 He has an older brother, Charles "Chuck" Criss, who is a member of the band Freelance Whales.Criss is Eurasian – his mother, a native of Cebu, Philippines, is of Chinese, Filipino and Spanish descent while his father, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was of English, German, and Irish descent.Criss was raised primarily in San Francisco, apart from 1988–92, when the family resided in Honolulu, Hawaii, where his father, Charles started EastWest Bank, serving as chairman and CEO.