Artsick was formed in June 2018 when Christina Riley was feeling “artsick” and writing songs, but missing the inspiration and excitement of collaborating with her old band, Burnt Palms. Christina played Mario Hernandez (Kids On A Crime Spree, Ciao Bella) a couple of demos and recognizing that “artsick” feeling, Mario offered to play drums and record some songs at his fully-analog Oakland recording studio. Christina’s bass idol, Donna McKean (Lunchbox