Hawthorne, Calif.

When he's not working at the nearby big-box home-improvement store, Hal Williams is making music, often rising at 5 a.m. to do so. At least now he has his own place: When he first moved to the Los Angeles area in 2011 from the Atlanta suburb of Powder Springs, Ga., he shared an apartment with six people. "The only place private I had was my car," the 22-year-old said earlier this week. "I'd drive out to some place nice to write." For now, paint cans and synthesizers outnumber his furniture.

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