Avila isn't the only one building community from LAF.
Frankie Osorio, 24, Oscar Alba, 31, and Sabrina Sandoval, 29, join LAF to find new friends. Last spring, after meeting each other privately at various LAF events, the three connected on Discord. Osorio said they bonded over their shared musical interests and sarcastic, cynical humor.
By summer, their friendship had left the conversation. The trio attended EDM concerts together and spent many nights bar-hopping around the city.
At events, people would stop Osorio and Alba to ask if they were brothers. This happened so often that friends decided to play along. Now all three of them tell everyone that they are siblings.
“At this point, we even tried to come up with a last name,” Sandoval said. “They are my brothers. I really feel like they are my brothers.”
Over the past few months, the trio has attended parties together, supported each other through breakups and celebrated the new year on a ski trip in Utah. Last weekend, Alba surprised Osorio and Sandoval with floor tickets to see Excision, a Canadian DJ and EDM producer, perform in concert. Next on their calendar are the Tiësto and Illenium shows for Sandoval's birthday in July.
Osorio, left, Sandoval and Alba have spent a lot of time together over the past few months, including attending EDM shows, helping each other through tough times and skiing in Utah.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Music also connected self-proclaimed best friends Lili Jacob, 27, Eliana Mata, 34, and Erika Bernal, 33. Their love for musician Peso Pluma cemented their relationship. And when they started talking, they realized they had more in common than that. Each of them is going through a life transition and has joined the LAF with the desire to assert themselves and form new friendships.
Like Osorio, Alba and Sandoval, the three women met privately on Discord and at various events before Bernal formed a group chat to cement their personal friendship. Now, Jacob and Bernal are roommates and Mata lives just five minutes away.
“People will say, 'If you invite one person, the other two will come.' That's how tightly we bonded,” Jacob said. “I've heard people say, 'It's a package deal.' I mean, you're not wrong.”
Since becoming best friends, the three have done everything together – Halloween costumes, college traditions, eating grapes on New Year's for good luck. They created some of their core memories during emo concerts across the city. A sprained ankle hasn't stopped them yet.
“I can't imagine going through the big things in life without them,” Jacob said. “I am so grateful to have them as my closest friends.”
Sometimes, Jacob, Mata and Bernal remember that they met through TikTok-inspired get-togethers and laugh.
“I just thought of Lili's comment after we moved in. We settled down a little bit and then one day she said, 'Do you ever realize that we just met online and then moved in together?'” Bernal said.
“At this point, we even tried to come up with a last name,” said Sabrina Sandoval. “They are my brothers. I really feel like they are my brothers.”
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
