Young Songwriter Sings Praises of Community in Aftermath of Fire, Mudslides

When the Thomas Fire roared across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties last month, destroying more than 1,000 homes and other structures, 21-year-old singer-songwriter Jason Paras from the seaside town of Carpinteria started writing a song about the disaster and about his community’s response.

Then the mudslides happened in neighboring Montecito. More than 20 people were killed. And Paras kept on writing. This week the classically trained vocalist was wrapping up a final mix of the song "We Come Together" in his bedroom studio. He agreed to give us a sneak preview and talk about the song’s creation.

How did your song "We Come Together" come about?

I started writing this song probably [three or four] weeks ago when we were experiencing all the crazy fire stuff that was going on, and the [Sutherland Springs] Texas church shooting and now the flood. I’ve just been looking for some light in the darkness, and it’s been real cool seeing some light with our community coming together.

I was just thinking about how I felt like everyone was on opposite teams before all this stuff happened. And then when the fire and all these horrible things happened, when we needed to come together and pick each other up, [I thought of the lyrics]: "When everything falls apart we come together." So that just popped into my head and I just started writing it.

If you go around Montecito right now, you just see people who are out there shoveling mud, for no reason other than to shovel mud for people that they don’t even know and they might not ever meet, but they want to do it because they want to love on each other.

Was your family’s home in Carpinteria damaged at all during the Thomas Fire or the flash flooding?

No, we’re actually right on the border of the mandatory evacuation zone and so we were packed up [and ready to evacuate] the whole time. It was really interesting having to pack everything up and see what we’d take with us. My parents, for instance, had a picture of their wedding and that was super cool. But I really don’t have anything like that. I honestly just took notebooks of the songs I’ve written, files of music and guitars. I didn’t have anything that special.

I know a lot of people who have lost people that are close to them. I don’t really know what to say about it. But every time I see my family, every time I see our home, every time I see everything that I should be thankful for, I am more thankful now.

How long have you been writing and performing your own music?

I wrote my first song when I was 10, and then I’ve been singing and harmonizing and stuff with the radio since I was like 6 years old. I started competing in like statewide competitions for jazz, classical and stuff. I don’t know how I wrote my first song, but I actually remember the whole song. It’s not very good so I won’t sing it now, but [the lyrics are]: "This is why I can’t afford to go out there and lie anymore / It messed up my life and now I learned the longer you do it, it just gets worse and worse / So all I have to do is work hard every day, keep on pressing on and some day it will all come together and get all better."

I’m currently recording a song about how everyone’s important, no matter who you are, no matter what your job is. It’s picturing a community as a puzzle -- or it could be our nation as a puzzle. Every single role is vital in order to make this one beautiful masterpiece. Seeing things like that in our community, seeing people no matter what your job is, no matter what you believe in, everyone is contributing to the same cause. And everyone is, you know, out there shoveling mud.

How have these disasters and the way the community responded changed you?

I feel like for me everything that’s happened [has] completely changed my life and how I’ll handle things in the future. I feel like every time I go through something I’ll remember this and how the Santa Barbara community has dealt with it. And I’ll remember how important it is that we stick together and we lift each other up in times of crisis.

You’ve only just completed writing and producing your song "We Come Together." What are your hopes for it?

I think it would be really cool if we could use it at different events for the community, when the community comes together, anything of that sort.

There’s no denying how dark of a time this is. People have lost loved ones and all the houses destroyed, cars being washed from the mountains to the beaches. There’s no denying how dark of a time it is. I really hope that this song shows that there is some light in the darkness right now.