Imagine (pun intended) if John Lennon and Paul McCartney were advised to shelter in place with each other prior to The Beatles’ breakup—how many new songs would they have collaborated on?
Living under the same roof during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, local musicians Gary Criscione (late 40s) and his son, Caleb Criscione (late teens), found a creative way to spend their downtime at home together.
“And now the town is all empty/ No one in sight/ Everyday you must remember/ You are the light,” Gary sings during “The Story,” a new pandemic-inspired single co-written and produced by the duo.
Caleb provided guitar and synth programming during the song, while Gary took care of vocals and bass. The new track is currently available to listen to for free on SoundCloud, under the duo’s unofficial title, SCRW-19.
“Isolation is tough on adults and even harder for kids,” Gary told the Sun. “Since Caleb was not able to play with his band, and we were self-isolated, he asked me if we could collaborate on a song to describe the current state we are in.”
Back in March, both Gary and Caleb were scheduled to perform with their respective bands in Lompoc the first weekend after COVID-19 mitigation closures began in California. Both shows—Caleb, with his band, Whiplash Girl, at The Beach; Gary, with his band, Cellar Roots, at Hangar 7—were inevitably canceled.
“Like most artists, I started doing livestream performances,” Gary said, discussing life a few weeks into quarantine. “My niece was able to watch me from Australia, so that was cool.”
For Caleb, apart from gig cancellations, life outside of musicianship didn’t change much, he explained.
“Surprisingly, [quarantine] hasn’t personally affected me much at all. I’m still pretty introverted,” Caleb told the Sun. “I have more time to walk my dog, but then again, I think everybody does.
“I don’t think the aspect of staying home is the thing that’s biting at most artists,” he added. “It’s the uncertainty of the future.”
Overall, Gary’s day-to-day routine, including his work schedule, was also quite unaltered. But that hasn’t stopped him from worrying about the pandemic’s effects on society, which inspired most of the lyrics found in “The Story.”
“I worked from home mostly prior to this, so the adjustment wasn’t as hard for me,” Gary said. “I do worry about the lack of socialization with all of us though. One minute, kids were supposed to be going back to school in August this year, and the next day we hear that it will all be online.”
Although Gary was hesitant about writing new music for a while after quarantine began, he was eager to work together with his son on a song, he said.
“I didn’t really want to do anything musically for the first couple of weeks. It just was on the bottom of my priority list,” Gary said. “When Caleb approached me on the project, it helped me take my mind off things.”
The duo’s collaboration on “The Story” began with a simple bass riff and a few lyrics, Gary said, which were added upon, and the song escalated quickly from there. Countering the gloom and doom of lyrics like, “We’ve never seen a life like this before/ A sudden shift to 1984,” the song’s beat is surprisingly head-bopping.
“I wanted the song to be upbeat and danceable with a retro ’80s sound,” Gary said. “Caleb came up with the guitar, keyboards, and drums and produced it. I was blown away by how fast we put this together.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood loves hearing from local musicians. Contact him at [email protected].
