Four years ago Kristen Sorrells played her first show as the bassist for Victera at the Annual Christmas Show at the Fort Concho Barracks, a yearly benefit for Rust Street Ministries. The band met through Facebook and were complete strangers prior to that. The band started off with Kristen on bass, Ryan Montelongo on guitar, Justin Aldridge on vocals, and Javi Rodriguez on drums. Before joining Victera, Kristen had “fallen off the music train” and had felt discouraged. She had not done much with music for the past 10 years and the band helped “bring her spark back.”
Kristen did not start her musical journey on bass. Her parents bought her first guitar when she was 10. At 14, she started practicing everyday, watching YouTube videos to learn her instrument, and writing songs. Kristen exclaimed “if MySpace still existed” we could see some of those long ago performances.
Her influences come from a wide range of music. As she says, “I’m open to most music.” Among her rock music influences are artists such as Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Paramore, Gojira and her bass influences are Eugene Abdukhanov of Jinjer, Thundercat, Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne, and Victor Wooten. She holds Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu as some of her R&B influences. She likes old school country too, like Dolly, Patsy, and Willie.
When she joined Victera in 2019, she did not have a bass but Miles McMillian Sr got her set up, which she greatly appreciates to this day. Ryan had already had some songs written and the band worked on rounding them out.
Victera did not have a band name early on but when they got booked for their first gig they had to come up with something. They played around with word origins and got Victera from using the first part of “victory” and terra for “earth.” Kristen especially likes that the name has an earth goddess sound to it. In 2022, drumming in the band got switched up with Javi leaving the band and Michael Hill joining the band. Victera has accomplished so much since that first show including getting to open up for Jinjer, one of Kristen’s favorite bands, this past July in Lubbock and shooting the music video for their song, “Passengers,” which is set to debut in early 2024. Kristen has written more songs including “Faith (or Lack Thereof,” about “how awful the world is and how nobody in power is looking out for you.” The song sums up life in 2023 America “indoctrinated, the blind lead the blind. They lie to our faces and watch as we die.”
This evening she is playing that benefit concert again and by the time it rolls around again I can guarantee even more will be heard from Kristen. December 22nd she is releasing her single , “Broken Hands.” She originally wrote it about 13 years ago. The song tells about a feeling we all have “floating through the world aimlessly” and trying to “do the best you can for the people in your life.” Future songs on the recording list for Kristen include “Note to Self” about “choosing to drink or smoke and how it affects the people in your life” and a song she’s been collaborating with Ryan on. I have no doubt that 2024 will be the year of Kristen. She is sober, in a great loving relationship with Inki Garcia, and has moved from San Angelo to Lubbock where she has a steady job, can be closer to Inki and can grow more as a musical artist. Kristen is truly living by her words “Do what you love and don’t give up because of time, age, or outside factors. Do what you want to do and don’t hold yourself back.”
Upcoming Solo Shows
1/26/24-The Zone-Abilene
Upcoming Shows with Victera
12/30/23-Come and Take It-Austin
1/19/24-The Zone-Abilene
2/2/24-Battle for Wacken-Big Robs-Fort Worth
Websites
Kristen’s Music Socials
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553137762535
https://www.tiktok.com/@kristensorrells
https://www.instagram.com/kristensorrellsmusic/
Victera’s Socials
https://www.facebook.com/Victeratx
https://www.tiktok.com/@victeraofficial
https://www.instagram.com/victera_tx/
