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Meet the Liliac Band in Downey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Florin, Nineta, Samuel, Abigail, Melody, Ethan and Justin Cristea of Liliac Band.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Liliac is a young hard rock/metal band made up of three brothers and two sisters. The band was envisioned by their father Floren Cristea a.k.a. Chriss Floren, an accomplished Music Producer who has written and produced songs placed in many American and European television shows and movies such as MTV’s “True Life, 10 on Top, Morning Hot Mix, Parental Control”, A&E’s “Jackson’s Family Dynasty”, Lifetime’s “Bond of Silence”, as well as many other productions. Chriss Floren recognized that his children had the musical gift at a young age and invested time to coach them to become better musicians and encouraging them to pursue their dreams.

Samuel Cristea, 19 years old, is the lead guitarist; Abigail Cristea, 18 years old, is the drummer, Melody Cristea, 16 years old, is the vocalist and bassist, Ethan Cristea, 11 years old, is the rhythm guitarist, Justin Cristea, 10 years old, is the keyboardist.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road. In 2008 we moved to California from Oregon, because we had to file for bankruptcy. Our dad started working in his home studio and our mom as a caregiver. We practically started life all over. When our dad was not working, he would coach us and take us to Santa Monica to perform. In the beginning, we had to figure out how to get our performing permits, and our work permits; what kind of equipment we need and it wasn’t always easy as we were learning. We faced some frustrations like when things would break down, for example, our wagon where we carry our equipment or when the batteries ran out of power and we couldn’t play anymore. We have to pack up all of our equipment into our van and then set up everything in place to perform and we do that every weekend. We’ve also have gotten complaints from residence in Santa Monica, the police would come by to tell us to turn it down. Every Friday, we rent a rehearsal studio to rehearse with the whole band for 3 hours and there we write songs and practice new songs. Our father is a music producer and has his own studio where we would record our music. He helps us a lot with our music by recording, mixing and finding the right sound. We’ve gotten a lot stronger going through hard times and we thrive and go on, each time getting better, we take lessons every week and we practice countless hours.

Liliac Band – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are known for being one of the most popular acts on the Santa Monica Pier, CA watched and enjoyed by thousands of locals and tourists from all around the world. We have a few music videos online, that was directed and filmed by our father and edited by Samuel. Our mom is the one who promotes our music videos. We are currently working on our first original album and a documentary about our band!

https://youtu.be/INouvLl1JiQ
https://youtu.be/aqcmbDFrlqc

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
We feel as if we are getting closer to success every day because we get better and never give up. We have been places where we get recognized by people, telling us they seen us perform at the Santa Monica pier and saying that they enjoyed our show. We also have gotten other gigs besides the pier, for example, we’ve performed at the OC fair, a few birthday party’s, malls, and venues.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:

Florin Cristea, Abdoulla Mohamed

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

 

8 Comments

  1. Larraine Martinez

    March 5, 2019 at 19:09

    Your awesome. Dio would be so proud. Keep up the hard work and you will go far.

  2. Matt Kerr

    April 11, 2019 at 01:29

    Absolute awesome talent! Got the skills, the story, and the looks! I can’t get enough and I am 47 years old. I wish you could come to Michigan!

  3. David MacDonald

    April 19, 2019 at 05:46

    I’ve grown up listening to heavy rock/metal. Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, Tool, Korn. The list goes on.
    Liliac, you are such a breath of fresh air. Natural raw talent oozes from every one of you.
    I look forward to the day you tour Australia. I hope this is on your bucket list.
    Keep it rocking. I’ll be listening.

  4. Alain Robitaille

    April 19, 2019 at 23:21

    Awesome band!!! just discover the group few weeks ago and LOVE it!

    You guys ROCK!!!

  5. Rick

    June 23, 2019 at 05:42

    Hi
    Saw your bang do crazy train and it was awesome. Keep up the hard work, you will be famous, you guys are so young and have plenty of time. Please stay together, that will be the hard part, Good luck to you all, and keep on ROCKIN.

  6. Rick

    June 23, 2019 at 05:59

    Hi
    I first heard your band perform Crazy Train and it was just awesome. You guys are great so please keep on rocking, and you will be famous, all you have to do is keep playing and stay together at all costs, that will be the hard part. Wow, what great talent, I couldn’t believe that you are all Brothers and Sisters, incredible.

  7. Al

    September 14, 2019 at 18:10

    So refreshing to see some of the young generation re-establishing the best music. Love the sound and her voice is unbelievable…a mix of Dan McAfferty, Axl Rose, James Hetfeild, Ros Stewart and Bonnie Tyler….with a touch of Janis Joplin as well….spectacular!! Rock on

  8. Theresa

    October 15, 2019 at 03:26

    We saw them perform at the Santa Monica Pier. They were amazing!
    My cousin in Fresno posted them on his facebook as to how great they were.
    They are getting known all over and well deserved. Keep up the great work.

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