Deep diving, reverb washed chords and active guitar melodies juxtaposed against heavy-hitting, in your face rock and roll choruses; Citysick blends a host of genres and backgrounds to create a unique active rock sound.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
David Hollenbeck (Guitar/Vocals)
Kaleb Sievers (Guitar/ Vocals)
Kevin Ristow (Bass Guitar)
Conner Lewis (Drums)
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Citysick? How long has the band been around?
Prior to Citysick, David played in an act called Dear Misguided right here in Chico, Kevin had played in a band from the bay area called Till I Fall, and I (Kaleb) performed my own acoustic songs at shows here and there. Conner had played in a ton of high school jazz and orchestra bands, but hadn't ever played in a band of his own so to speak.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
So Citysick came about while we were all sitting down one night trying to find a name for the group which we were all comfortable with. After hours of sitting and voicing ideas that we thought might work, we weren’t really satisfied with/were in disagreement about, ideas that had come up so far. Someone came up with the idea of looking through thesaurus entries for words or phrases that might inspire something unique. From there we ended up landing on Citysick. If I remember correctly we just kinda mashed the words “Cityscape”, and “Homesick” together. Hearing it said out loud just sounded right. We’ve been Citysick ever since.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
We all contribute when it comes to writing the instrumental parts of the songs, but David and I take on most of the lyrical writing. Much of what we used to write about focused on the things that were happening to us, and how those things were out of our control. The lyrics took on a sort of morose, woe-is-me feeling, and it seemed like we were blaming the world for problems before fighting through them all the same. In contrast to that, a lot of what we touched on on our upcoming release, “Give Back The Love You Borrowed.” were themes of growing up, accountability and self-awareness. I think the ideas in the songs come across as less hopeless. We still talk about the things that affect us in our lives, but they’re framed in a more affirmative mindset. Less “boo hoo, my life sucks” and more “Yes, these things have happened, but how I now respond to them now is my choice”.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
Some releases we looked at as inspiration when we were writing Give Back The Love You Borrowed were Citizen’s “Youth”, Microwave’s “Stovall” and “Much Love” and Can’t Swim’s “Fail You Again” as well as a smattering of other influences from our own personal listenings and music tastes.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
The local music scene in Chico, California where we are from really acted as a push to create some really awesome bands. Citysick was no different. It really encourages you to get out there playing shows and recording music when you have such an awesome community that comes out to support you.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect…
We didn’t really have any “show preparation” practices for the longest time. However, after constantly ending up sore after sets, particularly on tour where we had to do it all over again the next day, we all adopted pre-set stretches to keep us feeling good on stage and off. A few of us also make sure to take some time to ourselves before getting on stage to collect ourselves and envision the set going well.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
We’re still in the early stages of building a following, so it’s hard to really pinpoint a highlight. We’ve played some really cool venues that we’ve seen our favorite bands at like Holy Diver in Sacramento, and The Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, but I think the coolest thing we’ve done though is create music that really seems to resonate with listeners. Watching people shout the words to songs back at us each night creates a feeling that I don’t think will ever get old.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Getting on the road with Tiny Moving Parts would be incredible. We support the same charity, Half Access, and I would love to figure out how in the hell those three drink as much as they do and still manage to deliver as clean of a performance every time. Apart from TMP, it would be super cool to tour with Citizen, Microwave, and Can’t Swim. We drew so much inspiration from what they created. I would love to see how our own music might mesh on a bill with them.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Our new album, “Give Back The Love You Borrowed” is out 12/20/2019 on all platforms! We hope you’ll give it a listen. Thanks for taking some time to read a little about our band, and check out our music. We hope to see you at a show sometime soon!