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Music in the Time of Coronavirus Sequestered in the Midwest, Christopher Peifer blasts out of lockdown with a bare-knuckle new album. By Kirsten Ferguson The coronavirus upended life for everyone this summer. Christopher Peifer, a former Capital Region musician now living in New York City, found himself in his Indiana hometown taking care of family. His career as a sound designer and composer for theater productions in New York City and New England is completely on hold. “100 percent of my work is audience dependent,” he says over the phone. “If I were in New York, I’d just be hanging out in my apartment.” But the major life disruption helped Peifer focus on a long-held goal: releasing his first full-length solo record, Suicide Mission, on August 15. “The music’s been keeping me sane,” he says. “I just wanted to do this record until it’s safe to play shows again. We’re all in lockdown. Creative people have to stay creative. This is art and love in the time of coronavirus.” Suicide Mission is the culmination of Peifer’s three decades in the music business—writing, recording, touring and performing in his own bands and as a sideman in others. “I’ve always been more of a collaborator,” says the bassist and guitarist. “In 30 years, I’ve been in almost 20 bands.” Most recently, Peifer made up one third of Blockhouses, a kicking power-pop outfit that he formed with guitarist Guy Lyons, who grew up playing in the legendary Saratoga Springs band the Figgs. Peifer spent his formative years in the Capital Region in the 1990s, playing with then-local artists like Sandy McKnight, Stephen Clair and the Staziaks as well as