Ask the internet where Christian Gates is from and you will get a few answers. Here is the accurate one: he was born in Costa Mesa, grew up all over Orange County, California, and went to high school in Yorba Linda. Los Angeles is where he works now, but Orange County is where he is from.
A house full of music
Music was in the room before it was a career. Gates has said both of his parents played, and his father in particular played a lot of guitar, the kind of background that makes picking up an instrument feel normal rather than ambitious.
Orange County. My dad played a lot of guitar. Both of my parents played a lot of music.Christian Gates, Bringin’ it Backwards
It is a small detail that explains a lot. Gates is not just a singer who found a viral lane; he is a musician who grew up around instruments, which is why he ended up producing and engineering his own records rather than just performing them.
Why the geography gets muddled
Press has variously called him a Southern California artist, an Orange County artist, and an LA artist, and all of it is technically true at different points. He was born and raised in OC, then based himself in Los Angeles as his career grew, where he now plays his favorite room, the Teragram Ballroom. Birthplace and base are two different things, and the confusion is exactly the kind of thing this newsroom exists to settle.
Costa Mesa born, Orange County raised, Yorba Linda schooled.
How it shows up in the music
That suburban-Southern-California upbringing is all over the songs: confessional, a little gothic, built for bedrooms and headphones before arenas, the sound of a kid making music in his room in a quiet town. The come-up as ItsLuxCity started there, on a phone, in Orange County. The rest of the story is in the Christian Gates wiki.