Born and raised in Los Angeles, Pascal Stevenson has long adhered to the balance of glamor and eeriness that defines the city, both in her role as bassist for local post-punks Moaning and under the solo moniker Fashion Club. It’s through the latter that she continues to hone this musical formula, with her forthcoming sophomore album A Love You Cannot Shake evolving her gothic synthpop sound to new heights—often by stripping her compositions back to ambient whispers that recall the most sensual ballads of Perfume Genius, or the most chilling chamber-pop echoes of Julie Byrne. In fact both of those artists (along with Jay Som) are featured on the track list, which reflects the songwriter’s history of collaboration as a touring member of SASAMI, Cherry Glazerr, and Girlpool’s live bands.
Ahead of the album’s release this Friday via Felte Records, we had Stevenson walk us through her ideal day in LA, beginning near North Hollywood where she grew up and winding her way through bookstores, gear shops, and thrift spots across the city (there’s also no shortage of pet cameos). Join Stevenson on her journey below, and pre-order A Love You Cannot Shake here before it drops on October 25.
The first thing I usually do in the morning, after having coffee and shaving my eyebrows, is take a walk with my dog Teddy.
My favorite donut shop in LA is Donut Hut on Magnolia in Burbank. It’s close to where I grew up in North Hollywood, so I’ve been going there since I was a kid. It’s not super close to where I live now, but I still come here once every few months and get this really excessive chocolate chip donut.
While I’m in the area I swing by Ametron. It’s a huge AV store, and I go there whenever I’m gearing up for a tour to buy cables, flight cases, etc.
A lot of the bigger thrift store chains in LA are just stuff from Forever 21 and H&M at this point, but there’s still a lot of great spots in the Valley! There’s some excellent places near me in East LA as well, but I have an affection for the big Valley spots like Super Thrift. I got a couple sweaters for fall and had to stop myself from buying a cassette player karaoke machine.
The Iliad is another place I’ve been going to since I was a child. It’s sort of a labyrinth in there, but they have a really great selection of used books. There’s a big fiction and poetry section in the back, but there’s also a ton of art books, history books, books about sex, books about death, etc.
I stopped into Old Style, which is my favorite guitar shop in LA. I get my guitars set up here and they always do an amazing job. The owner, Reuben, is super sweet and builds some really unique instruments. My main recording/touring guitar is from here, and it’s my favorite guitar I’ve ever played.
Teddy again. Cameo from my roommate’s dog.
