If the Altadena community is going to truly recover from the fire, people need to find reasons to return to the area.

That’s part of why Trade School — a communal organization and project space aiming to foster creative experimentation, education and empowerment through gatherings and performance — has reopened its doors at 2591 N. Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena.

On Saturday, Trade School played host to a Sound Swap event, which featured a dozen independent recording labels and publishers sharing their hard-copy merchandise, along with booming DJ music that spirited across the neighborhood, tarot readings, and a general opportunity for people to come together and once again hang out in Altadena.

“It’s not a ‘Nice to have,’ it’s a ‘Need to have,’” explained Casey Anderson, an educator, musician and labor organizer who cofounded Trade School alongside designer and educator Arden Stern.

“I think the people who have lived out here for decades are really worried,” Anderson said of post-Eaton fire Altadena residents.

Concerns over the possibilities that unsavory developers may to come into the area now and build costly housing continue to brew. Anderson also pointed out that many who are occupying the area feel a sense of isolation, given the dramatic reduction in neighbors and lack of commercial establishments.

“I think there’s a lot of anxiety that people are experiencing,” he said.

That’s why Trade School is doing its part to not only offer residents a gathering space in their own backyard, but a commercial and creative draw they hope will bring visitors back to Altadena.

“Every neighborhood needs a space like this,” Anderson said.

Saturday’s Sound Swap saw the power of community in action, buoyed by genuine interest in music, books, and creative expression taking place at the grassroots level.

“I love stuff like this,” said J.C Gabel, editor and publisher for Hat and Beard Press, based out of Silverlake.

“This is the bread-and-butter of what we do, just getting like-minded, kindred spirits together,” he said.

While he does a quantity of sales online, Gabel prefers the opportunity to engage with real readers. He said that, contrary to popular opinion, there’s an eager and young public that wants to see records and books done the old-fashioned way.

“Young people still care about print, records, books, magazines, etcetera,” he said.

Liz Crawford of Los Angeles is one of those people.

“I like to see community record labels that are about supporting an unusual network of artists that are creating together outside of the mainstream,” she said.

Stuart Wheeler of Alhambra was also happy to see Trade School offering this opportunity, especially in an area he formerly frequented.

“I’m happy that there’s things going on again here,” he said. “This was a space that was here before the fire and is starting up again, doing what it was trying to do before.”

George Chen, owner of the independent record label Zum, helped organize the Sound Swap, which they hope to see as a recurring event at Trade School.

“To me, definitely as a label, it’s a better way to do direct sales,” he said.

“And it’s community building,” Chen explained, with independent producers sharing their experiences and best practices, as well as supporting one another.

Leroy Stevens, owner of the L.A.-based Small World record label, agreed.

“It’s a way for people with similar interests and other record labels (or) publishing to talk about production,” he said.

Nathan Bowers, owner of the L.A.-based label called Tusco Embassy, agreed.

“It’s really helpful for me because it’s hard to find an outlet that’s not online,” he said, “because it’s hard to sell to people in person.”

Bowers does not particularly like online sales. “It’s not my favorite way to sell stuff,” he said. “This is a lot more personal.”

Trade School originally came to the space on Fair Oaks Avenue last July, with public programming and experimental music performances slowly starting to take place as they rolled out a slow opening into the fall of 2024.

“We were gonna hit it hard starting in January,” Anderson said, “and then the fire happened.”

While the structure itself was spared, the building was inundated with ash and soot, requiring extensive cleanup.

“We’ve been back in the space doing public programming since April 18,” said Anderson, who devotes part of his attention to helping creative artists and communities become more organized in terms of labor practices and business operations.

“We’re trying to instill that kind of perspective into everything we do here,” he said, pointing out that contrary to popular misconceptions, artists and creatives of various kinds are hard-working people that deserve to have their labors fairly compensated, not hobbyists who do their work for fun and free.

“We’re trying really hard to kind of steer that thinking into another direction,” Anderson said.

Mitchell Brown of Los Feliz likened Trade School to a nurturing force in this devastated neighborhood.

“It feels they’re watering seeds by doing this,” he said. “It feels like, to be able to do this here as opposed to Echo Park, it feels significant.”

“It’s a sense of community,” Brown said, “because who’s really coming to Altadena right now?”

Heidi Ross, a former Altadena resident now living in El Sereno, said she hadn’t been back in the neighborhood since before the fire.

“This was a good reason to come up here,” she said of the Sound Swap.

Ross noted that, right after the fire, people were focused on helping the survivors, but sadly some of that energy appears to have waned.

“Everyone was so ready to support the community when it first happened, but we need people to come up,” she said. “I’m happy to be up here and will make it more regular.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.