Q&A: Inner Wave on Immersing Themselves in Coachella’s Soundscapes
AT LAST - Inner Wave is able to bask in the desert heat for this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, after previously being scheduled to perform in 2020. Pablo Sotelo, Jean Pierre Narvaez, Elijah Trujillo, Luis Portillo and Jose Cruz make up the Latinx indie quintet, through which they create sterling sounds and ruminative lyrics.
Sotello, Narvaez and Trujillo’s camaraderie began in middle school, and from there Inner Wave evolved several times into its current state. The past couple of years were spent working on their psychedelic-pop fusion album, Apoptosis, which was released in September 2021. The title references the biological process in which cells die in order for an organism to grow, a pertinent concept in the group’s world at the time. They welcomed Cruz as their new keyboardist, and everything has fallen into place.
After three months on their headlining tour in North America and Europe, the Southern California natives had the opportunity to perform on Coachella’s Sonora stage for a Saturday evening set, the cherry on top of a whirlwind start to the year.
Read Inner Wave’s conversation with Luna below to see how they’re feeling about the return of the festival, right before they took the stage during the first weekend.
LUNA: You guys were booked for Coachella 2020, and we’re here in 2022. We made it! You’re playing soon, how are you guys feeling? Finally made it to Coachella!
SOTELO: Good, great, it’s really hot. Excited, ready, [and] energized.
LUNA: How much do you think your set has changed now that it’s gonna be with the new album? It’s been two, three years. How do you think that’s playing a role in the set?
SOTELO: I feel like it’s playing a huge role just because I think last time we were scheduled to play Coachella, we didn’t even have much production, or a new album out either, which is a lot of what we’re going to be playing. Yeah, I feel more ready than I think we’ve ever been.
LUNA: You’ve been playing a lot of shows lately, so what element of live music have you guys missed the most?
TRUJILLO: Seeing the fans and their reaction. There are a lot more of them singing along than previously. Before COVID, we had a lot of fans at our shows and a few would sing the songs, but now coming back after COVID, I feel like everybody’s singing the songs.
LUNA: Is there a track from the new album, or just in general, you’re most excited to play live in a festival setting?
TRUJILLO: “Rey” is a good one.
JEAN PIERRE NARVAEZ: I say “Fever.” A lot of people know the songs from the album, so we’ll see how it translates in the festival. This is the first festival for the album.
LUNA: How was the experience of playing a headlining or supporting tour compared to a festival setting?
SOTELO: A festival is pretty hectic.
TRUJILLO: It feels more fun though, especially being outside, being in the sun even though it’s hot as fuck. It’s been cool to see other artists walking around and being able to play the same festival as them.
LUNA: Are you guys staying around for the rest of the festival? Who have you gotten the chance to see?
NARVAEZ: I saw King Gizzard last night, and that was super rad, lots of energy, crazy compositions.
LUNA: When someone gets a chance to fully listen through the album and hear it in the live setting, is there a particular takeaway you want them to have, or something for them to take note of with this project?
NARVAEZ: This project came from the heart, so for them to feel a certain warmth from it would be nice.
SOTELO: I think if they can come away with anything, that’s a good thing. The worst thing would be for someone to listen to it and not feel anything at all.
LUNA: Lyrically, was there kind of a common theme or narrative that you found yourself kind of drawn to?
SOTELO: Due to the nature of the state of the world, and not being able to see everyone for so long, the uncertainty, there’s more of a hopeful tone. It feels sort of like a hug from a friend.
LUNA: On the production end, how is this project translated to the live setting compared to when you guys were making it in the studio? Was that something you were thinking of because this was a COVID-era album, or was that still part of the process?
SOTELO: For this project, we were able to not think about the live setting for a while – we kind of threw it out the window. Having [Jose] Cruz on the team now, playing keys with us has been something we were able to easily figure out when we started to play shows. Between everyone having their hands all busy, and also utilizing the gear we have, we try to make it all happen. The primary thing we were thinking when creating the project was just trying to make a really good album, and then, however we got to pull it off live, we were gonna deal with that later.
LUNA: Jose, how has it been for you to jump in and bring another element to the setting?
CRUZ: For me, personally, it’s been a lot of fun. We hit the road running immediately. I’d already known everyone for almost two years. We already had the chemistry, so working on music together was easy. I was able to come in with them and we just started writing songs, and made a record super quickly.
SOTELO: We did hit the ground running, but we didn’t have enough time to even get nervous about Coachella, like, at all. After coming off of a tour for so long it feels like this was just the next step.
LUNA: With a tour going on and new projects, life’s happening again, what intentions do you guys have for the upcoming months?
NARVAEZ: A goal would be to write new music. We’re gonna go on a road trip outside of Mexico City in the desert for a little writing retreat.
TRUJILLO: Play more shows in new places.
SOTELO: Be able to write the next album, but also tour this one as much as we can to let it have its moment.
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