About Bang the Bay
Bang the Bay started with a simple idea: the Bay Area has too many incredible artists and musicians to let them go unnoticed.
Lee Austin Hoffman started Bang Magazine in 2013 to shine a light on the artists who inspired him and to share the music he believed more people should know about. What started as a music magazine grew into something much bigger: a way to bring musicians, artists, venues, and fans together and create more opportunities for people to actually experience live music.
Today, Bang the Bay is about making the scene happen.
Lee produces and hosts shows at Bay Area venues, including recurring residencies at the Ivy Room and Mabuhay Gardens, while also bringing live music outdoors through Bang the Bay’s Solar Van Saturdays. Along the way, he’s built a network of musicians, venues, promoters, and fans who keep the Bay’s independent music community moving.
And he’s not doing it from the sidelines.
Lee is also the frontman of Elegant Trash, a band he formed in Atlanta in 2003. Over more than two decades, the band has recorded dozens of EPs and albums and played venues throughout the Bay Area. Elegant Trash was previously the resident band at Oakland’s Stork Club and continues to perform regularly as part of Bang the Bay’s shows and outdoor music series.
For Lee, the music and the community are inseparable.
There should always be another band to discover, another show to stumble into, another weird night you didn’t plan on having, and another reason to get off your phone and into a room full of people.
