Shane Carpenter is usually out-on-the-town seeing music nearly every night of the week. Now, he’s handling COVID-19 isolation with Nintendo, loads of ‘Cheers’ episodes and listening to his favorite jams at home.
Quarantine Coping is our series about how local creatives are filling their time — and shelves — in the wake of COVID-19 isolation.
SoCal native Shane Carpenter is everywhere. He’s seemingly at every L.A. concert — whether it’s a show for psychedelic rock up-and-comers Amo Amo or the popular Santa Monica-born folk songstress Weyes Blood. He’s easily the biggest supporter of our local music scene. This stylish guy always has a smile, a hug and kind words for every person he meets.
Carpenter’s expertise on what’s going on in town led him to establish the popular Facebook group LA Phun, which highlights music and party happenings around town. Plus, he has his own events guide website, ITK.la. And Carpenter isn’t only up and down L.A. streets, he’s also on our screens. That alien from the popular Butterfinger commercial — that’s Carpenter. You can also see him in Flying Lotus’ puss-filled 2017 feature film “Kuso” — and knowing his nonstop energy, there’s surely more to come.
What have you stocked up on?
I’ve bought two weeks worth of oatmeal and organic vegan ramen but only to use in the most extreme circumstances that hopefully don’t occur. I will continue to patronize restaurants/food establishments with takeout orders to help the service industry.
What will you do to fill the time?
I’ll watch streaming services and play my Nintendo Switch to pass the time while it rains. The video game that I’ve been loving and playing a lot is Dragon Quest XI: Shadows of an Elusive Age. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’ll get to do some of the things I’d want to do in society except while in the safety of a digital animal community.
When it stops raining, I’ll spend more time in nature. Elyria Canyon Park is my fave local walk. Debs Park is my fave local mild hike. Seven Trees Trail and Echo Mountain are my favorite moderate hikes.
What TV do you recommend for binge-watching?
The first nine seasons of “Cheers.” There’s so much I could say about this show that made household names out of Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer and Kirstie Alley among others. Shelley Long remains my favorite female actress from a sitcom. Furthermore, I feel that the on-screen chemistry she had with Ted Danson has yet to be duplicated. Even after all these years, the show still holds up.
As probably one of the most social humans in L.A., how are you coping with not seeing live music every night? Who are you listening to?
I’m coping just fine and remaining optimistic. I understand that we’re all in this together and we have to make sacrifices immediately if we want to stop the spread of this virus. Since I can’t go out, I’ve been saving money and not putting as many miles on my car. I think there’s an opportunity in every situation — even when the situation isn’t ideal. We’ll have to get creative and find new ways to make life interesting for the time being. This is a great time to refocus on things we’ve been ignoring. Our society has been forced into a period of relative isolation and introspection/self-reflection and I think some good will come out of it.
Here’s Shane Carpenter’s Quarantine Coping playlist he made especially for Los Angeleno readers.