late night drive home are reinventing indie rock

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Innovative indie-rockers late night drive home are a product of El Paso, Texas — and of the synthy, mid-2000s alt-rock surge that encompassed outfits like the Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. Their take on that era is fresh-faced and exciting, weaving the sound and feel of those sources through their own experience as young Hispanic and Latino artists. With increased representation in the scene as a goal, over the last five years, the band have grown — both literally, going from a twosome to a foursome, and in their audience reach, and in their creative ethos and sonic depth. What began as a lo-fi garage project has organically shifted into a sparkling, layered sound replete with melodic guitar parts, an upbeat, angular rhythm, and lyrics that glisten with wistful joy.

Read more: The Strokes albums ranked: From worst to best

The evolution of late night drive home, and their ensuing success, has not gone unnoticed. After releasing their breakout track, the bilingual, emotion-driven “Stress Relief,” it wasn’t long before the band were given the opportunity to be signed to Epitaph. In celebration of this moment, after years of grinding and building as an independent project, lead singer Andre Portillo, guitarist Juan “Ockz” Vargas, bassist Freddy Baca, and drummer Brian Dolan dropped the highly anticipated “Stress Relief” music video via Epitaph, and are gearing up for a headlining holiday show at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre on Dec. 23. Lucky for us, the band let us relish this exciting time with them, sitting down with AP to unpack where they’re at right now, and where this exciting group are going next. 

Let’s talk about “Stress Relief.” You’ve said you don’t entirely understand how it blew up the way it did, but it’s clearly resonating with people in such an unbelievable way. What’s the story behind that song, from your end? What does it mean to you, and what was the process that led us to the track that it is today, and the video?

ANDRE PORTILLO: “Stress Relief” is based on toxic relationships, even those situationships that are very difficult to remove yourself from. Within the song, there are lyrics that I think resonate really well with what I just explained: “Tell me you love me, come back, come back to haunt me...” Which in short is not only explaining the situation as it is, but later down the line when everything is all said and done, the whole situation actually came back to haunt me mentally for a while.

The very meaning behind the song is carried by the title “Stress Relief,” which, long story short, are the right words to describe the feeling of successfully removing yourself from any issues in general. For us, the song gives a sense of relatability for anyone going through any kind of situation, not only relationship problems.

In addition to being trapped in this situation, we wanted our music video to capture this meaning as well. The white room represents being trapped in these experiences with no clear way out. The old TV represents and displays those old memories that you’re stuck with — constant reminders about everything you could have done better and ways you could have avoided these problems.

What is the origin story of late night drive home? How did you meet, and how did you identify the sound and ethos you wanted to capture?

JUAN OCKZ: The origin of late night drive home started in 2019 when Andre and I formed the band after Andre exchanged an acoustic voice recording for a song he made. I really wanted to try music, so I asked him if I could add something, and it just began from there. For the first two years, it was just Andre and I making demos but not releasing much — only four songs during the ethos of our duo. Come 2021, we recruited Brian Dolan and Freddy Baca to the instrumentation of the group to form a full-scale band

Your sound has shifted and changed since the band formed. Can you speak to how that’s happened, whether consciously or subconsciously?

PORTILLO & OCKZ: Our sound is an ever-evolving snowball how I see it. Art is meant to change and become new in its own way [with] every passing release or creation, and I’m glad to say we learn every time we create something new. Even now I am learning new ways to produce songs and write better. It’s best to let the creative universe guide us into new ways of forming art, [rather] than forcing ourselves.

How do you see your sound continue to change going forward? Are there new avenues or collaborations you would hope to explore?

OCKZ: I, for one, want to create more genres of music and work with anyone that represents art in its purity as I see it. Seeing others work and their creative energy encourages me to work in that manner. I see late night drive home as a project that will continue evolving and never sticking to one sound, as we enter this new era of music; the sound will change.

What do you think you offer an audience or listener that sets you apart?

OCKZ: I feel we as a band offer a variety of sounds and experimentation that just resonates with the listener. I, of course, though, see that there are many great bands all around, coming up in the 2020s. From electronic to indie, I feel we can offer anything to our listeners while [staying] true to ourselves

If your fanbase had a name for itself, what would it be?

PORTILLO & OCKZ: I’m not sure! We have thought about this for quite now... Maybe passengers? It's something that is just accumulating in this new era, for sure.

What do you think the biggest misconception about indie musicians is?

OCKZ: I think the biggest misconception is that indie musicians stick to one sound or stick to one topic of lyrics. I feel nowadays “indie” musicians are breaking out of their shell and reaching new blends of genres that represent each individual artist well. At least that's how I feel for us. I do feel we as indie musicians, the title of indie will change with the new album. 

Your songs tend to feel pretty melancholic and carry a lot of emotion. What experiences, or places, or points of reference sonically and in your life have you been drawing from or seeking out in your lyrical process?

PORTILLO: I feel like most people are driven by emotion, every decision we make. Most of everything that I write is based on real-life events. Every song we have released up until now has been a collection of our childhood experiences and what it was like growing up in rural America, or the desert as we call it. Growing up in a smaller town, there isn’t really much to do in terms of fun factors, so your friends and family are really the only things that matter.

You were independent for quite some time before signing to Epitaph. I can only imagine that takes a certain relentless work ethic and focus on an end goal. What was that like, and how did it feel signing to the label finally? What are your goals now?OCKZ: It feels great to sign to a label. I mean, it's what a lot of artists strive to reach, but for us, it feels like the beginning. I feel now as this new record gets written and recorded, it’s gonna feel like a new debut for us. Recording independently is great, and I encourage everyone to always start that way, but we feel we have succeeded the in-home studio. Being able to work in studios and reach higher sounds that would just not be possible in-home [studios] excites me for what we will release.