Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz are in the midst of a prolific series of musical releases, but that didn't stop them from taking on a bold new direction on new collaborative song and music video "Searise", a song with powerful human and environmental themes dealt with a soothing blow. "Searise," features Eric's daughter, Evelyn Anders, singing and as one of the co-writers.
Not only did Eric feature his two daughters Evelyn and Lilah Anders on the track; Eric and Mark enlisted the help of brilliant Basque artist Joseba Elorza for the cover art and visionary music video.
Eric shares:
"My daughter, Evelyn, came up with the music and the lyrics for the first half of the first verse when she was eleven. Mark and I finished the song for her. Many thanks to our producer, Mike Butler, for doing such a great job. Mark, Evelyn, and I are all grateful to have worked with Basque artist Joseba Elorza (Greenday) on the "Searise" climate change music video, and the cover."
The song is a climate change song-a plea from the younger generation to the older generation to clean up their mess and don't betray them by leaving them with a world that doesn't work. "Searise" is a takeoff on Eric's father's very famous photo, "Earthrise." William Anders was a crew member on Apollo VIII, the first flight around the moon. You can read more about this in two of Eric's blog posts:
Eric has lived all over the US and a short time in Europe, and has currently called the Bay Area home since 2007. Meeting up with Mark in his former home of Pasadena in 2002 the two hit it off quickly. San Diego has become their new recording home because that is where Mike Butler lives and works (producer for American Bardo). Mark O'Bitz has lived in Orange County his whole life and studied classical guitar at Cal State Fullerton.
While working on "Searise", Eric and Mark worked on their multiple-song collection, "Music in the Time of Coronavirus," which they will release in four installments. Their single, "Careful Now My Son," the only Americana song in the collection, was released in December 2020. The LP Sirens Go By was released in February 2021 and contains eight songs in the singer-songwriter style typical of the Anders/O'Bitz duo. Their 5-song EP, Stuck Inside, will be released soon after and contains songs with a bit more edge--a more rockin' style. The multiple-song LP Variant Blues will be released after that. All of the songs for this collection were written and recorded during the pandemic, and all work so far has been done remotely while Eric, Mark, and producer Mike Butler all sheltered in place. The same goes for all of the musicians who contributed. The boys might get back into the studio to record the songs for Variant Blues if they are all able to get vaccinated in time.
