An Inspired Chat with Asean Townsend & Hiba El-Kabli of Downtown LA

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Asean Townsend & Hiba El-Kabli. Check out our conversation below.

Asean & Hiba, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
Navigating a life of safety and comfort vs a life of pursuing passions that may be riddled in uncertainty.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Introduction to Slide Thru The Venue
We are Slide Thru The Venue, a unique music event venue and production studio located in the heart of the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). The brand was founded by us, Quick and Veli, with a core mission to do more than just rent out a space—we set out to create a genuine pillar in the community and a staple in the emerging LA creative scene.

What We Do:
Slide Thru serves a dual purpose:

Event Venue: We host everything from indie concerts and album listening events to private parties, curating a space with a performance stage, professional speakers, and custom lighting to cater to any vision.

Production Studio: We offer a versatile backdrop for videography and photography shoots, featuring unique, ready-made sets like a large Cyclorama Wall, a Foil Room, a Fuzz Room, a Basketball Hoop, a Nostalgia Wall, and even a mini-golf set.

What Makes Us Unique:
What truly sets us apart is our focus on community and the feeling you get when you walk through the door. The name ‘Slide Thru’ is an action item—an invitation.

The goal was to create a place where creators, artists, and guests feel comfortable and at home while being away from home, fostering a supportive environment for like-minded individuals. We felt that many spaces in LA lacked soul, so we built ours to ensure everyone leaves with a bevy of good memories, knowing our door is always open for them to slide.

Our Story:
The idea was born out of our shared passions for music, film, and community. Initially, Quick founded a record label, Bemused by Expression Recordings (@bxe_records). Through hosting shows, we quickly realized that the high rental fees and often impersonal nature of existing venues were major roadblocks for independent artists.

We decided we needed a place of our own—a space that was financially accessible and, most importantly, infused with a real sense of welcoming energy. After putting our resources together, we successfully created Slide Thru The Venue.

What We Are Working On:
Having recently opened (in early 2024), we are focused on leveraging our space to support the ideas and visions of our peers. Our work revolves around constantly engaging with the LA creative scene, building connections, and ensuring that every single event and production that happens here contributes to our goal of being a pillar for the community we serve.”

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Mistrust and dishonesty break many bonds in our line of work and in life in general. Bonds are restored by vulnerability and listening.

Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Absolutely. If we’re being completely honest, what we truly miss is the innocence of life before business ownership.

Before Slide Thru, our energy could be entirely focused on creation, community, and the simple joy of sharing our passions. Now, while we love what we’ve built, being in business means you have to constantly be on guard.

The value we bring—a unique, high-quality, and community-focused space—is something people naturally want access to. However, we’ve learned the hard way that this value can sometimes attract individuals who try to manipulate or leverage you to obtain that value for themselves.

The exhausting part is the constant, necessary process of vetting everyone’s intentions. We miss the days when we could trust fully and collaborate openly without having to analyze every conversation for a hidden agenda. You have to develop a thick skin and a sharp eye, which takes a toll. It’s a necessary function of being a business owner, but it makes us yearn for the simpler time when people could just ‘slide thru,’ and their intentions were genuinely as pure as the community we were trying to build. Which is another reason why we named it “slide thru” so that we are always reminded of our truest intentions at our core.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Asean: Ehhhh, sorta. I have to be the front man for our business and be a lot more social than I’d like to be. The non-public version of myself is a lot quieter, reclusive, and more observant. That’s what keeps and has kept me safe.

Hiba: More or less yes. Slide Thru definitely gets me out of my bubble to meet people I wouldn’t normally cross paths with or step out there to meet. It’s a push out of my comfort zone that I’m really thankful for.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
We hope people tell the story of the place that had soul when every other space was cold, transactional, or out of reach.

We hope they say we were more than just four walls and a stage; we were a pillar in the community and a true home for the emerging creative scene in Los Angeles.

The story we want to echo is this: Quick and Veli created Slide Thru because they knew the struggle of the independent artist and the creator. They fought the system of high rental fees and impersonal venues, and they succeeded in building a sanctuary where talent could shine without being exploited.

We want people to say that when all the big doors were closed, the door at Slide Thru was always open. That we were the catalyst that launched careers, connected strangers into lifelong collaborators, and, most importantly, allowed people to feel comfortable enough to just ‘slide thru’ and be themselves, leaving with nothing but genuine memories.

The ultimate legacy isn’t the venue itself, but the feeling that we never let the business of this industry extinguish our original mission: to bring people together and help them shine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.slidethruthevenue.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slidethruthevenue/?hl=en