Leyva

CHRIS LEYVA: ROCK ‘N’ ROLL TROUBADOUR SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Though a longtime mainstay of San Diego’s music scene, Chris Leyva was actually born in a small town outside of Oaxaca, Mexico. He arrived in San Diego as an eight-year-old. An insatiable music fan, Leyva was soon hooked on the idea of rock ‘n’ roll. “Lots of my friends don’t recall knowing what they wanted out of life that early, but strangely I do,” he laughs. “I remember hearing, the intro to ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ it still gives me chills.” He cites The Beatles, Nirvana, The Rembrandts and Oasis, as major influences, but it was a San Diego artist who pushed Leyva to pursue his own projects. “All the local musician’s were supportive,” he recalled. “Particularly The Dragons and Convoy, but it was Steve Poltz who really pushed me to do it.” Leyva plays guitar, piano and sings in all his bands, though he considers the lost art of arranging to be his main talent. “The most important thing about a band is their songs. And the most important thing about a song is the arrangement. As much as I like playing on stage, there’s a magic to choosing and placing instrumentation in the studio.” Restless to a fault, in addition to his own solo work, he fronted a band, Blizzard and also worked with indie-rock trio Revolution 89. Notably, Blizzard was named by Beatles compatriot Tony Sheridan in an effort to describe their sound, while Revolution 89 recorded their debut album in Minneapolis with Phil Solem of the Rembrandts producing. To date he has released seventeen albums. In 2003 he started up a small label, Black Cherry Records. “After the slow demise of the music industry there were a lot of acts caught in a sort of purgatory state,” he explained. “I thought maybe I could start up something that wasn’t about the money per se, but instead existed simply to put out good music. Of course, my music needed a home too,” he quipped. “Really, it’s a way for me to connect the dots the different players in the music scene. If I can help other artists, than that’s even better.” Already a blur of activity, 2008 sees Leyva stepping up his efforts, moving into video production as well as adding publishing to his resume. A documentary on Blizzard is in the works as well as new recordings from all his various groups. Revolution 89’s debut disc was released in June 2008. “I don’t plan, I follow my muse,” he said. “In the romantic sense, I go where ever the adventures take me. No matter where the road goes, count on me making music. There are lots of business things to work on, but basically I’m a troubadour.” A page dedicate to Christopher Leyva and his music and passions and rants.