A Message From the Team Behind ISCHiFi

In Sheep’s Clothing was built out of necessity.

Once there was a pizzeria that was looking for a home and found one in the Art’s District of Los Angeles (710 East 4th Place). It was a nice home but it was too large for just pizza.

“We’ll take half please”

“All or nothing” the owner said. 

“Give me the weekend to think about it” 

Takes weekend, thinks about it. 

Remembers friend in Austin hipping him to “a rad bar in Tokyo where people just go to listen to records… and they don’t talk” 

“That’s it! We’ll build one of those next to the pizza joint!”

The pizzeria was to be called Lupetti for no other reason than it sounded good. 

“What’s Lupetti mean?” 

“Baby wolf in Italian, I think”  

I’ll call the bar “In Sheep’s Clothing hi-fi” – “because of the baby wolf thing…”

From this simple idea, something began to grow. I used to think that the listening bar was built out of necessity because we needed to take over that whole space. But in actuality, it was necessary to create this space because we were missing this kind of experience in Los Angeles. A room built for optimal dedicated listenings. A place special with intention that revolved around deep listening and records.

In Sheep’s Clothing hi-fi became a community of people who enjoyed the space at different times of the day and for different reasons. While not everyone was always there “to hear more and say less,” the intention was always present. This dedication to deep listening was set by all of those who worked as a part of ISC from its conception, and continued on every day during the time when it was operating.  We had assembled the parts and the parts have always been the reason why this space was special.

One of the most important elements of ISC will always be discovery. We believe it is important to turn others onto records that we appreciate. The album artwork was always present, front and center, between the two Gerrard 301 Turntables above the Condesa Carmen Rotary Mixer and most of those who worked as a part of the space could tell you about the music that was being featured at the time.

With COVID-19 making it impossible to operate a safe environment, we’ve decided to pivot in order to keep the discovery element thriving. Culturally, ISC is too important to let it fade out due to circumstances that are out of our control. The experiment of creating a “jazz-kissa” style bar in LA worked and we aim to build others once things have normalized again and it is safe to experience the communal ceremony of listening to records in a space built with that focus being paramount. For now, we pivot and expand on the idea that we’ve worked tirelessly to offer to those who use to visit In Sheep’s Clothing. 

Introducing ISC HiFi online. 

A platform for discovery of albums and analog culture including, but not limited to, sound systems and editorial around brilliant LP’s recorded all over the world, for all time. 

We aim to keep expanding on what has become a collective vision and to bridge the gap til we can open up our next location. 

I have been fortunate to have attracted a group of individuals who come from different walks of life, all bonded together by their love and appreciation for vinyl records as well as other elements of analog culture. They are the real curators of what ISC online will be featuring. You won’t find “best of” or “top ever” lists on this site. Music shouldnt be a competition. Instead, this platform will aim to offer pure joy through a variety of ways to discover, share, and enjoy music.

Thank you for listening.