The Lyon Crowns

The Lyon Crowns are a rock band from San Diego, CA. Having been together since 2008, the current members consist of Jorge Luna (vocals), Ricardo Luna (lead guitar), Alex Parra (rhythm guitar), Alex Montes (bass) and Manuel Zumaya (drums).

Front man Jorge Luna explains, “The lion is the king of the jungle with the crown being that symbol. A true king should express love and passion for his followers; the same kind of love and passion that we would show to our fans when we express ourselves musically. Thus, when The Lyon Crowns came into my head, I knew it was best suited.” Luna had been a percussionist with many live DJ acts around the San Diego area. Alex Montes would eventually join him in forming a three-piece act for a small, one night only show. At the time, Montes performed as the primary guitarist with Luna. The show caught the attention of Allison Andrews, director of San Diego Fashion week, who offered them gig at that years’ event. Luna then invited Jorge Ayala to join the band for this performance as well as a number of different drummers, David Ordaz, Abe Camacho & Rogelio Jimenez, who would accompany them in the future. After the performance, the band began writing material which included their first single “Lovey Love”. During this time, Ayala and Montes switched roles after Ayala was credited in coming up with the main guitar part for the single. The band played their first show at Beauty Bar in San Diego in the late summer of 08’ and continued to play many other local clubs. They then recorded with good friend Rogelio Jimenez and released “Lovey Love” on their Myspace page in July. In the fall of 2008, The Lyon Crowns had Jimenez & Camacho play drums for them and would remain the band’s drummer until they and Ayala departed in early 09’. Once again, Luna and Montes were in search of new band members and had even considered breaking up the project. A few months later, Luna contacted his good friend, guitarist Alex Parra who had been eager to collaborate with him for a while. This decision would in turn bring in another longtime friend, drummer Manuel Zumaya (who had been recommended by Montes) as well as an additional guitar player Memo Nunez. They began perfecting a number of new tracks that had been in development and in November of 09, recorded their first EP at Signature Sound Studios with Ruben Montoya and featured the hit song “Slow it Down”. In March of 2010, they made one more final change to the lineup by replacing Nunez with Luna’s younger brother Ricardo whom they felt would ultimately be the best collaborative partner.

With the band now playing as a five piece lineup, according to Luna, “allowed us to get closer to the sound we want and hear in our heads. I've always loved how lead & rhythm guitar sounds when they play together in a song. It's like a full dish, nothing is missing. It was like magic.” Once they were satisfied with the new and final members, the band got to work on their next album which would be their most ambitious accomplishment to date. In July of 2010, they returned to the studio and teamed up with engineer Bryan Stratman (Hyena) of Capricorn Studios. The album will feature the single “Make Me Shoot” and is scheduled for a release on Oct 23rd which will be available on all digital platforms iTunes, Napster, CDBaby, Digstation, Amazon etc. Since day one, the band has had an official photographer Nico Ricoy (Ricoy Photo) whom has snapped photos of all their shows, promo, etc.

Since early 2010, The Lyon Crowns have been a top rock act within the San Diego area and have performed numerous clubs including 4th & B, The Casbah and Beauty Bar. The band has also taken the stage for specially organized events that include San Diego Loves Haiti Charity Concert with P.O.D and The North Park Music Thing 2010. They have headlined performances at notable Hollywood venues such as The Troubador, House of Blues and The Viper Room. Shortly after the release of their first EP, photographer Nicholas Gallucci worked with them to create a music video for “Slow it Down”. The video features live footage from their Beauty Bar performance earlier in the year and captures the kind of atmosphere that SDGossipScene describes as “the kind of band that gets your attention while listening at home then blows your head off when experienced live.”