Elevator Days Takes Over Houston

Indie-pop is taking over the Houston music scene, and I honestly kinda like it. Elevator Days, a newer band, has been dominating the local scene with their song “Call Me When You Get Home.” The song itself has a garage band feel, it feels very authentic and raw, but with a touch of an upbeat tone, and a bouncy riff, making the song very dancy. The song itself discusses the feeling of holding on to a relationship that you have no control over. 

I sat down with the members of Elevator Days to ask them about their single, and upcoming song “Unknown.” In the band, Ethan Mendoza is the lead singer and is on rhythm guitar, James Garcia is on bass and backup vocals, Kevin Young is on lead guitar, and Samantha Cotrofeld is on drums. The band members had a very welcoming vibe and it was so much fun hanging out with them.

First I asked them about the inspiration behind “Call Me When You Get Home.” Ethan compared the song to when, ”you’re sitting in this limbo…[asking] do you care about me or should I move on.” A lot of the music from Elevator Days comes from Ethan’s feelings around real life events and experiences. He added, “I like [“Call Me When You Get Home”] a lot because it’s-,” James interrupted, “real shit.” Ethan continued, saying “I don’t know how to feel about [something] so I’m gonna convey my frustration [through music]”.

On February 17th, Elevator Days will be dropping their newest single, “Unknown” at their release show. Ethan pulled inspiration for this song from an experience he had at psychedelic rock band, Crumb, with his sister. While he was there he ran into old high school friends and had a moment of insecurity which made him feel uncomfortable. He described this as a feeling of “how you expect people to be versus how they actually are.” I would really recommend going to their release show by checking out their Instagram to find more information.

Elevator Days also spoke about their first time performing. “We first performed at Coogchella,” said Ethan when I asked about the formation of their band. For those of you who don’t know, Coogchella was hosted in April 2023 by Coog Radio featuring a line up of a variety of local bands such as Sad Allen and Elevator Days at Lynn Eusan Park at UH. It was a great event that brought together a variety of students in support of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The members have all met through their time at UH, and are a great example of the creative scene at UH.Now, Elevator Days has become very popular, with fans giving them friendship bracelets at their shows, and going on tour. This summer, the band will have a Texas tour featuring San Antonio, Houston, College Station, Austin, and Denton. I would not want to miss any of their shows. Follow their Instagram account for more updates and stream “Call Me When You Get Home.”