A musical response to COVID-19

For Mac musicians, shelter in place order has inspired seven-week virtual jam session

Scarlett Houser and Olivia CapochianoMay 26, 2020Leave a Comment

COVID-19 ARRIVES IN AUSTIN

UNFINISHED: The photo assignment calendar in the journalism room sits unattended, exactly the way the photo editors left it on March 12. It has become a record of all the games that were meant to be played and covered and a reminder of the year that could have been. Photo by Dave Winter.

Knights stick together, look ahead

Top Notch employee Abbey Sanders serves a customers pickup order on May 8. Top Notch opened for carhop service and other distance delivery methods on May 4. Owner Kelly Chappell said that he prioritizes the comfort and safety of his employees. “We are still working at a limited staff capacity, but the people who are there very much want to be there, Chappell said. We don’t ask anybody to work who’s not comfortable, and we only work alongside people who we know,
to the best of ability, are healthy.”

Local eateries cautious about resuming dine-in services

While many Austinites fiddle their days away stuck at home, a sizable group of less fortunate souls must continue their struggle for survival on the streets. The irony in this picture speaks to me as the man on the right leans against a sign asking people to stay home and slow the spread, with all his worldly belongings in the suitcase to his left. The homeless population has felt the toll of this virus as much as, or more than any of us. Photo by Caleb Melville.

Austin streets silenced by COVID-19

Jordan Bibby was among the seniors who picked up a yard sign during the curbside pickup on Friday. Bibby said she hopes the virtual graduation ceremony gives her a sense of closure. “I feel like these past two months have blurred into one super long day with no real feeling of completion or moving toward a huge goal,” Bibby said. “It feels like nothing is real right now since I can’t see, feel, or experience [graduating], so maybe this will be the thing that makes graduation feel like a reality.” Photo by Elaine Bohls-Graham.

AISD to stage virtual graduation ceremony on June 16; Mac to celebrate Class of 2020 with May 28 parade

It may take some creativity to stay in touch with those we love but cannot see face to face during this pandemic, but it can be done. You just have to think outside the box you are quarantined in. Illustration by Evelyn Griffin.

Staying connected (from a distance)

Ana Rosa Tenorio and Ivan Ramos, Austin ISD transportation employees based at Nelson Field, unpack Chromebook chargers to be bundled with Chromebooks at Anderson High School. Anderson is one of five locations hosting curbside computer services Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Curbside computer services are also available at Austin and Crockett high schools and at the AISD Performing Arts Center. Photo by Dave Winter.

District aims to create a level online playing field

Health-care workers from the Dell Childrens Center Emergency Room hold up 45 meals that were donated and delivered to the hospital by community members through Fuel the Fight Austin. So far, the organization has donated 280 meals to health-care workers around the city. Photo courtesy of Alex Seiler, Fuel the Fight Austin.

Feeding the front lines, fueling local businesses

PLAY FIGHTING: My grandpa and my brother are a lot a like, so they get along really well. Sometimes though, they like to start play fighting for no reason. Photo by Lily Brode.

Stay-home order creates chances to bond

Meet Zoe, Crackerjack, Clementine and Oreo, all of whom have been adopted by McCallum faculty members in the past two weeks. Its part of a nationwide spike in dog adoption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People have more time to take care of and train dogs, and they need the social, emotional and mental health benefits that come from pet ownership. Photos courtesy of the puppies parents.

Pandemic prompts proliferation of puppy parents

Risa Darlington-Horta

EXPLOSIONS OF NEW MUSIC: Shortly into the early days of quarantine, Senior Jazz Aguilar released her debut single: “Kamikaze.” The energetic tune was recorded with the help of her bandmates Riley Edwards and Isabella Demoss, along with drummer Ian Clennan. Keep your eyes (and ears) open for more releases from Aguilar, as she is using quarantine to write her new album, as well as work on a music video for her already-released song. Photo by Risa Darlington-Horta.

It has been seven weeks since the Shelter in Place order has been given. Seven weeks since Texans have had the collective realization that we are now left to our own devices on how to spend our lives. For the musicians of McCallum and beyond, it has been a golden opportunity to do what there is often little time to do: practice and create more music.

I-HOPPING ONTO SPOTIFY (and a few other platforms…)
The above photo is the album cover for The Point’s newest release: their quarantine-inspired album, titled “Ihop.” Pictured is seniors Jack Montesinos (front, left), Joe Roddy (back, right), and their band manager Dalton James (back, left). Photo courtesy of Montesinos.

McCallum musician Marlee Foster, who uses the stage name Merlin, has embraced the change. Instead of simply enduring being locked at home, Foster has turned quarantine into a creative convenience. “I’ve had a lot more free time. Whenever I have an idea for a song, I can just start working on it. I’ve been able to work more on my style and find new influences for my music,” Foster says. “I’ve been working on more R&B stuff.”

Mac musicians have also been working on expanding their skill set to music production, and hope to be able to release music from home. Foster has even continued to record professionally (with the proper safety precautions).

“Recording studios in Austin are still operating,” Foster said. “Luckily, whenever I’m in the studio it’s only me and two to three other people, so we can keep our distance.”

Of course, as everyone has discovered, quarantine has its own set of disadvantages. Due to the self-isolation, Foster has found it difficult to get guidance from their peers.

“It’s hard not having all the people at McCallum, though, because if I needed help with a guitar part or something I could just ask a friend to figure it out with me.”

Cleverly, Foster has found a solution…

“I’ve been having fun doing virtual jam sessions with some of my friends where we just share the songs we’ve been working on together.”

Isobel Buffum-Robbins, a junior, attends these “virtual jam sessions.”

“We have a lil’ group where we all get together and play each other music we’ve been working on, and because we can’t do it in person we’ve been groovin’ on FaceTime,” Buffum-Robbins says.

As for her own music, Buffum-Robbins has been able to write more songs with all her free time, including one about missing her friends, although she describes it as “just messing around.”

AN UNCONVENTIONAL WAY TO JAM Amelia Roberts, Marlee Foster, Eliza Dean-Polachek, and Isobel Buffum-Robbins (pictured top to bottom) have found a solution to social distancing: FaceTime. Because of the risks surrounding large group meetings, FaceTime has been the solution for many artists who want to share their music, and be able to connect with other artists in general. “I’ve been having fun doing virtual jam sessions with some of my friends where we just share the song we’ve been working on together,” Foster says. Photo courtesy of Isobel Buffum-Robbins.

For other artists, musical projects can finally be finished, and many have been avidly releasing their polished efforts into the world. With new albums from bands such as The Point, singles released from senior Jazz Aguilar, and an EP from senior Miranda Lewis, it is safe to say that there has been a surplus of songs to listen to for all of the music lovers at McCallum.

For Aguilar, the quarantine has been a great chance to work on songs, and not to mention, release her song “Kamikaze,” onto platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Aguilar recorded “Kamikaze” around March, with Electric Factory records with Flip 45 bandmates Riley Edwards and Isabella Demoss, along with senior Ian Clennan on the drums.

You might recognize the Weezer and Tracy Chapman-inspired tune from when it was played at Valentine’s Day Coffeehouse. Since releasing “Kamikaze,” Aguilar has been “writing daily” and polishing new songs in preparation for a full album: Distant. She also plans to release a music video for “Kamikaze” once COVID-19 is regulated enough to “allow [her] to work.”

Miranda Lewis has released her first EP, titled “2345,” under the stage name Blue Hare. Her EP has four tracks, which can currently be found on SoundCloud. Quarantine has played a part in the production of the EP, as it has given her a chance to “make way more music.” Lewis’s music has been inspired and influenced by a multitude of artists through the decades, including “early ’90s” Cat Powers and Nick Drake.

Along with immersing herself in her favorite music and releasing her new EP, Lewis has also released two music videos to accompany her songs “Shoebox” and “Pendulum.”

The videos are filled with fuzzy twisting shots that add to the atmosphere and vibe of the song specific to the video. The video for “Shoebox” features wide focus shots of a sepia-toned countryside, a starry night, and the trailing lights of a highway at night.

True to its name, the “Pendulum” video includes a long exposure shot of a pendulum swinging across the frame. The artist herself sits behind the swinging necklace, against a black background. For Lewis, the music videos are another way of expressing herself, and she describes the videos as being “a really fun process for me. I just like seeing how things come together, plus I’m really into film so it’s a version of that.”

QUARAN-TUNES Senior Miranda Lewis released her debut EP, “2345” while stuck at home because of COVID-19. The EP has four tracks, along with a couple of music videos to match! Lewis describes quarantine as giving her “way more time” for making music and being more creative. Photo courtesy of Miranda Lewis.

“Ihop” is the title of The Point’s new album, which is on platforms such as Spotify and SoundCloud. The breakfasty-sounding album happens to be written specifically about what one might call “the quarantine experience.”

Band member and McCallum senior Jack Montesinos describes the album as being “solely inspired by the lockdown and isolation away from people we love being around.” Montesinos especially misses the time spent at bandmate Joe Roddy’s house to work on music, saying there’s “nothing better than that.”

But what the band misses the most is being able to play live. The band created their newest album by sending each other recordings of themselves playing and singing.

“Joe mixed the album after we finished [the recordings] to release,” Montesinos said.

Seniors Jack Montesinos (left) and Joe Roddy (right), members of the band “The Point.” have recently released their second album, “Ihop.” The album, inspired by the hardships and their personal experiences of quarantine, can be found on Spotify and Soundcloud. Photo courtesy of Jack Montesinos.

Despite the sadness around missing friends and the general freedom of being outside, Montesinos has had a chance to experiment with listening to and writing with new styles of music. Montesinos has been writing songs with his newfound inspirations, in which Roddy has been playing some piano parts. Montesinos hinted that his experimentation “might even make an album idea for the Point.”

What can be taken away from these artists is that quarantine is not a pause on regular-life, but just an obstacle that can be worked around and perhaps, in The Point’s case, something from which to draw inspiration.

Give some of this new music a listen, and maybe you’ll find yourself writing your own ballad (or anthem) about quarantine!

Listen to Merlin’s previous music here.

Listen to Jazz Aguilar’s “Kamikaze” here.

Listen to Blue Hare’s new EP here.

Listen to The Point. and their new album here.