When Carol Gonzalez formed Carito, she knew the drill of playing in a band. She played guitar for Manifest Destiny’s Child, a Denton-based art-rock band, and bass for Austin band Choux Choux. However, when Gonzalez began writing music for Carito, she did it in an unusual place — the Pacific Ocean.

Gonzalez, who holds a BS in environmental science from UT, said she splits her time between music and working as a research assistant for UT’s Marine Science Institute. Gonzalez said her job takes her on two to three month trips out to sea where she works 12-hour shifts analyzing water samples for specific types of greenhouse gasses.

“It can get really boring and monotonous … not touching land, straight up in the middle of the ocean,” Gonzalez said. “But I’m able to bring my guitar with me and my keyboard. There’s a lot of alone time where I can write music.”

Gonzalez currently works in associate professor Dong-Ha Min’s lab and said she hopes to run her own someday. She said she sees the complementary values of both science and music.

“When problem solving an experimental design there’s so much creativity there,” Gonzalez said. “What I love about music is I’m able to challenge myself and see what I can come up with. They both really help each other out.”

Gonzalez said Carito makes soulful art rock with a touch of jazz and recently finished recording their debut EP, Pacifico. Gonzalez said the band recorded the project in bursts in-person and then mixed the project partially remotely while she worked at sea.

“The EP that we’re about to release is called Pacifico because that first research trip, I went across the Pacific Ocean and most of the songs were written on that trip,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez started Carito alone but eventually enlisted drummer Kaylin Martinez and bassist Ryan Gordon, both members of Latinx pop outfit Luna Luna, to join. Martinez said the transition felt natural since all three lived together and played with each other in multiple projects.

“Carol comes back (from her research trip) with some really cool sounds,” Martinez said. “It’s cool to finally start playing music with (Carol and Ryan), because we get along as friends. But when we create music, it feels powerful.”

Martinez said even though the band lives together, Gonzalez’s semi-annual research trips combined with outside touring commitments made scheduling a challenge. In the past year Carito played shows but lost momentum when a band member could not play for a while, Martinez said.

“When we are all in town, we make it a goal to play shows together and make more music,” Martinez said. “It makes our process more intentional.”

Gonzalez said Carito plans to release Pacifico in early December and embark on a Texas tour soon after. 

“What I love about us is that we just have so much in the vault and so much to give that it puts us in a good spot,” Gordon said.

Despite juggling a time consuming work schedule and budding music career, Gonzalez still prioritizes both her pursuits.

“In the moment, it can be really frustrating, but at the end of the day, it all works out,” Gonzalez said. “(Music and science) are my two passions, so I want to make sure that I’m able to do both of them.” 

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story named UT’s Marine Science Institute as “UT Marine Lab.” The Texan regrets this error.