Today I talked to Amber.
I enter the Paparazzi Hair Studio that stands between a shoe repair shop and a restaurant in Sherman Oaks. It is Sunday and Amber, my hair stylist and the manager of place, opened the studio especially for me and another client.
The first time I came here was a month ago and I was thrilled with my hair cut. I immediately called my mother and friends to tell them that I had found my new hair stylist. I love how Amber works. She literally sculpts hair. She is focused and extra precise. What I also appreciate is that she doesn’t make small talk. Hair stylists who bombard me with millions of questions bore me to death. On the contrary Amber is mellow. She seems grounded yet energetic. Her clothes are simple but her hair style stands out. She has a curly red Mohawk, and both sides of her head are shaved with drawings in them.
Rap music fills the empty studio. Solomon, Amber’s eleven-year-old son, is sprawled on a soft couch next to the entrance door. Amber starts to cut my bangs. “Where are you from?” I ask. “I’m from L.A. But I've got family in Denmark and Sweden,” she answers. “My grandfather was a jazz musician. He was traveling a lot and had children all over the world. Thanks to him I got to travel too and I saw a lot of places!” she says. Her grandfather is Don Cherry. He was a cornet and trumpet player, and played with John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Archie Shepp to name only a few. Tiny bits of hair fall on my eyes and mouth. I try to blow them away. Amber continues. “The good thing about my grandfather is that he kept us connected. We’re a big family now.”
Solomon looks bored. From the other side of the room, he shoots questions at his mom about some kind of contract. It makes me curious. “What does your son do?” I ask. “He does music. And I’m his manager,” she answers. She tells me she has invested in music equipment so he can create beats. “I was into the music gang myself,” she says.
In the 90’s, Amber was a rapper and her artist name was Cobra Red. Her band was the 5 Footaz. “We chose this name because we were all short,” she adds, and then laughs. Amber started cutting hair because she needed a day job. “Music is a dirty gang, you know. I was dying down.” She hands me a mirror to let me check my bangs. “You need everyday money. So I started doing hair and I found a new passion,” she smiles widely. “People come from all around,” she adds. Recently a new client of hers flew all the way from Japan to have her hair done. It doesn’t surprise me. Her style is fresh, a little crazy, and perfectly executed.
Amber hands me a brush to remove the sticky hair from my face. My bangs look great. Then Salomon comes closer and sits down into a chair. His feet can hardly reach the floor. I ask him what music he loves. He giggles and rocks from side to side. “Rap,” he says. “And what else?” I ask –“Hip hop,” he hesitates shyly. Amber tells him to answer seriously, as if it was a real interview. Salomon is intimidated. But after a long silence he finally enumerates: “Naughty By Nature. Eminem. MC Lyte” and then he falls silent again. “He likes old school type of hip hop,” Amber shouts out on her way to her desk.
It is picture time. We all go out of the studio. Solomon strikes a cool pose and Amber laughs. In front of the camera she is totally in charge. She tries out groovy poses, squeezes her Mohawk between her hands and suddenly freezes. Ventura Boulevard freezes with her. This girl is amazing. Whatever she does, she’s all about rhythm.
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