Kevin Bronson on April 12th, 2020

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Ceci Bastida’s scheduled show in March, which would have been her first live appearance in over a year, was canceled. Plans to release a new album have also been thrown for a loop by the coronavirus crisis. In today’s edition of QUARANTUNES, the Tijuana-born, L.A.-based singer-songwriter talks about staying focused — especially on homeschooling her young daughter.

THE LATEST FROM CECI BASTIDA

Ceci Bastida’s new single “En Las Noches” tackles a topic that’s been relegated to the background by the worldwide health crisis: immigration. “It’s a song that talks about the current administration’s policy of family separation,” the Tijuana-born, L.A.-based songwriter says. “It’s a song about love, about missing a loved one, about longing to be together again.” To translate: “I cannot sleep, I cannot sleep / Don’t leave me here by myself / Because at night I cannot sleep / I don’t know how I am supposed to live without you / Because at night I cannot sleep / I won’t get used to living without you.” Bastida, a member of the ska-punks Tijuana NO as a teenager and later a touring member of Julieta Venegas’ band, has never shied away from making strong statements with her music. Her first album, the Latin Grammy-nominated “Veo La Marea,” covered topics such as immigration and the drug war. Now, she’s working on a new full-length … around some other important responsibilities.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

I’ve been very busy because I have an 8-year-old girl and we are basically homeschooling her now, so that takes most of my day. I think the quarantine has forced me to understand that I have no control over most things and I have to surrender to this new reality. My main focus is her, her well-being and her education. I have small periods throughout the day to work on music, but obviously not as much as before and that’s OK. I feel fortunate that we are healthy, that we have a home and we are food-secure. I love to read, so when I have time I try to do some reading and I also try to go out and walk or run once a day so I don’t go insane.

Other things that I’m focusing on: Finding ways to help organizations that focus on migrants and refugees. I think our reality today has made their lives even more difficult, vulnerable and uncertain. Organizations like Miry’s List and/or NDLON have done great work throughout the years and need a lot of support these days.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

For the past two years, I’ve been working on a new album and I had all these plans to release it this year and play some shows. I didn’t play a single show last year because my focus was on new stuff, so I’m excited to play again, to hang with my friends and see my family, to work on more music with other musicians and basically be able to hug people.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

I listen to some of these songs when I go out for a run or a walk. The Depeche Mode song came up randomly during one of my runs and it seemed perfect. X’s “See How We Are” is a song I’ve loved forever and I think this pandemic has made a lot of people rethink what’s important in life and this song sort of talks about that. Some of the other songs I listened to last year and really loved. Tamer Nafar’s is an incredible artist from Palestine and I have a song in my album with him as a guest. He’s incredibly smart and has a great sense of humor, I’m excited to show people what we made. I think Caetano’s version of “Cucurrucucu Paloma” is incredibly beautiful and whenever it comes up it makes me feel calm, happy and a little nostalgic. I love Young Fathers, I think they’re so interesting and powerful. I got to see them perform twice and they were very inspiring.