Sitting Down with Local Band The Verdict

On Thursday, January 30, Sorraya Gonzales of Coog Radio had the honor to sit down with members from the local band The Verdict. Singer and songwriter Octavio, guitarist Max, and bassist Alejandro, talk about musical influences, the band’s formation, songwriting process, and memorable crowd moments. Here are some interview highlights:

Sorraya: Which artists inspired y’all to make music, to pursue music? 

Max: For me it was Pink Floyd. I think when I started playing the guitar, I started playing because my girlfriend, she was in this band called Sage Stone. They’re not around anymore, but I was hanging out with them for a while, watching them play guitar or whatever and I was like, wow, I want to do that. And I started listening to more music, I guess. And Pink Floyd was just always my thing to base it off of. 

Alejandro: For me, it’s just a simple variety. I started off with Metallica first, just like everyone knows Metallica. As a guitar player as well. But throughout time, I’m finding out how to play the bass. I want to get good at this instrument and then I can find other stuff. I started listening to 60s jazz at one point. 70s, 80s, I’m just going straight order. And now I’m doing everything right now, pretty much, music- wise. There’s no specific band, as of right now, that I’m fully listening to, just trying to capture my ideas for the bass. But I just go with everything. Everything works for me. 

Octavio: I would go number one, Led Zeppelin, that 70s hard rock. It’s the quintessential rock band. Best singer in the world. Best guitarist in the best drummer in the best bassist in the world at that time. He [Max] disagrees, but I don’t care. No, that was the best band. If you think of one raw rock band, it’s Led Zeppelin. There’s no other band. 

Octavio: And then number two would have to be Radiohead. I like their evolution from a kind of grunge into alternative rock. With [the album] OK Computer. Which I think is such a seminal album. Great, it’s so good. It’s like, for their time, it could be made today. Such an inspiring, refreshing album. And it has a lot of societal messages that apply to today. 

Octavio: And then number three, it’s kind of basic. But it would be Oasis. I love Oasis. I love those guys. It’s not as well known here as it is in the UK. They just know “Wonderwall“. I would say them. It’s like big stadium rock. The raw energy they had in their live concerts. It’s out of this world.  

Sorraya: Okay I’m getting a mixture of classic rock, 70s, 80s. How would you describe the Verdict’s music? Would y’all put it in a specific genre? Do you think it’s a blend of all your inspirations?

Max: We struggle with that question every time we get asked it. It’s a blend for sure. We only have one song released. But if you were to look at everything we have unfinished, I guess it’s all over the place. Some of it is rock. Some of it is more psychedelic. Some of it’s bluesy. Some of it’s all over. 

Octavio: We started more like funky Red Hot Chili Peppers style. When I started with him [Max],  it was more like a lot of Pink Floyd. His greatest influence. It’s a lot of funk. 80s rock. 90s alternative. It’s a lot of things. Even reggae. Even jazz sometimes. Just like a good mixture of all those genres.

Sorraya: Any specific moments that led to the formation of the band? How did y’ all meet? How long have y’ all known each other?

Max: A year and a half ago now? Almost exactly a year and a half ago. A year and a half ago. I moved back into this old neighborhood where I used to live. He was living next door. I think one day my mom and his mom were outside at the same time. They met. And they were like my son plays guitar too. One day we started jamming. We had really good chemistry. Me and Octavio clicked from that moment. From there we were like, now we need a drummer. Now we need a bassist. We just kept adding and here we are. 

Octavio: It’s literally my next door neighbor. We live next door. It’s like one in a million chance that that could have happened. I’m glad it did. 

Max: He has the shortest commute from home to but he’s always the most late.

(laughter)

Octavio: They can roast me but I do everything. I do social media. I do promotion. I do booking. I write the lyrics. I do the arrangements. I do Spotify. The thing is, the most dramatic member is not here.

Sorraya; Is it the drummer? 

Octavio:Yes. He brings happiness to the band. Have you seen The Muppets? Yeah. He’s that energy. He’s that guy. Shout out to Danny Boy. 

Sorraya: Are y’ all all UH students? Is one of y’ all a UH student? 

Octavio: So I am a UH student. I just transferred this semester. They [Alejandro and Max] are not. 

Sorraya: How are you liking it so far? I know it’s only been three weeks. 

Octavio: It’s cool. I didn’t know there were so many things to do. I just thought it was commuter school. Not many things to do. There’s a radio station. That’s crazy. I don’t think every university has that. There’s a lot of organizations. For business, there’s like 20 organizations. It’s cool. People are cool here. 

Sorraya: The business school does not play. I call them Bauer baddies. 

Octavio: I’m a Bauer baddie. 

Sorraya:You are a Bauer baddie. 

(laughter)

Sorraya: Is there a meaning behind your band’s name? The Verdict. How did that come about? 

Octavio: We were scrambling because it was like a week’s process. I made a list and I asked Max, our guitarist who’s here. I was like, Max, what names would you say? He told me 10 names. I asked the other guy. I asked Danny. We sat on that list because we were like, okay. Should it be this? At the end of practice, Danny was like, wait, I know. The rehearsal stopped and he was like, the verdict. Everyone in unison was like, yeah. We got it, “The Verdict.” It’s such a cool name. 

Sorraya: Do y’all wish to spread a specific message in y’all’s music, or is it mainly just to have a specific aesthetic or vibe? What’s the goal?

Octavio: Yeah, so I would say songs start out as jams usually, or he brings an idea or I sometimes bring an idea. So they start more like, what’s the feeling of this jam? What’s the feeling behind this song? What’s the vibe? And I think a lot of our songs since they originate from jams, it’s more about the feeling, the jam, but when I write the lyrics which is the last thing I do, I’ve literally written lyrics on the day of the concert. In my head, they’re always changing. Even songs I wrote lyrics for a year ago, I still change words that rhyme better, or that have a different meaning. But yeah, it’s a variety. I think it’s a lot of the same themes that artists our age talk about. So you know, mental health, relationships, friends, problems, loneliness.

Sorraya: Is there a specific meaning behind your new single Come By My House? 

Octavio: Well, yeah, so songs are like mixtures for me. So for me, it’s like 50% fantasy 50% reality. Yeah, Come By My House is about a breakup. Well, I don’t want to spoil the song because you know when artists tell you what the actual meaning of the song is, and you’re like, in your head, it was so different, and it kind of ruins it. I don’t want to say too much, but it’s about a breakup, falling out between two people, and then that person missing the other person, like Come By My House, like you’re used to every night, we would hang around, and yeah, I miss you. It’s like a breakup song.

Sorraya: Kind of like Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo?

Octavio: Yeah, yeah. Well, I don’t think it’s that emotional. Like, that one line I cross your street or something like that? That kind of energy. 

Octavio: Yeah, for sure.

Max: I’ve been wanting to ask you this, but when you wrote, whatever the idea is behind Come By My House, did she come by your house?

Octavio: You know, that’s a secret. I’ll leave that to the imagination of people. You can’t reveal everything in a song, you keep it ominous. 

Sorraya: So did you have a stalker? 

Octavio: No, it’s not about a stalker. No, I don’t know. Just listen to a song and try to read between the lines.

Sorraya: Any specific goals you wish for to experience with the band?

Octavio: Yeah, so we would like to play with him [Alejandro] for the first time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Start a gig with our new bassist, Alejandro 2.0. Update a version. iOS 18. But yeah, play live shows, maybe record and release a couple more songs this year. 

Max: We want to play at Frontier Fiesta.

Octavio: The auditions were last week and then they got cancelled. We would love to play that. It’s a massive event. It is a very fun event. 

Sorraya: I know the Frontier Fiesta people and they’re really nice and they spent like months planning that event. Like the whole two semesters are just planning until that event. Because they got sponsors. It is crazy, but good luck to y’ all’s audition. I don’t know how the audition process works for it, but yeah, a very good gig to have for a UH student.

Sorraya: Where have your gigs been? 

Octavio: Our first one was at this little tiny bar called 19th. It’s far from here, but it’s like North Houston, like Grogan Mills, like spring woodlands. It’s nice. To play, I think that’s been my favorite place to the last place that we played at, White Swan, I didn’t like it. 

Max: Sorry but it’s not the vibe, bro. It’s not the scene. 

Octavio: It’s a good practice run, though. For bands that are starting out, they’ve never played live, it’s like, just get over your nerves later. We’ve also played, I don’t know if you know, it’s a little bit more famous BFE Rock Club. 

Sorraya: Oh, yeah. I’ve heard of them. 

Octavio: We played that. It’s a good gig. BFE is a good place. Especially for starting out fans. What was it called? Frankie’s Birthday Bash? Yeah, so the owner made a birthday party. So we opened it. It was cool. That’s pretty cool.

Sorraya: So do y’all have any new projects coming up? Any future gigs or recordings y’all would like to announce?

Octavio: I think, yes. But I think we would like to get more together than we can. Because our drummer right now, he goes to A& M. He lives in College Station. We can’t practice as much. But when we do, there’s always new songs coming up, new jams. New jams. For the Frontier Fiesta auditions, we rehearsed for like four or five days. Just playing live, I think it’s our main goal right now. 

Max: But I think we should play more live with him [Alejandro] and stuff to get better. He plays live all the time. Weren’t you in a mariachi?

Aljeandro: I’m a mariachi, too. 

Sorraya: How long have you been in a mariachi group?

Alejandro: So, right now I’m in a community college. And right now I’m in my second semester after that transfer. But we formed our very own mariachi for the first time last year. And ever since then, I’ve been a part of that mariachi and also been doing mariachi gigs on the side for money. So, cool gigs. 

Max: The secret is that our guy here is actually the best guitarist out of all of us. Our bassist is better than me. 

Sorraya: Do you have any Hispanic influences?

Octavio: oh yes I have like it’s more like rock it’s called rock in Espanol which is just rock in Spanish but they made it like this category but yeah I would say like because well I’m from Mexico. Max is also from Mexico and our drummer and you’re from but your parents are from Mexico so we’re all like Mexican.. 

Sorraya: Whats the most memorable live performance y’all have had so far?

Max: One thing I didn’t like was during I don’t know what song it was but my guitar went like the slightest bit out of tune on a critical note. It just repeated the whole song and I never got a chance to fix it. I’m like yes it’s like those mistakes that only musicians notice. Yeah it’s like that little part in the soul you messed up no one notices but it stays for sure. 

Octavio: I don’t even remember for me it would be like probably our first gig because it’s the first time we got to play live. We just formed the band in December 2023 so a year ago and then we spent like three months just rehearsing and making new songs and that week I remember just writing the lyrics for all the songs.. yeah I think that’s the one that stays with me the most like the first one cause we finally had the time to rehearse. We’ve been practicing for three months straight like all winter break it was like rehearsal.

Sorraya: Any memorable crowd moments?

Octavio: It was the second it was at the bar I mentioned earlier. 19th hole mm- hmm it was on our very last song of the set and our last song of the set is usually a little bit more picked up like fast- paced. I ended on a high note whatever and it was during it was during my solo I’m playing the solo it’s a fast solo yeah like seven minutes into song cause it’s a long ass song like it’s yeah like a funky song I’m getting tired my hands hurt my fingers hurt and I’m playing the solo and it sounds good it sounds great and there’s this little old couple. They stand up really close to the stage. There they’re dancing, the dancing doesn’t match we are playing and we thought they were getting it on. Then they  realized that they were in front of people I know so they were like okay okay let’s just let’s just leave. They left a dollar.  I don’t know why there was like a tip jar there like put that there I don’t know they just left a dollar there it was insane 

Sorraya: Do you have any names for your fans? I asked every band this.

Octavio: I don’t want to sound like disrespectful but I think having like names this kind of lame like it’s more girly it’s more girly it’s your aesthetic it’s imagine Pink Floyd like our pinkies 

Sorraya: Any last words before we sign off real quick?

Octavio: Yeah our drummer he told us oh you need to talk good about me because I’m not there so again shout out to Danny boy he’s he’s great he’s like this charismatic guy like he he’s a great drummer and yeah we’re just happy to be here honestly thank you for inviting us. Go stream come by my house follow us on Instagram The Verdict.

Sorraya: Thank you!