CORRECTION: A previous version of the story misnamed Steve Guillen as Mark Guillen when attributing the quote “The most important thing to me was maintaining the legacy that Mark DiPiazza left behind, he was a mentor of mine and it was important to me to maintain the live entertainment and the pizza.” This has since been corrected.
DiPiazza’s is a venue for musicians of all genres and ages who aspire to grow as an artist, network with other creatives, and find their place in the continuously expanding community of music in Long Beach.
The retirement of the original owners, Mark and Maralyn Dipiazza, left large shoes to fill for Steve and Melissa Guillen, the current owners of DiPiazza’s as of 2020, yet their goals for the location have not changed.
“The most important thing to me was maintaining the legacy that Mark DiPiazza left behind, he was a mentor of mine and it was important to me to maintain the live entertainment and the pizza,” Steve Guillen said.
Guillen explained the various opportunities that DiPiazza’s provides for young artists, many of which are students of all ages, including members of LBCC’s jazz department.
“Working with schools is the most favorable thing for me. We work with several private schools as well such as The Rok, On Stage Music Academy, and more. LBCC jazz class and combos steps this up to another level since these are college kids coming to have their recital like evening in a gig scene,” Guillen said.
DiPiazza’s allows people the opportunity to play on a real stage with a live sound system, something very different than their typical auditorium recitals and performances.
“It seems to be a really good community hub for musicians, it’s not locked into one genre. They have rock, metal, and reggae. It’s very community oriented which aligns with our college,” LBCC’s director of Instrumental Jazz Patrick Sheng said.
Cassidy Fleeman, performing as the lead vocalist for The Anti-Groupies, an all girls punk band from Long Beach. Her raspy yet powerful vocals keeps the crowd intrigued and wanting more. (Samantha Navarro)
DiPiazza’s has been around for 40 years and has helped young musicians find their place in the music scene here in Long Beach, and has partnered with LBCC in order to provide a venue for various jazz combo performances every school year.
Sheng elaborated on how DiPiazza’s provides a more casual performance filled with friends, family, chatting, and sometimes even screaming, preparing them for real gigs that they may encounter in the future.
“It helps with stage presence. I remember a kid was bad at stage presence and announcing, but he eventually got so much better after each show,” Sheng said.
Another experience that these gigs provide are the jam sessions that occur after each show in which the both LBCC and non-LBCC musicians join and play together, which helps to mix with other people and act as a test of improvisation.
LBCC jazz student, William Su, spoke about what it has been like to play at DiPiazza’s.
“I play guitar, and for my first performance my chord voicing wasn’t the best. It makes you want to get better each performance, and I finally learned how to perform proper jazz voicings,” Su said.
Performing at this venue has increased the students’ ability to learn new strategies that are necessary to grow as a musician, but can’t always be grasped when strictly playing formal recitals.
Not only has DiPiazza’s helped LBCC students, but has been an overall help to young local musicians in Long Beach.
The Anti-Groupies are a band that have been performing at DiPiazza’s consistently this past year and have felt that the venue truly does give growing artists a great place to begin their performance journey.
“DiPiazza’s pays everyone equally, has an incredibly nice staff, super welcoming, and is an overall positive environment. They let us do what we want and even offered us a residency,” drummer for the Anti-Groupies and LBCC student Kyla Foster said.
Guillen explained how the venue chooses one artist a year to dedicate a residency towards, giving them the chance to self produce a show once a month with their choice of performers for the night.
“The previous band that had the residency was a band called Speed of Light. They did the same thing and came in very young, and they are now a band that is in huge festivals and opening for huge bands like True Religion,” Guillen said.
Sydney Moore plays bass for the Anti-Groupies at one of their many shows held at DiPiazza’s due to their 2024 residency with the venue. (Samantha Navarro)
DiPiazza’s is implementing independence and confidence in Long Beach artists and bands, which are critical characteristics that are necessary to reach the next level as a musician.
“We want to support young musicians. We will always be there to support and are pretty much the only all ages venue in all of Long Beach. It’s not something we take for granted and it’s super important that we give them that platform, rather than being this night time place trying to bring the biggest artist around town,” Guillen said.