Beyond The stage

Hometown musician hits the rock and metal music scene with thunderous success

Story by Felicia frazar Photos courtesy Jonathan Norris

For all of Jonathan Norris’ life, music was an inspiration and an aspiration. Growing up in a small community and graduating from a smaller school — 2012 Navarro High School graduate — Norris found himself submersed in country lyrics, but rock really called his name.

“I’ve always been into rock and metal, that’s my thing,” he said. “I’ve always just kind of done my own little deal. I loved music as a kid growing up. I listened to the classics and the legends growing up like Elvis, the Beatles. Then I really got attached to heavier rock.”

Finding a passion in the sound, he started gravitating toward the music and began playing the guitar when he was 10. Now, he is the singer and songwriter for the rising rock band Kingdom Collapse based out of San Antonio.

Kingdom Collapse lead singer Jonathan Norris belts out the lyrics he wrote during a recent show.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Norris

“I started singing because I was writing all of this stuff for a brand new project,” he said. “I just jumped in to the deep end, making it my own solo project.”

As he wrote more songs and really started to explore all of his talents, Norris found the inspiration for his band’s name.

“That was actually at a point in my life when I was discovering who I was and growing up,” he said. “I was forming my own opinions and beliefs on certain things and it was that old kingdom collapsing for something new and better. It was that doing away with that old and being yourself.”

He joined up with some fellow musicians and started playing some of the songs he wrote. Kingdom Collapse began with Norris, guitarist Robert Flores, bassist Blake Suarez and drummer David Sanchez.

People started to really take notice of the group with its first release hitting it big on YouTube, Norris said.

“Our first song to really kind of blow up on YouTube was ‘Suffer,’” he said. “That one has 9 or 10 million views. That kickstarted things.”

In 2020, they released “Uprise,” which made the Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 40, as well as Mediabase Rock Top 40, all as an unsigned band.

However, things changed over the years and so did his bandmates. But that didn’t stop Norris or Kingdom Collapse from continuing to rise, as the current members found themselves “coming alive” following their release of the single “Unbreakable.”

Navarro alumni Jonathan Norris and his band Kingdom Collapse takes the stage.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Norris

“That was the first song that we all released with this line up and that’s kind of been what everyone knows Kingdom Collapse as, these four members — me, Aaron, David and Eli.”

Following the COVID-19 shutdowns, Norris asked childhood friend, pseudo manager and guitarist Aaron Smith to lend a hand on the bass. Smith brought with him his musical talents as well as his ability to network and connect with others in the industry, Norris said.

“(This industry is) more than just playing music, it’s more than just being an artist,” he said. “It’s networking, it’s business, it’s relationships. He was already helping with behind the scenes stuff for us.”

Norris looked to a former bandmate, David Work, to help out on lead guitar and brought on Houston-based drummer Elijah (Eli) Santucci.

The group never expected the single would skyrocket to the top of the charts.

“‘Unbreakable’ just, we didn’t expect it to blow up like it did,” Norris said. “It started being played, it was Billboard Top 40 on the Rock Charts, it was all over Sirius XM’s Octane and it’s still played, even two years later. That was our big hit thus far.”

Kingdom Collapse band members pose for a photo in front of a marquee at a venue prior to taking the stage.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Norris

Other recent releases include “Save Me From Myself,” “Breakfree” and “Anything,” which came out April 2023. Like most bands, Kingdom Collapse still works to put out new songs and get them to the same level, Norris said.

“Not every song is as big as the last. They’re all their own animal,” he said. “But they’ve all kind of snowballed to where the catalog grows. Some people might like another song more than ‘Unbreakable.’ They may like ‘Suffer.’ They may like the new one. It just helps build things bigger and bigger.”

Eventually, the band started seeing more requests for shows outside the state and landed gigs in rock-heavy cities, which help pushed their success to new levels.

“We’re dependent on touring the country, hitting those markets,” Norris said. “Like Florida and the Mid-West are big rock markets. We just go where we’re wanted.”

Kingdom Collapse takes the stage at Welcome to Rockville

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Norris

Norris is stoked to book a show close to home on Aug. 4 at Sam’s Burger Joint in San Antonio.

The band is working toward putting together a full-length album. In the meantime, Norris said they continue to tour to promote the songs they’ve already released.

Kingdom Collapse took the stage 163 times and played eight tours last year. They’ve shared the stage with bands like Three Days Grace, Nothing More, From Ashes to New, and more, Norris said.

“Nothing More, we’ve been friends with them for a while,” he said. “We’re in that same world with them. They call us up to see if we want to play with them.”

After getting that call, Norris said the band packed up and headed to Albuquerque for the show and started their trek home. About halfway, they received a call from their agent saying there was a change in plans.

“He said turn around, you’ve got Three Days Grace tomorrow in Kansas City,” Norris said. “It was awesome. We showed up, met all of them, played for like 2,500 people. It was great.”

He ensured his biggest supporter and No. 1 fan was there to see it.

“I flew my mom out to Kansas City for the show,” he said. “She was right up in the front on the rails. It was awesome. My mom is a big supporter. She has always supported the music stuff. She’d seen how serious I was about it and that it wasn’t just a pipe dream. She saw that and supported it, even when others didn’t really see it.”

Playing with bands of that caliber is surreal, Norris admitted.

“The same artists that I grew up listening to and inspired me to want to play guitar, we’re playing with them,” he said. “It is crazy. I feel like we’ve made it, even if we haven’t technically made it. We’re already in a great spot, where it’s crazy to look back and see how far we’ve come.”

For Norris, it’s a small county in the heart of Texas.