Meet Brady Leffler
We had the good fortune of connecting with Brady Leffler and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Brady, what inspires you?
I get asked quite often how I came up with this or that, and I believe that if you’re open enough, you truly become a magnet or even a portal for ideas, good and bad, but nonetheless a palette of them to choose from. I also have an acutely aware sense of my surroundings, almost to a fault, or annoyance. Alas, this has allowed me to take in so much around me in a wildly diverse city such as Los Angeles, and in my many travels. I find it quite easy to draw inspiration, and am very grateful for this gift. I see myself less as magician of creativity, and more of a conduit of and aspiring master curator. The long answer to the question of “what am I inspired by” is dependant upon my task at hand. With my to-do list full, I’m fully engaged and net cast wide to often find the golden nuggets within various side quests and distractions. Ultimately I’m inspired by things that can get my attention and keep it. The ideas or concepts that stick in my mind and keep coming back to haunt me. The ones that I keep trying to figure out but just can’t quite fully understand. For this little business I created, called “Hi-Fi Pizza Pi”, the inspirations come from my vast collection of vinyl and hi-fi audio equipment, along with my vintage instrument collection. Various bands that I love inspire the nomenclature on the menu. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inspired a bit of the initial color scheme. The food was inspired by a couple Italian Chef’s, one of which I used to work under for many years. Her creations were fun and approachable, very well crafted and had deep roots in tradition and authenticity. I keep trying to remind myself that less is more, and quality is king (or queen). You don’t have to live every waking moment of your life inspired, but damn it sure is fun when riding a wave. I encourage everyone to stay on the quest…it’s out there waiting for you.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art has always been a big part of my life. Beginning with piano lessons in 2nd grade onward, finding a love of doodling, drawing, then painting through school, before becoming a performance artist within theatre and then as a touring musician. I got into graphic design for a short period in college before dropping out to tour with rock bands. A skill I have recently picked back up and gotten immersed back into luckily. I took a break from the performance side of things in 2017–2022 to take a big leap into a more steady career position, as a Beverage Artist, aka product developer at the World’s largest Kombucha producer. Here I was able to really let loose and shine with my culinary skills and developed a large number of new and innovative kombucha flavors, as well as new product lines such as a soda-inspired medicinal mushroom elixir and functional wellness shots. It was a new way to for me to be creative and allow inspiration to flow into crafting recipes and new products for a big company. I always found the “artist” part of my job title to be a bit cheeky, but nonetheless never pressed hard to have it changed. The pandemic hit me just as hard as anyone, and in a unique way. I not only kept my job, yet it began to keep me. The stresses of keeping such a massive ship afloat trickled down to everyone at the company, and the work-life balance became unmanageable. Before I knew it I barely had a life outside of the demands of my job. It was a long hard road to find an exit strategy, but I eventually made it out alive and began focusing on what I wanted to do rather than what was demanded of me to do. Allowing myself to break free and spread my wings again was refreshing and breathed new life into my work. I had motivation and inspiration again, a couple gifts that I hadn’t been close with in a while. I was consulting and innovating recipes and product lines with multiple food and beverage companies as an independent contractor, while building my own little business at the same time. Within a year I was even back to playing music again professionally and touring. I felt whole again allowing my holy trinity of music, food, and beverage to consume my day-to-day in somewhat equal parts. At this point in my life I was doing all three at their highest levels to date, and it fueled me to continue to raise the bar for myself. Today I thrive in the hustle and have learned to manage my toggling between projects. Some might call this harnessing the power of ADHD, and that’s okay. It works for me now finally! I learned a valuable lesson that making yourself happy and creating for YOU first, before putting your work out into the world, is more important than creating for other people.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Los Angeles is a non-stop full-throttle entertainment thrill ride of a lifetime, any day of the week. With that being said, certain days have certain events going on. I just so happen to have a friend coming into town tomorrow to stay with me and will be playing tour guide, which I very much enjoy. Mon/Wed/Fri mornings at 10:30am is Black Market Yoga in the grass at Runyon Canyon. It’s not too early, and not too late, so you can get in a hike and a yoga sesh before noon. Daniel is the coolest instructor ever, also an incredible musician 😉 The wine bars in LA are growing and provide the perfect environment for a mildly sophisticated chill. Notable are Good Clean Fun in DTLA, Bar Bandini in Echo Park, Bar Covell and Tabula Rasa in East Hollywood. The Farmer’s Market in the heart of Hollywood on Sundays on Ivar and Selma is a must, as well as the Fairfax Flea Market on Melrose, and if you want to stuff your belly even more, hit America’s largest pop-up market DTLA called Schmorgasburg. For a beautiful and scenic drive along the ocean and some killer seafood, I like to head up to Malibu and visit Reel Inn on the PCH or go further into Broad St. Oyster Co. for their to-die-for Lobster Roll. Finally, you can’t come through town and not see some live music. Gold Diggers for Funk on Monday nights, Grandmaster Recorders for Nu School Jamzz on Wednesdays, and Black Rabbit Rose Tuesdays all in Hollywood to see the best of the best working out. The possibilities are endless here!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Wow, there are so many people and pieces of art that inspire me. To name a few…I would like to shoutout Chef Syd Suntha (TMOTS), Side Pie, Jesse Clayton, Chef Antonia Lofaso, Jamie Oliver, Evan Funke, James Michael Bobby, Zachary Patterson, Porter Long, Rick Rubin, Kitchen Confidential, and Korg Synthesizers.
Website: www.hifipizzapi.com
Instagram: @hifipizzapi @bradyleffler
Youtube: youtube.com/bradyleffler
Image Credits
Elizabeth Wiltshire, Cameron Jordan
Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
