a formal call for proposals and a press release. Ultimately, we envision bringing SOTU to the people by taking it on tour to local communities and venues.