Better together

All of the guys in local emo-rock band Citysick are drawn to the genre for different reasons—the raw expression of the lyrics, the emphasis on melodic songwriting, the sad-bastard barroom singalongs, or the strong sense of community they’ve found in the local scene.

For bassist Kevin Ristow, the style was embedded in his psyche early on.

“I got into music at the height of the Hot Topic/emo phase,” he said. “I remember going to the Warped Tour when I was like, 10.”

Taking cues from bands like American Football, Citysick’s particular brand of emo has a glossy, post-rock sheen. In December, the band released the five-song EP Get Better, a follow-up to last year’s debut, Thanks for Trying. Especially considering that it was mostly a DIY project—everything except the drum tracks were recorded in singer/guitarist David Hollenbeck’s apartment—it’s a clean-sounding, crisply produced record.

Lyrically, it follows a theme of making the best of negative situations.

“Our last EP was very honest and very personal, but at the same time it was just kind of a bummer,” said guitarist Kaleb Sievers. “It was just so depressing. So, when we were writing Get Better, we wanted to make songs that were a little more fun to move to, had more of a fun live element. Our music is always going to be a little bit of a downer, but this stuff is about how things are going to get better, life is going to improve.”

The CN&R caught up with Citysick ahead of their show at the Naked Lounge on March 28. The band is made up of Hollenbeck, Ristow, Sievers, Conner Lewis (drums) and Curtis Loyless (guitar)—all of whom are either from Southern California or the Bay Area and came to Chico for school.

Hollenbeck and Sievers write Citysick’s lyrics together, but the entire band collaborates on instrumentals, adhering to a selfless philosophy when it comes to who plays what.

“It’s about whoever has the idea that makes the most sense,” Hollenbeck said. “Not everyone always plays the part that they wrote, which is kind of a bummer when you write something you like, but you can’t play it because you’re singing at the same time, or whatever. But I get to play this riff that Curtis wrote, and it’s one of my favorite things to play.”

Generally, the five-piece favors relatively simple individual parts that form a greater whole rather than focusing on complex, look-at-what-I-can-do guitar and bass lines.

“Stepping away from your own part and writing for someone else gives you a better understanding of where the cohesive work is going,” Sievers said. “If I’m working on a bass part with Curtis, it becomes really easy to lock in and make it sound really clean when I play my own part, because I helped write his.”

Basically, they’re better together. Everyone in the band agrees that emo-rock is best consumed in a live setting: One time, they caused a venue to run out of Pabst Blue Ribbon after a night of rowdy singalongs, an achievement Sievers is particularly proud of. And they all savor being approached by fans who find meaning in their lyrics.

That’s what their music is all about, Hollenbeck said: “It’s about connecting with people on a really personal level.”