Meet Charbel Abijaoude of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charbel Abijaoude

Hi Charbel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My co-founder and I launched Among Friends in August 2022 with the goal of creating an event series that would showcase the incredible local talent in the dance music scene on the west side of Los Angeles.

As the Head of Operations, my primary focus has been on all aspects of event production to bring our vision to life. This includes designing stage layouts and production elements to create immersive atmospheres for our attendees. I also handle the complex logistics of coordinating with numerous 3rd party vendors and contractors to ensure everything from sound and lighting to artist hospitality is executed flawlessly.

Over the past 2 years, it’s been incredibly rewarding to watch Among Friends grow from an idea into a thriving event series. We’ve been able to provide a platform for so many talented local artists while creating unforgettable experiences for the dance music community here in LA. I’m excited to continue expanding Among Friends and supporting the incredible culture and talent in our city’s electronic music scene.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
While it’s been an incredible journey building Among Friends, it certainly hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of the biggest ongoing challenges we face is the increasingly competitive landscape in the event industry, especially here in Los Angeles.

With so many choices of venues, events and parties for people to choose from every weekend, the pressure is always on to make our experiences truly stand out as special and unique. We’re constantly pushing ourselves to innovate and raise the bar.

To help differentiate Among Friends, we’ve drawn inspiration from the incredible nightlife scenes in cultural hotspots like Berlin, Beirut, Mexico City and Madrid. By studying the most innovative venues and events in those markets, we work to put our own fresh spin on those ideas tailored for our LA audience.

Working within a fixed budget to ensure a flawless experience for guests from the moment they arrive until they leave is another constant challenge. It takes a lot of creativity and resourcefulness to stretch dollars to the max and execute our ambitious visions.

But despite the challenges, whenever we see a packed room of smiling faces, having the time of their lives and forming connections with each other and the music – it makes all the hard work feel worthwhile. We’re committed to continually learning, growing, and delivering world-class experiences for our community.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In my professional career, I work as a Micro Electronics Engineer at a research lab focused on developing state-of-the-art technologies. I’m proud to have made meaningful contributions, with multiple patents published and awards received for my work.

I believe what sets me apart is my drive to make an impact both in my engineering career and my parallel pursuits in the arts, culture and community-building. Among Friends is the perfect example of that.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something that might surprise people, even those who know me well or are familiar with my work, is that I’m also a music producer. I create electronic music under my solo moniker, Boulevant, as well as part of the duo Cedar & Sand alongside my good friend and business partner, Sauaro.

Music has always been a deep passion of mine, even as I’ve pursued my career in engineering. It’s a creative outlet that keeps me balanced and energized. I love spending hours in the studio, crafting sounds and getting lost in the process of writing tracks.

Over the past couple years, I’ve been quietly working away on a body of music that I’m really excited to share with the world. And now, with the launch of our new record label, Among Friends Records, I finally have the perfect avenue to do that.

We created the label as an extension of our event series, to support and elevate the incredible artists in our community. But it will also serve as a home for my own releases as Boulevant and Cedar & Sand. I’ve got a packed pipeline of material that I can’t wait to put out – both solo tracks and collaborations with some of my favorite producers and musicians.

So while my work as an engineer and event producer may be what I’m best known for at the moment, I suspect that in the coming year, more and more people will come to know me through my music as well. It’s an exciting new chapter and I’m eager to see where it leads.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amongfriends.la
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/amongfriends.la
• Other: https://instagram.com/boulevant.music