If you put your ear to the street, you can hear the grumble of the world in motion: people going to and from school, to work, to the market. If you’re anywhere near Backstage Pizza tomorrow at 11 a.m., you’ll hear something different, something unique, something you recognize, but haven’t heard in a long time. It’s the sound of Criticnue.
Pronounced critic-in-you, the band performs all original music and just released their first CD featuring Heath Seager on vocals, Robby Hart on guitar, Zac Cornejo on drums and Dave Abbott on bass.
Criticnue’s sound is soulful and smooth. They describe it as “a unique sound that crosses several genres, not one individual can be given credit for their dynamic sound, but to all of them extensively.”
As a new band, they have had the opportunity to play across California, from Los Angeles to Sacramento and have opened for well-known performers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Still Time.
The band first played at a friend’s house in Los Osos, Cornejo said. Cornejo knew Abbott and Hart previously and met Seager through construction work.
“We were working on a job site,” he said. “He told me he played and he sang, and it was pretty cool; a month later we got together and we hit it off.”
Living on the Central Coast has also provided the band with inspiration.
“It’s unique because we’re not in the big city, and we have a different perspective than big city players,” Conejo said. “(The area) is like an island, not much going on, so you have to be creative.”
Criticnue is the last concert in the “Sounds of SLO” series hosted by Associated Students Inc. The series focused on bringing music back to the University Union (UU), which is currently under construction. It also featured musicians solely from Cal Poly and the San Luis Obispo region.
The turnout for the past two performances has been well received, said Dave Carlsen, the musical entertainment student supervisor of ASI.
“(People) have stopped eating and listened,” he said. “A testament to how they sounded.”
The concerts are also played acoustically since they are held in Backstage Pizza. This will be a different approach for Criticnue, who has a pure rock sound.
“We’re excited to play acoustically. It’s going to be fun to bring it down a little,” Cornejo said.
Criticnue’s self-titled debut album is currently sold at Faultline Music in Paso Robles. The CD has been well received by staff members and fans, employee Traven Marks said.
“Every track goes well together; it’s smooth, it flows, they’re creative guys,” Marks said.