LUNDEN REIGN – The American Strange Beauty
1. Welcome to our magazine, please let us know about the band’s bio:
LORA G (Espinoza-Lunden) is a Composer/Guitarist from Mission Viejo, CA. Lora has a love of composing lyrics with a solid message and music in open-string alternative style. She is also a parent and an activist for the Mexican-American and LGBT communities.
NIKKI LUNDEN is a Singer/Songwriter & Multi-instrumentalist who is an 18 year veteran of live performance (solo and ensemble). The Iowa native originally from Franklin, Iowa (pop.143) moved to LA in the fall of 2012 to attend Musician’s Institute in Hollywood. Lora G and Nikki Lunden are the core members of Lunden Reign. The producer and co-writer of Lunden Reign’s debut album, American Stranger” is Luis Maldonado. Currently the lineup includes Matthew Denis – bass, Steve Ornest – guitar and Morgan Young -drums.
2. Do you accept the term “BIG BEAT PROGRESSIVE ROCK” as a description of your music?
We’ve come to the conclusion that terms like “progressive, alternative, modern, classic and pop” can relate to us one way or another. To sum it up and set aside the numerous genre labels, we’ve paraphrased a recent comment to simply say “when itReigns it rocks.” We can live with that!
3. You had several rock legends joining you on stage, please share your experiences with us.
Taking the stage with Prescott Niles (The Knack, Missing Persons) the first time was incredible. He’s the most wicked bassist we’ve ever played with. He’s also a good friend and has taught us many things about the music business. And we could never forget the first time Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons came over. Her stories are out of this world. We had the honor of playing with her last summer at Long Beach and LA Pride Festivals and few shows with M.P. and has also become a close friend. Perhaps the most nerve-racking performance was at our recent CD Release Party. The fabulous Terri Nunn of Berlin joined us for our take of “The Metro” at Avalon Hollywood’s Bardot Lounge. We watched the video later that night and still couldn’t believe it just happened and we hope there is more to come. We admire them because they are able to accomplish something most of us can’t at that level. But when you find yourself in a room creating with them, all those”fanatic” emotions go away and we go to work. That’s when the real magic happens.
4. Your debut album “AMERICAN STRANGER” was recorded in several places by several people. How was this experience?
Every studio has it’s own vibe and sound and that was considered in choosing what tracks would be recorded where. Capitol’s Studio A was perfect for big drums, soprano backing vocals and thick guitars that needed breathing room. Studio B was equally efficient and had a killer vibe over-all. Recording at Abbey Road as the final stop of our UK tour brought us to tears a couple of times. Some very personal memories were created that day. I can also say that laying vocals in The Beatles Studio (2) was more intense than being on stage with Terri, Prescott and Dale combined. But perhaps we found the most comfort at Stagg Street Studios in L.A. where we really felt at ease and drew on some seriously raw emotion there. With the exception of Abbey Road, we’ve had our producer Luis Maldonado and mix engineer Geoff Pearlman with us anytime we are tracking. Luis and Geoff have a chemistry that is explosive and that really helped us define our sound.
5. Are you satisfied with your collaboration with Cleopatra Records. What type of deal do you have with them?
Brian Perera and Tim Yasui have been very helpful and supportive in getting us out there. We met Brian at a TAXI Music convention and he contacted us immediately wanting to help us out with distribution. After meeting with them we decided it was a good move and everything is looking good since the world-wide release on March 17th. One of the benefits of being with Cleopatra is the addition of our publicist Billy James of Glass Onyon PR. He’s got stuff coming and going from all over the world, we can barely keep up! Thats a really good thing.
6. How do you view the status of the music industry today?
That’s a difficult question to answer as the music industry has morphed into something that can’t be defined properly. With technology so readily available at the lowest prices conceivable, the DIY phenomenon has exploded and flooded the market. The neighbor can become a YouTube sensation overnight by making a music video recorded on an iPhone when you’ve just spent your budget on state of the art cameras and the best studios in the world. The filters don’t seem to exist anymore and defining the real Superstars is becoming near impossible. There are so many choices that its beyond over-saturated. With that said – as dis-heartening that reality can be, if it’s truly in your blood that doesn’t really matter. If music consumes your soul and you’re confident and willing to give everything it takes, it is still attainable.
7. Do you prefer playing live shows or recording at the studio?
Definitely live!! We’ve got a lot raw energy, performing is the only way to release it properly. To get in front of an audience and be able to influence their emotion throughout the show is uncanny. Lora has written some very daring lyrics and there are even times that Nikki will cry in the middle of a song because it just gets a hold of her. When someone comes up to us after a show and tells us they were moved is the biggest compliment one could ever receive.
8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being in a label than being indie?
We can’t be sure what the pros and cons are since they both have strengths and weaknesses. However, we hope that the path we are on now will lead to a larger sampling of our album and the ability to get on bigger tours and a second album soon.
9. Do you have feedback from other markets except USA?
Yes, quite a lot. We are getting fantastic feedback/reviews from much of Europe, in particular Portugal, France, and the UK. On the other side of the world we are getting a quickly growing following in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam and South Korea. We would love to do a tour of Southeast Asia if the support is there to cover our costs.
10. What is your advice for new acts?
Have faith in yourself, God (what that may be for you) and keep your life balanced, clean and avoid getting overly excited or depressed. All good things come with patience, dedication and hard work.
Information: http://lundenreign.com
