As Ray Holmberg watched what should have been a joyous senior year of graduation celebrations, end-of-school parties and good times with his friends devolve into a season of isolation and disappointment because of the coronavirus pandemic, he and his younger brother, Paul, hunkered down in their home studio and expressed their frustrations in the most positive way they knew how: by making music together.
The San Anselmo brothers — Ray on guitar and vocals, and Paul on drums — have just released “When This Ends,” an original song that eschews teenage angst in favor of a buoyant pop tune and a cleverly comic music video that comments on the stresses of quarantine on young people. Not to sound like a teeny-bopper fan, but it’s about the cutest thing I’ve seen about a serious subject. And we could all use a little of that right now.
Directed and shot by childhood friend and schoolmate Corbin Mason, the video shows the teens cavorting on the beaches and forests of West Marin in bright yellow hazmat suits. It ends with them on a stage in their backyard performing for an appreciative if captive audience — of stuffed animals.
“I wrote ‘When This Ends’ during the end of my senior year when everything was being closed and nothing was happening,” says Ray, now a 19-year-old freshman at UC Santa Barbara. “Knowing that I wasn’t going to have the rest of my senior year I was frustrated about that. One of our main goals from last summer was to play live a bunch. We didn’t get to do that at all because of the quarantine situation. But we were more fortunate than most people. Our parents were able to work from home, and we were able to keep our house. Because we were quarantined as a band, we were able to practice and record all the time.”
“When This Ends” is the first single on the Holmberg brothers’ debut album, recorded in their home studio and at Lucky Recording Co. in Brisbane with producers Travis Kasperbauer and Mikel Ross. They hope to release the album sometime this year.
A previous single, “Mystery,” which explores the joys and confusions of young love, has gotten more than 230,000 listens on Spotify. The video was also shot on a West Marin beach with the brothers dressed like detectives “trying to solve the mysteries of girls,” as Ray puts it.
But not all their songs are about girls and giggles. “Stranger” takes on alienation, depression and suicide — issues that couldn’t be more relevant in Marin County. Although Marin is among the healthiest and wealthiest counties in the state, it has the highest suicide rate among all Bay Area counties and the highest rate among all metropolitan counties in California, according to Marin health officials. And that was before the pandemic.
“We’ve both had our struggles with mental health,” Ray says. “Last year and this year haven’t been that easy for me or for a lot of people around me and some of my peers. Writing music and songs is the main thing that has helped me get through all that. It’s a really good outlet when I’m trying to get my feelings across.”
Ray, who reminds me of a more wholesome Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, recently performed the song for Hope Means Nevada, an organization concerned with teen suicide.
“It’s to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention,” says Paul, a sophomore at High School 1327 who turns 16 this month. “Depression and anxiety are big things that I’ve seen and that me and Ray have both experienced. With our songs, we’re showing other people with these feelings that they’re not alone. It’s not just them.”
The brothers recorded the song with help from their neighbor Johnny Colla, a founding member of Huey Lewis and the News.
“I think they’re amazingly talented — both of them,” Colla says. “I hear a lot of kids whose music is pretty hard to relate to. When I hear these young guys working on their tunes next door, my ears perk up. I hear something there and I hope they hit a home run.”
The brothers not only have a rock star next door, but both of their parents, RJ and June Holmberg, are also musicians who play in the Marin rock band El Cajon.
“Growing up our parents played so much music,” Ray says. “They met at a record company in San Francisco. In the summer when we didn’t have anything to do, dad would have rock school. He’d play us different classic rock bands like the Doors, Hendrix, the Beatles.”
“We’ve listened to ‘Abbey Road’ probably a 100 times in our life,” Paul adds.
In their first gig as a duo, the brothers played the Silversun Pickups song “Lazy Eye” in a talent show at Brookside Elementary School in San Anselmo. They’ve been playing together ever since and have no interest in adding other musicians to their duo.
“We like the brother energy and the connection we have,” Ray says.
While Ray is away at college, he’s continuing to write and record songs and looks forward to performing them in front of live audiences with his brother during breaks from school. That is, when that becomes possible again.
“Playing live is a huge thing, a whole different experience,” Paul says. “We practice together a lot, but it’s totally different when we’re playing live. We love it.”
When the COVID cloud lifts, their goal is to get signed by a record label and play at Outside Lands, the mega music festival in San Francisco.
“I feel this is what we were born to do,” Ray says. “We don’t want this to be a side gig, but the main thing. When concerts start happening again, we want to start building a legit tour and build our fan base even more. The only thing I want to do is write and play music for people.”
Contact Paul Liberatore at p.liberatore@comcast.net
