Inner Wave

About Inner Wave

Inner Wave started in Los Angeles around 2010 when a group of high school friends decided they wanted to make music together. The core of the band formed around Pablo Sotelo, Jean Pierre Narvaez, and Elijah Trujillo. They were kids from the Valley making bedroom pop before that became a streaming category.

Their early stuff had this lo-fi garage rock thing going on, heavily influenced by The Strokes and other mid-2000s indie rock. They recorded in bedrooms and living rooms, putting tracks on Bandcamp like everyone else trying to figure out how to be a band. The production was rough, but there was something there. Songs like "Mystery" showed they understood how to write a hook even when they were still learning how to properly record one.

They started gaining traction in the LA DIY scene, playing house shows and small venues. By 2014, they'd put out "Underwater Pipe Dreams," which marked a shift toward cleaner production while keeping that hazy, dreamlike quality. The sound was getting more layered, pulling in psych rock and indie pop elements. "Diamond Eyes" from that era is probably one of their most well-known early tracks.

2017's "Sun Transmission" felt like a proper arrival. The production stepped up considerably, and songs like "Take 3" and "A State of Comfort" showed a band comfortable blending surf rock guitar lines with synth textures and Sotelo's distinctive vocals. The Spanish-language tracks they'd occasionally drop weren't just tacked on either—they felt like a natural part of who they were.

They kept refining that sound through "Apoptosis" in 2019. The album title literally refers to programmed cell death, which gives you an idea of the headspace. Tracks like "Callin'" and "Whoa" had this polished melancholy to them. They were touring more by this point, building an audience that appreciated the fact that their live show actually sounded like their records.

The pandemic hit while they were still riding momentum, but they did what most bands did and kept recording. "Apoptosis Reimagined" came out in 2020, a complete rework of the previous album that was somehow darker and more electronic. Then came singles throughout 2021 and 2022, showing they weren't interested in staying in one place sonically.

These days they're still based in LA, still making music that sits somewhere between dream pop, psych rock, and bedroom indie. They've built a devoted following without ever really breaking through to mainstream recognition, which seems fine by them. Their Spotify numbers are solid, they sell out mid-sized venues, and they've maintained creative control over their output. They're the kind of band that people discover and then wonder why more people don't know about them.

Their shows have a relaxed, slightly hypnotic quality. Crowds tend to sway more than jump. There's genuine attention paid to the songs, with people actually listening rather than just waiting for the next moment. The band plays tight but never feels stiff, and the whole room gets quieter during softer tracks.

Known for Not in Our Youth, Afterlife, Batshit, Come Down, Good Thing

See Inner Wave Live