Arcati Crisis is the combination of Philadelphia-based singer-songwriters Gina Martinelli and Peter Marinari — a duo of best friends making harmony-laden, folk-tinged, indie pop music.

Each Arcati Crisis tune features an unmistakable blend of vocals and guitars; despite their differing genders and guitar techniques, on songs like "What'll I Say" and "Standing" it's often impossible to dissect their tightly-knit riffs and vocals. Frequent comparisons include "pop-oriented Indigo Girls," "acoustic Sleater-Kinney," and even "stripped down Fleetwood Mac."

Peter and Gina were both accomplished solo songwriters when, in 2002, they conceived of Arcati Crisis as a studio project. Any recording that featured one of them making a guest-appearance on the songs of the other was dubbed an "Arcati Crisis" tune, after Gina's first theatrical role and Peter's internet nickname.

For over half-a-decade Arcati Crisis remained a side-project while the duo performed separately in the Philly arts scene — Gina in theatre, and Peter solo and with acappella groups. The band made only two live appearances each year - playing at Lyndzapalooza's spring festival and the Shubin Theatre Holiday Revue.

That changed in the fall of 2006, when the pair joined for their yearly Shubin Revue rehearsals and discovered that after the event they didn't want to stop rehearsing.

Starting with just a handful of their standards - Gina's end-of-the-world laments "Real End" and "Fisher Price," and Peter's wistful heartbreak on"Under My Skin," Arcati Crisis developed a set of new arrangements, each unmistakable in its interlocking guitar parts and intricate harmonies.

Their brisk, kitschy, acoustic pop is emblematic of their diverse set of influences - for Gina, 60s folk and British Invasion — for Peter, Motown and modern folk-rock singer-songwriters, and intersecting with David Bowie and 80s radio fare like Duran Duran and Madonna.

Arcati Crisis made their re-debut at Lyndzapalooza's 2007 Evolve festival, where they shared the stage with acts like Mutlu and Andrea Nardello. From there they launched a string of appearances at The Rotunda, The Tin Angel, TriTone, and Doc Watson's. They debuted new songs at every show, including audience favorite duets like the playfully literate "Hyperbole," jilted rocker "Wait" and folk-opus "Moscow, Idaho."

Arcati Crisis made a triumphant return to the Shubin Theatre to anchor the 2007 Winter Mixer with a crowd-pleasing set, when just a year before no one knew a word to any of their songs. Since then they have shared stages with other local artists like Bevin Caulfield, Irene Molloy, The Jesse Schurr Band, and Enter the Rooms.

Arcati Crisis continue to debut new tunes and reshape old ones, with an eye towards gigging frequently both in Philadelphia and in the surrounding suburbs and states.

 

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