Editorial by Black Chalk Magazine @BlackChalkMagazine

Creative & Article by Justin Howard @Jthnomad

Photography by Christine Solomon @ChristineSolomon7

Subject Jeremy Fall @JeremyFall

Jeremy Fall is a name fast becoming associated with a new philosophy emerging in the nightlife of Hollywood, this ethos is defined by it’s lack of velvet ropes, overpriced cocktails and – thank god – no bottle service. Jeremy is owner of two nightclubs in Hollywood – Golden Box, best described as a grungy disco and Genesis, where the music will be sure to get your ass out onto the dance floor. This is the story of one man’s quest to bring that oh-so elusive element back into LA’s nightlife: just having fun.

'I Wear Black' Jeremy Fall
‘I Wear Black’ Jeremy Fall

The Act of Genesis / Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – For as long as I have known you, there has been two sides to Jeremy Fall – the ‘public’ host Jeremy and the ‘shy’ quiet Jeremy. Explain to me who these people are.

Jeremy Fall – To be honest I am really a shy person. I really am. I am introverted. But I have a switch I taught myself, for when I have to be ‘ON’. At the end of the day what I do is social. My favorite part of what I do is the design process, that I get to do first. When that part is done, then it turns into a social job. Right? For me, the goal in my world is to charm every single person in the room. Guys, Girls, whatever. To get them to come back and have them leaving happy. So that is where that comes in.

Justin Howard – When talking about your clubs, you seem to like giving barely enough details and to have individuals left thinking ‘oh that sounds interesting.’ Yet when they go, it becomes a more of a rich experience for them, having left most of it up to their own imaginations.

Jeremy Fall – Honestly. I am not saying this to be funny. I really do think that you know what I do to me is like my craft. It is an art form. Most people don’t really recognize that it is an art form.  I mean the whole experience from when you give your keys to the valet, to the door guy, to the bar to the music. Every single aspect of the experience is designed. When we built spots, we have to build for everyone. There has to be an intimate spot, there has to be a spot where people can to be seen, all these little components, so people can create their own stories. That to me is the design process. When I build the walls, and I design the concept, I really think I am 60% done with the work. The remaining 40% is literally what people make of it, and those are people filling the room. And it is an ongoing process that keeps evolving.

"Genesis is closest to my heart in all honestly." Jeremy Fall
“Genesis is closest to my heart in all honestly.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – Let’s talk about the design process because you just launched ‘Genesis.’ How do you create a space?

Jeremy Fall – Genesis is closest to my heart in all honestly. Because it was my first project. It was just this idea by a naive kid to change how people experience night clubs. It was an insane concept and we did just do that. No one wanted to write about it in the beginning because we didn’t have cocktails. And finally it caught on, we built this experience where people could go out and have fun, we were going back to the roots of night clubs of what they were in New York in the 80s.

You were just going out to have fun. There was no pretentious element, no pushy bouncer, there was nothing like that. No bottle service. That little baby project turned into a six month pop up, at of the end of which I realized we hit our max of what we could do potentially and financially. So I decided to move Genesis into it’s own space. To me this project isn’t new, it just feels like the next chapter to that story.

Justin Howard – Genesis as an experience is you going back to the New York clubs of the 80s where you just danced. You didn’t have all this crazy VIP shit?

Jeremy Fall – The basis of everything I do is inspired by the New York City night life from the late 70s to early 80s. Golden Box is completely inspired by that. It is a grungy disco, in its style it is like New York of 1980s, drawing from Studio 54 to Limelight. But if people really pay attention to the ethos of what I do. It all has that cohesiveness, it may not look like anything from New York in the 80s, but it has that same emotion that people had when they went out.

Like you said, they just went out to have fun. There wasn’t 17 ingredient drinks at the bar and 45 minute waits for a cocktail that was 15 dollars. When you went out it was about the people, it was about the interactions and the everyone who was in the room at that moment. It was about creating stories for themselves. That is what I want.

"The basis of everything I do is inspired by the New York City night life." Jeremy Fall
“The basis of everything I do is inspired by the New York City night life.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – It sounds like you are truly focusing on the individual’s experience?

Jeremy Fall – It is magically in the sense that every single person who comes through the doors, won’t have exactly same experience. No matter what happens. Obviously we don’t have total control. I like not being in control of every single element because that is what makes it special. When you imposed all these things, like expensive drinks and all these societal pressures on people so they feel like they have to be standing in this corner, and they can’t dance. That takes out all of heart and soul of what we do.

Justin Howard – You are trying to get rid of all the inhibitions that stand in the way of a person enjoying themselves.

Jeremy Fall – I think the innovation isn’t in trying to impress someone with how complexed your cocktails are going to be, or how expensive your chandelier is. It is in giving someone the fuel to enjoy themselves. My biggest pet peeve about people in the industry is that they forget that it is called hospitality. They think it is going make people want more to see this huge ducey bouncer at the door who is going to turn them away five times and tell them they aren’t on the list when they are on the list.

That whole situation isn’t my thing. Other people can do that and it is fine, not talking shit but… At the end of the day for me that’s not hospitality. Hospitality is this what we are doing right now more then anything. It is talking and sharing stories. It is about serving each other. We are in the service industry. We are here to serve people. I tell my staff this every week, we aren’t curing cancer, we are paid to serve people, to make them happy, to give them a positive experience. No matter when anyone comes, or how long they wait, they will leave happy.

"It is a living hell, I will tell you that." Jeremy Fall
“It is a living hell, I will tell you that.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – You talk about working with people who have the same vision as you. How do you recruit them?

Jeremy Fall – It is a living hell, I will tell you that. It is so hard because in this city everyone is an actor, or a dancer, or something. I would love to change that. We have a hospitality industry that is growing rapidly and the issue is that we don’t have that many working professionals. There are a handful of them that go between everyone and I am sure you know who I am talking about. Finding the people who actually care, is number one, and that is nearly impossible to find. I have been fortunate to have people who are really talented individuals. A lot of time we have to take people that we see at other places that have potential and train them. It is hard, it is a lot of work.

Justin Howard – Where does all this passion stem from? I mean you are only 25.

Jeremy Fall – I grew up in it. My dad is a product of the Studio 54 era, he lived in New York during that time and all I heard growing up were stories about Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Mick Jagger. I inherited all this stuff, simply hearing about it growing up. My mother is in hospitality, she has been in restaurants for the last fifteen years. What I do is very different, yet at the core of what we do it is all the same. That attention to detail.

DSC08192
“All I heard growing up were stories about Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Mick Jagger.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – Right now you have these two spots going, if you had unlimited resources. What would you do? What would you create?

Jeremy Fall – Well, change the fucking world of course. Seriously what I mean is if I had the resources I would be able to invest in people, which would make the level of serve even better. That is what I would focus on. I would keep expanding and opening more spots which would be great, I won’t have to worry about the finances of going through an investor. Which is exhausting and hurts me creativity. I would be able to focus on ideas, concepts and execution. I would hire other creatives to bounce ideas off because I don’t think just one person can create to their maximum potential unless they are surrounded by other creative people. I believe it is a collaborative effort. I want to surround myself with creative people. It doesn’t even matter if they are in hospitality, just people. For that you need unlimited resources.

"I take the least expected concept and put it in the least expected place." Jeremy Fall
“I take the least expected concept and put it in the least expected place.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – Someone walked into your club for the first time. Genesis. Golden Box. You name it. What experience do you want them to get out of it?

Jeremy Fall – Every club is a different experience, but they have the same core ethos of, that I want for everything, the level of service. What I do every time, I take the least expected concept and put it in the least expected place. Everything looks like it belongs in the Lower Eastside of New York or at least Downtown LA. You walk into Golden Box and we technically don’t even have an address. Literally you have to know where it is, you have to enter through a parking lot, then via a patio. Then there is all this crap written all over the patio walls, then you get into the venue. Downstairs has graffiti everywhere and Interview Magazine issues from New York on the floor. We built it for no money, it was literally it was a couple of guys and myself sitting down and building it. I built it with my own hands.

Justin Howard – Didn’t you do the floors yourself as I recall?

Jeremy Fall – I laid the whole floor myself. I did nine hours by myself, and I lost my mind at the end. My girlfriend came out and helped me. I was literally loosing my mind. I destroyed my pants I was wearing now, I had to get them dry cleaned eight times. I took all these originally sourced Interview Magazine issues, and I went through every single page. I took them out carefully because they couldn’t be rip and had to figured out where on the floor I wanted each page to lay. Then I had to glue every single page to the floor, one by one to make sure they were cohesive, then put layers of epoxy on them.

"It was truly an epic struggle." Jeremy Fall
“It was truly an epic struggle.” Jeremy Fall

Justin Howard – That is insane.

Jeremy Fall – I literally laid so much glue, I didn’t wear a mask don’t ask me why, that I had so much glue up my nose I couldn’t breath. I had to literally cut the glue away with scissors. It was truly an epic struggle to get that floored laid. It was real.

Follow BLACK CHALK MAGAZINE

Instagram @BlackChalkMagazine

Twitter @BlackChalkMzine

Facebook @BlackChalkMagazine