Real Estate Gets Real: Alex Bleeker talks tacos, ultimate frisbee and LA 'hoods.
In anticipation of Real Estate's upcoming show at The Fonda Theatre on Tuesday, March 11, Patrick and Real Estate's Alex Bleeker swapped emails to talk about the band's favorite things to do and places to go while in LA on tour.
We're also giving away a few pairs of tickets to the show on Tuesday! Winners will also receive signed copies of the band's dreamy new album, Atlas.
P: Hello, Real Estate. This is Patrick from Oh My Rockness. Thank you for taking the time to do our first ever interview by email (or by any other means) on the site. When you're on tour in LA - where is your favorite place to eat tacos? If you don't like tacos, please explain your curious position and cite sources. You may also discuss burritos if you wish.
A: Man, this is a tough one. I like a lot of spots. My favorite Mexican food in LA is Tacos Villa Corona, the breakfast burrito spot. Tacos Delta is kind of our original place. I used to drop the van at the jiffy lube and eat while I waited for the oil to be changed. There's a lot of love for Taco Zone in the parking lot of VONS, that truck in front of the Walgreens on sunset, El Atacor #11 for potato tacos, and Huraches in Highland Park. I like tacos a lot.
P: When I'm in LA I like to go on hikes sometimes. Do you ever do that? If so, where? If not, what alternate activity do you engage in to blow off steam and consider the beauty and vastness of the earth?
A: I've never hiked in LA but I've heard about all of those weird stairways to nowhere.... the remains of the infamous LA public transit system. I run on tour now, so I've done that a few times in LA. One time a few of us drove out to Anaheim to catch an Angels game.
P: What's your favorite place(s) to unwind with a cold beverage that's not the venue in which you just played?
A: Definitely Rob Barbato's house. I don't go to many bars in LA, seems like people just hang at each other's houses. If you don't know who Rob Barbato is, you should.
P: Have any of you guys ever played disc golf? Did you know the country's very first disc golf course is near Pasadena? It's called Oak Grove. And it's the best. You should play it. And I should mind my own business.
A: I never got into disc golf but back at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ, I was on the ultimate frisbee team, the ultimate warriors.
P: Finally. You have to move to LA. I don't know why. You just have to. Which neighborhood do you pick to live in and why? Money is no object. Happiness is.
A: Matt just moved out there and he lives in Highland Park so I guess that answers that question pretty firmly. I like that neighborhood a lot but I still romanticize places like Topanga Canyon and other off-the-beaten-path hippie neighborhoods.
P: Thank you, Real Estate. I really like your new songs. They make me feel better about things.