{"id":281826,"date":"2026-04-23T10:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281826\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:28:11","slug":"they-set-out-to-elevate-karaoke-in-l-a-and-opened-a-glamorous-lounge-that-pulls-out-all-the-stops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281826\/","title":{"rendered":"They set out to elevate karaoke in L.A. \u2014 and opened a glamorous lounge that pulls out all the stops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer visited karaoke spots around the globe and almost always had the same impression. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe drinks weren\u2019t always great, the aesthetics weren\u2019t always so glamorous, the sound wasn\u2019t always awesome and the lights were often generic,\u201d says Leo, a former bassist of the band Third Eye Blind.<\/p>\n

As devout karaoke fans, they wanted to level up the experience. So they dreamed up Mic Drop<\/a>, an upscale karaoke lounge in West Hollywood that opens Thursday. It\u2019s located inside the original Larrabee Studios<\/a>, a historic 1920s building<\/a> formerly owned by Carole King and her ex-husband, Gerry Goffin \u2014 and the spot where King recorded some of her biggest hits. Third Eye Blind band members Stephan Jenkins and Brad Hargreaves are investors of the new venue. <\/p>\n

Inside the two-story, 6,300-square-foot venue with 13 private karaoke rooms and an electrifying main stage, you can feel like a rock star in front of a cheering audience. Want to check it out? Here are six things to know. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

The Kremer brothers hired sculptor Shawn HibmaCronan to create an 8-foot-tall disco-themed microphone for their karaoke lounge. <\/p>\n

1. Take your pick between a private karaoke experience or the main stage<\/p>\n

A unique element of Mic Drop is that it offers both private karaoke rooms<\/a> and a main stage experience for those who wish to sing in front of a crowd. The 13 private rooms range from six- to 45-person capacity. Each of the karaoke rooms are named after a famous recording studio such as Electric Lady, Abbey Road, Shangri La and of course, Larrabee Studios. There is a two-hour minimum on all rentals and hourly rates depend on the room size and day of the week. <\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re ready to take the center stage<\/a>, it\u2019s free to sing \u2014 at least technically. All you have to do is pay a $10 fee at the door, which is essentially a token that goes toward your first drink. Then you can put your name on the list with the KJ (karaoke jockey) who keeps the crowd energized throughout the night and even hits the stage at times. <\/p>\n

\"Harrison <\/p>\n

Harrison Baum, left, of Santa Monica, and Amanda Stagner, 27, of Los Angeles, sing in one of the 13 private karaoke rooms. <\/p>\n

2. Thumping, high sound quality was a top priority<\/p>\n

As someone who toured the world playing bass for Third Eye Blind, top-tier sound was a nonnegotiable for Leo. \u201cTypically with karaoke, the sound is kind of teeny, there\u2019s not a lot of bass and the vocal is super hot and sitting on top too much,\u201d he says. To combat this, he and his brother teamed up with Pineapple Audio<\/a>, an audio visual company based in Chicago, to design their crisp sound system. They also installed concert-grade speakers and custom subwoofers from a European audio equipment manufacturer called Celto<\/a>, and bought gold-plated Sennheiser wireless microphones, which they loved so much that they had an 8-foot-tall replica made for their main room. Designed by artist Shawn HibmaCronan<\/a>, the \u201cmacrophone,\u201d as they call it, has roughly 30,000 mirror tiles. \u201cIt spins and throws incredible disco light everywhere,\u201d says Leo.<\/p>\n

\"Lights <\/p>\n

Karaoke jockeys Sophie St. John, 27, second from left, and Cameron Armstrong, 30, right, get the crowd involved with their song picks at Mic Drop. <\/p>\n

3. A concert-level performance isn\u2019t complete without good stage lighting and a haze machine<\/p>\n

Each karaoke room features a disco ball and dynamic lighting that syncs up with whatever song you\u2019re singing, which makes you feel like you are a professional performer. There\u2019s also a haze machine hidden under the leather seats. Meanwhile, the main stage is concert-ready with additional dancing lasers and spotlights. <\/p>\n

\"Brett <\/p>\n

Brett Adams, left, of Sherman Oaks, and Patrick Riley of Studio City sing karaoke together inside a private lounge at Mic Drop. <\/p>\n

4. The song selection is vast, offering classics and new hits<\/p>\n

One of the worst things that can happen when you go to karaoke is not being able to find the song you want to sing. At Mic Drop, the odds of this happening are slim to none. The venue uses a popular karaoke service called KaraFun<\/a>, which has a catalog of more than 600,000 songs (and adds 400 new tracks every month), according to its website<\/a>. Take your pick from country, R&B, jazz, rap, pop, love duets and more. (Two newish selections I spotted were Raye\u2019s \u201cWhere Is my Husband\u201d and Olivia Dean\u2019s \u201cMan I Need,\u201d which both released late last year.) In the private karaoke rooms, there\u2019s also a fun feature on Karafun called \u201cbattle mode<\/a>,\u201d which allows you and your crew of up to 20 people to compete in real time. KaraFun also has an entertaining music trivia game, which I tested out with the founders and came in second place. <\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The design inspiration for Mic Drop was 1920s music lounges and 1970s disco culture, says designer Amy Morris. <\/p>\n

5. The interiors are inspired by 1920s music lounges mixed with \u201870s disco vibes \"A <\/p>\n

A disco ball hangs from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

If you took the sophisticated aesthetic of 1920s music lounges and mixed it with the vibrant and playful era of 1970s disco culture, you\u2019d find Mic Drop. <\/p>\n

When you walk into the lounge, the first thing you\u2019ll see is a bright red check-in desk that resembles a performer\u2019s dressing room with vanity lights, several mirrors and a range of wigs. \u201cSo much of karaoke is about getting into character and letting go of the day, so we had the idea to sell the wigs,\u201d says Oliver. As you continue into the lounge, the focal point is the stage, which is adorned with zebra-printed carpet and dramatic, red velvet curtains. For seating, slide into the red velvet banquettes or plop onto a gold tiger velvet stool. Upstairs, you\u2019ll find the intimate karaoke studios, which are decorated with red velvet walls and brass, curved doorways that echo the building\u2019s deco arches, says Mic Drop\u2019s interior designer, Amy Morris of the Morris Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah <\/p>\n

Sarah Rothman, center, of Oakland, and friend Rachel Bernstein, left, of Los Angeles, wait at the bar.<\/p>\n

6. You can order nontraditional karaoke bites as you wait for your turn to sing<\/p>\n

While Mic Drop offers some of the food you\u2019d typically find at a karaoke lounge such as tater tots, truffle popcorn and pizza, the venue has some surprising options as well. For example, a 57 gram caviar service (served with chips, cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and chives) and shrimp cocktail from Santa Monica Seafood<\/a>. For their pizza program, the Kremer brothers teamed up with Avalou\u2019s Italian Pizza Company<\/a>, which is run by Louis Lombardi who starred in \u201cThe Sopranos.\u201d He\u2019s the brainchild behind my favorite dish, the Fuhgeddaboudit pizza, which is made with pastrami, pickles and mustard. It might sound repulsive, but trust me. <\/p>\n

As for the cheeky cocktails, they are all named after famous musicians and songs such as the Pink Pony Club (a tart cherry pomegranate drink with vodka named after Chappell Roan), Green Eyes (a sake sour with kiwi and melon named after Green Day) and Megroni Thee Stallion (an elevated negroni named after Megan Thee Stallion). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer visited karaoke spots around the globe and almost always had the same impression.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[121165,121164,35013,217,121166,121167,121169,48,52,51,34379,47,50,49,112673,40382,6927,121163,121168,10390,24925],"class_list":["post-281826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-6300-square-foot-venue","tag-band-third-eye-blind","tag-center-stage","tag-day","tag-glamorous-lounge","tag-karafun","tag-karaoke-spot","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-leo","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-main-stage","tag-mic-drop","tag-pizza","tag-private-karaoke-room","tag-red-velvet-curtain","tag-song","tag-sound"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}