Lora G is a Hollywood, California-based composer, guitarist, and keyboardist, best known as the co-founder of the rock band Lunden Reign. Her musical journey began at the age of 13, when she started performing in Orange County, California. By the age of 16, she was already playing on Hollywood’s famous Sunset Strip, and during her high school years, her drummer was Matt Sorum, who would later become known for his work with Guns N’ Roses, The Cult, and Velvet Revolver. At 18, Lora had the opportunity to contribute to the search for guitar sounds for Stevie Wonder’s album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Although she left music at 19 to attend college, she eventually built an Emmy-winning career in television and radio, including more than 14 years working for Disney. After rediscovering her passion for music, she returned to performing, first forming Blind Dog Wanders and later the Lora G Band. In 2013, Lora met singer-songwriter Nikki Lunden when Nikki opened for her band at a club in Los Angeles. Impressed by Nikki’s powerful vocals, original songs, and guitar playing, the two soon joined forces to create a new musical partnership.
While recording at Abbey Road Studios in London, they chose the name Lunden Reign for their band. They describe their distinctive sound as “Big Beat Progressive Rock,” combining energetic rhythms, memorable guitar riffs, and melodic arrangements with thoughtful lyrics. For Lora, songwriting is much more than a musical pursuit: it is a form of therapy and a way to give meaning to difficult life experiences. She places particular emphasis on lyrics, believing that every song should have its own life, message, and purpose. As a Mexican-American transgender woman, Lora has faced prejudice and intolerance, experiences that have influenced both her music and her commitment to social justice. Her involvement in activism began in childhood, when her family participated in the Chicano Movement, which fought for the civil rights of Mexican Americans during the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later continued advocating for equality and became actively involved in the LGBT community, including lobbying Congress in Washington, D.C., in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Lunden Reign has also performed at LGBT community events and Pride festivals, using music to support causes close to her heart. Lora believes that transgender rights are not a distant frontier of human rights but an urgent issue of the present.
Monika: It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you here, Lora G. Hello!
Lora G: Hi Monika, thank you for reaching out to me.
Monika: When did you realize that music would be your way of life?
Lora G: I started performing at the age of 13 in Orange County, California. By 16 I was performing on the Sunset Strip scene in Hollywood. The amazing Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, Guns N’ Roses, The Cult) was my drummer in high school. By 18, I had the luck to be involved in finding guitar sounds for Stevie Wonder’s album “Secret Life of Plants.”
Monika: Yet at 19 you stepped away from music for college. What eventually brought you back?
Lora G: At 19 I left music to go to college. I didn’t return to music until after an amazing Emmy-winning career in television and radio, including working for Disney for over 14 years. I returned to music about 7 years ago after realizing how much I missed it.
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| “Writing music is therapy for me as it is for many who had similar upbringings!” |
Monika: You are an incredibly prolific artist. Where does your inspiration come from?
Lora G: Thank you. From what many get inspiration from… an abusive childhood and coming from a broken family, being taunted for being Mexican-American and later LGBT. Writing music is therapy for me, as it is for many who had similar upbringings!
Monika: If you had to describe your sound to someone who has never heard it, what would you say?
Lora G: We define our sound as “Big Beat Progressive Rock.” We want to keep an upbeat sound big and forward in our songs and then lay memorable guitar riffs and melodies throughout. However, I am most proud of the lyrics. I spend five times the energy on lyrics compared to the music. Every song has to have a life, meaning, message, and purpose.
Monika: Your first band was The Lora G Band, correct?
Lora G: When I first came back to music, I formed the band “Blind Dog Wanders.” Later it became “The Lora G Band.”
Monika: Then you joined forces with Nikki Lunden and formed Lunden Reign. How did that partnership begin?
Lora G: Nikki opened for our band in 2013 at a club in LA. We were blown away by her vocals, her original songs, and her guitar playing. We joined together shortly after that show. While recording at Abbey Road in London, we made the decision to rename the band: Lunden Reign.
Monika: You toured extensively in the United Kingdom. Are other European countries on your list too?
Lora G: Oh yes. We are developing a fan base in France, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Our hope is to get invites to summer festivals in those countries and the UK.
Monika: Can your fans help make those festival dreams come true?
Lora G: It will depend on people from these countries contacting festival organizers and requesting us. We loved performing at The Fringe Festival in Scotland, and it’s a major goal of ours to play there again in 2015. I hope the wonderful Edinburgh folks who heard and saw us reach out to bring us back. We miss you!
Monika: Your band is made up of strong rock and roll ladies, yet it seems that women still struggle to become rock and roll stars. Am I wrong?
Lora G: I think it’s difficult for anyone who writes non-sampled, non-synth-created music and does not have a cute teenage singer or singers inserted. It reminds me of the music business before The Beatles broke through, or The Knack did over disco, then Nirvana did later. I was hoping Muse, Manic Street Preachers, or Imagine Dragons could break the “factory-produced music spell” this time around, but it just isn’t happening.
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| “Several of my songs are directly related to being transgender” |
Monika: Who decides what we hear, and can that ever change?
Lora G: All the radio stations are run by a handful of corporations that don’t like risk, and since they are beholden to quarterly financial reports, it’s unlikely that mentality will change anytime soon. It will take a major effort by fans of performers who write, record, and perform their own music to create such a change. Until then, at least we have the internet, even if it’s incredibly fragmented.
Monika: What does being a transgender artist mean to you, and does your experience shape your music?
Lora G: We don’t promote ourselves exclusively as an LGBT band (3 of the 5 members are straight, Nikki and I are the LGBT members of the band). Of course, I’m a member of both the L and the T in that acronym. However, I am and have been an activist in the LGBT community for over 7 years, and Lunden Reign performs at events to help the community in any way it can, including 6 Pride festivals this year.
Monika: Which of your songs speak most directly to that experience?
Lora G: Several of my songs are directly related to being transgender, particularly “Hear Me” and a new song, “Hush & Whispers.” I hope you get time to read the lyrics. FYI, we just found out we are headlining The Palm Springs Pride Festival on Saturday, Nov. 8th at 9 PM on the outdoor stage. This is a great festival.
Monika: When you were transitioning, was there a transgender role model you could look up to?
Lora G: No, but I wish I did.
Monika: What was the hardest part of coming out for you?
Lora G: Three of my sisters decided to use it against me on my mother’s deathbed. Although my mom knew, she just sort of ignored it because she loved me so much, so that is how she dealt with it. We were extremely close and I think these three sisters were jealous of that. While my mother lay dying, they made me out to her to be something evil and freakish. It was extremely hard on her, my daughter, and me because she was already dealing with knowing she was about to die. I never knew until after she passed if she overcame their hateful talk.
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| “I started out in political activism at the age of 8.” |
Monika: Did anyone in your family stand by you?
Lora G: Yes, it was my one accepting sister, Nicole, who told me later that, just before my mother passed, she told her to “back me and support me against them.” To be sure, she made me executor and administrator of her will. I guess that said it all, but it was still unbelievably hurtful, and it crushes me to this day. I really miss her.
Monika: How do you see the present situation of transgender women in American society?
Lora G: It has amazingly become accepted in the major cities and the coastal states. I’m not sure about the South and the Midwest, as those areas are so influenced by intolerant right-wing despots. It’s sad because they are the neediest people right now in the U.S., and they are being exploited just for their political votes and certain religious financial contributions!
Monika: Is transgenderism the new frontier for human rights?
Lora G: It’s the frontline now!
Monika: Politics seems to be a big part of your life. Are you involved in lobbying campaigns, and can transgender women make a difference in that arena?
Lora G: I started out in political activism at the age of 8. My family was on the frontline of the civil rights movement for Mexican-Americans (then called the Chicano Movement) in the late 60s and early 70s. I was tear-gassed during one of the riots in LA and hit hard on the shoulder by an LAPD billy club.
Monika: You even documented some of that history yourself, didn’t you?
Lora G: Although a young kid, I actually took 8mm film of one of the riots and later used it in a documentary. Unfortunately, my brother (an aspiring law student at Loyola) was severely beaten by the LA Sheriff’s Department and received permanent brain damage. I continued fighting for Mexican-American rights and equality as a journalist, and about 7 years ago I also became an activist for the LGBT community, including going to DC and lobbying Congress to support ENDA and fighting against provisions in DSM-5!
Monika: Tell me about the importance of love in your life.
Lora G: We all need it, especially those who suffer from intolerance and rejection most of their lives. I’m so blessed that Nikki Lunden proposed to me during our recording session in Studio 2, Abbey Road. They even got it on videotape!
Monika: What are you working on at the moment?
Lora G: Mainly the release of Lunden Reign’s debut album, “American Stranger.” (It’s done and already in shrink-wrap, but we can’t release it until we partner with a distributor.) We are also working on adding live acting, synced video, lights, and other elements for a special live show we hope to debut in Hollywood. It will be sort of like a modern version of what The Who did with “Tommy.” We hope to perform it once a month and then hopefully once a week or more if ticket sales grow or if we get an investor. Let me know if you’d like to know more!
Monika: Many transgender ladies write their memoirs. Have you ever thought about writing such a book yourself?
Lora G: No, and probably won’t. There are so many better stories out there than mine!
Monika: My pen-friend Gina Grahame once wrote to me that we should not limit our potential because of how we were born or by what we see other transsexuals and transgender people doing. Our dreams should not end on an operating table; that’s where they begin. Would you agree?
Lora G: I’ve never really thought about it that way, but that’s a good attitude to have. As for me, I started working on my creative dreams and career at the age of 9 and have been in the entertainment business ever since. It didn’t occur to me that my personal gender issue would stop me from it. However, I knew it would cause hardships, and it did. But when you face intolerance, prejudice, and rejection most of your life, it almost seems par for the course. I feel lucky that I even had the chance to transition.
Monika: Did you ever measure your own struggles against those of others?
Lora G: I’ve never carried a chip on my shoulder and never ever compared myself to those who have much harder challenges in life, like veterans injured or disabled in combat, children born to parents on crack or heroin, or women brutalized and without any rights in some Middle Eastern countries. If you think about it, just to be talking about this issue… we are truly lucky and blessed. We all need to make the most of it and help those who don’t have such opportunities. Thank you, Monika!
Monika: Thank you so much for this conversation, Lora!
All the photos: courtesy of Lora G.
© 2014 - Monika Kowalska
