Kelsey Landazuri and Loryn Ruiz-Mendoza of Queen Califia. Photo by Sander Roscoe Wolff.

Tonight, The Brass Lamp is hosting an evening of local music featuring The Hawkline Monster, Alyssandra Nighswonger, and an acoustic duo performance by Queen Califa. The music starts at 8pm, there’s no admission, and all ages are welcome. On Monday, April 11th, Queen Califia returns for their 2nd Monday residency at Que Sera.

Queen Califia’s creative team of singer Loryn Ruiz-Mendoza and guitarist Kelsey Landazuri took some time to talk about the origins of the band, and the fruits of their collaboration.

Long Beach Post: How did the two of you connect?

Loryn Ruiz-Mendoza: I had moved to Long Beach from LA about a year and a half ago not knowing anyone, and Kelsey happened to be my neighbor. I saw that she had a recording studio and I was excited to get involved in the music scene. She used to host an open mic in her studio, and I went in and sang a song. After that, we met up to share our music with each other and I started to sing with her on songs she had already written. This led to us being an acoustic duo and writing new songs together.

Kelsey, what did you think of Loryn’s singing chops when you first heard her?

Kelsey Landazuri: I thought she had a great voice and I wanted to team up with her to make music. I was excited because it really expanded what I could do musically. Before, I was limited in the songs I wrote because I didn’t have a vocalist who could sing bigger vocal songs. I also am a big fan of old jazz and blues vocalists, which is a style that Loryn is very comfortable with.

Loryn, how did you develop your talents as a vocalist?

LRM: I realized that I loved singing early on, and I began taking vocal lessons when I was 8. I really loved it and started getting more serious after hearing about a performing arts high school. I auditioned for Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where I studied classical and jazz vocals as well as music theory until I graduated. After high school, I did studio vocals for different producers for a while, but I never really found my niche until Kelsey and I started Queen Califia.

With LA being such a pro music city, what brought you to Long Beach?

LRM: I lived in LA for about 5 years and I enjoyed it while I lived there but, for me, it is a little too congested. I love that Long Beach is an active city but also is very laid back and community oriented. There are many talented musicians in Long Beach, and everyone supports each other. Also, the commute to LA is a short one!

Kelsey, tell me about your musical development. What inspired you to start playing, and writing?

KL: I always knew I wanted to play music, even before I knew how to play any instrument. When I was 11 I got my first guitar and took a few lessons, but I didn’t really follow through with learning and practicing. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I really started dedicating myself to learning to play guitar and writing songs. I was always very influenced and inspired by old folk and country music and was able to teach myself by learning simple songs. The songwriting and structure of more traditional music, like The Original Carter Family, was always very inspiring to me. I always wanted to keep my music simple.

When I began getting into other genres, like blues and jazz, it helped me cross over to learning the electric guitar, and also heavily influenced how I imagine the bass and drums for our songs. I also love jazz vocals and melody, which has definitely influenced how I write the lyrics for a song. When I met Loryn, this also helped because of her background in jazz, and I was able to write songs with a more jazz feel to the vocals.

Once the two of you started working together, what happened next, musically?

LRM: When we first started playing, we were an acoustic duo and we predominately played folk music. As we got to know each other, our styles began to mesh between Kelsey’s folk background and my jazz background. We both share a love for artists such as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and early rockabilly, and this greatly influenced our style when we began making music together. Now, we much prefer to rock out with our full band!

I have to ask about the band name. Where did that come from?

KL: It is actually from a sculpture garden in Escondido called Queen Califia’s Magical Circle. I used to go there often, and always felt inspired when visiting.

In addition to tonight’s show at The Brass Lamp, what else are you up to?

LRM: We host a night every 2nd Monday at Que Sera, which is coming up this month on April 11th. We also are going to be a part of a video series for Brew Sessions Live that we will be filming this month. This month we are focusing on finishing up our 6 song ep, “10 Feet Tall,” so we can release it soon, in hopes of playing at Buskerfest. People can check out our single from the ep on Soundcloud or Bandcamp, and are welcome to follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

The Brass Lamp is located at 245 Promenade North, Suite 100, just South of 3rd Street on the West side of the Promenade in Downtown Long Beach. For more information about hours and events, visit TheBrassLampBar.com.

The Que Sera is located at 1923 East 7th Street, just West of Cherry Avenue. To find out about upcoming shows, visit their WIX Page or follow them on Facebook.

{FG_GEOMAP [33.770212,-118.19144640000002] FG_GEOMAP}