Zu Magazine is a publication of ZuMedia.
Staff Writer | Hailey Gomez
Music. It’s an aid that gets us through a workout, a study session, or a Sunday cleaning. People sometimes take music for granted. They forget how a single lyric can bring them to tears, how music can summon joy with a certain beat, or how it can make us feel empowered with a particular meaning.
In Azusa Pacific’s chapels, at concerts, or even at dances –– communities come together with song. It’s a special moment that many do not notice because it’s not something you see, it’s something you feel.
Music brings us a variety of colors in a world that can be black and white. But music does more than affect us individually. As witnessed at Winston House in Venice, Calif., it can unite a community.
If you head west towards the coast, you will find yourself in Venice. Home to incredible restaurants, exotic stores and eccentric people; Venice is a musical place. Nestled in-between the corner of Abbot Kinney and Electric Ave. is Winston House.
Created during the summer of 2015 by Corey McGuire, a young music entrepreneur, the thought behind Winston House was less about the concerts they were planning and more about providing a space for and supporting young artists to do what they love. And while Venice was a location by luck, it has now turned out to be a treasure trove for musicians.
“There was no real music or entertainment on the westside, but there are many young people that want to spend time in a space together,” McGuire said.
Convicted that people were no longer finding community, he created Winston House as a remedy to a seemingly intangible problem. He describes it as a space where musicians can be free to play, and where a community can join together to support them.
Winston House provides support to musicians, from offering free beds to building an audience, with the goal of creating positive change for the community.
“We started from a service mind approach… we’re always going to be finding more ways to use technology, media and other things,” McGuire said. One such community outreach event is “Electric Marches.” Everyone meets at Electric Ave. and walks the streets of Venice led by a band of drummers and horn players.
“It’s not just about the performances, but more about how everyone is feeling and the energy,” McGuire said.
Winston House is setting a new standard for media entertainment spaces everywhere in Los Angeles.
As American singer-song writer John Denver would say, “Music does bring people together … No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.”