Author | Shea Carmen Swan
Elaiza Santos’ hands wrapped around the microphone, squeezing it as she belted her original lyrics, stage left, at Gramercy Theatre on the evening of December 12th. Red beams of light shined over her raised elbows, which made her hands look like a glowing, beating heart.
The band Crying is the embodiment of all things awesome from the 90’s. “I’ve always used fake keyboards from the 80’s – not playing them but programing them. I heard you could do that with Game Boy, but there are a few bands that do that… like Slime Girls but they do it with Nintendo,” said Ryan, guitarist and Game Boy master. He also categorized Crying as a part of “the underground Chiptune community.” According to Ryan, the chiptune scene is growing in size and popularity, which is the use of soundtracks found in games (typically retro gaming machines such as Game Boy).
Their song writing process works similarly to an assembly line. Ryan lays down the guitar and Game Boy additions then Elaiza or sometimes Ryan writes and records the lyrics. Nick Corbo then gets the recording and adds his drum line. Crying has figured out how to seamlessly combine Elaiza’s soft white-chocolate-like vocals with the louder Game Boy rifts. However, during their live show at times it was difficult to hear Elaiza over the guitar and Game Boy tunes.
“The whole thing with competing with the sound is sometimes difficult. At first when we first started writing together I felt as if I didn’t take live performance and translation into consideration for my solo work,” Elaiza explained. “For my solo stuff I’m used to recording and having freedom to do what I want with the recording… so I used to start writing for Crying in a way that was not conducive to translating that live, and after struggling performing and trying to figure out a better way to perform without feeling like I’m competing, I found a way in which I could project louder…”
Although most of the crowd showed up for the band heading the tour, Modern Baseball, Crying’s set list pumped up the audience. About 40 random fans throughout the venue enthusiastically jumped up and down while others nodded their heads along with the beat. Crying’s third member and drummer, Nick, said that even though he assumed most of the people came for headliner, Modern Baseball, he hoped that some left as new Crying fans.
Unlike most bands Crying doesn’t pocket any of their tips. Instead they donate them to “The Legal Support Fund For Justice For Mike Brown,” according to the sign taped in their tip box, as a way to support protestors in Ferguson, Missouri. Towards the end of Crying’s set, Elaiza tells the audience about where their tips are donated and also explains that the fund is “set up through Missourians organizing for reform and empowerment. Help provide jail support for arrested protesters!”
Crying originated in Purchase, NY about a year ago and is currently signed with record label Run For Cover. They list bands such as Holland-Dozier-Holland, Kate Bush, Queen, Shiina Ringo, Why? and Yasutaka Nakata as their greatest influences on their Facebook page. Crying’s albums, Return to Olde World: Demos and B-Sidess, and Get Olde Second Win are for sale in their online store.
If you didn’t get a chance to see them on tour with Modern Baseball that ended this past weekend, then be sure to check out their bandcamp and listen to both of their albums for free! You can also download them for a couple bucks (worth it).
