Pulse Magazine

Imagine driving in a car with the windows down on an empty road with nothing but fields around you. The sun is setting, and you and your friends are laughing and enjoying each other’s company in the car. It is the summer and there’s no place you have to be. You sit and close your eyes, taking in the moment. That is the feeling the band “Inhibition” gives their listeners through their music.

Band member; Michael Ochoa playing the guitar in their studio is shown in the picture.

The band has three members: Arnold Garza, Michael Ochoa, and Melvin Yepez. They had all met in school, Yepez and Ochoa meeting in middle school, while Ochoa and Garza met during high school. Music was one of the topics the three friends discussed often, so they formed the band in 2019. The name “Inhibition” came from a Twitter post that Yepez stumbled upon one day. The Twitter account usually posted quotes and one day, it posted the definition of inhibition, which was “visions or the feeling of being uneasy.” Yepez later brought it to the group and they all liked it, as they felt everyone could relate to that feeling somehow. It is that universal relatability that Inhibition centers their songs around, a lot of it being about heartbreak and the desire to have someone love you back.

So far, the band has released three songs and is currently working on finishing their EP. They released their debut single, “Intention,” back in 2021 and got a lot more support for the song than they ever thought they would. While the song brought them to start on their music journey seriously, it was not instantly released after making it.

Garza, the lead vocalist and producer, started producing the song on Yepez’s computer on Dec. 28, 2020. Garza primarily relied on their limited equipment at the time, such as guitars and a synth. In the next two months, the song was finalized and had lyrics to go with it.

Band member; Arnold Garza playing the guitar and practicing his singing are shown in the picture.

“I didn’t feel like it was good enough to be released. So I don’t know like, I guess someday we [the band] just felt inspired and decided to put it out” Garza said.

Despite fear and hesitation about officially putting themselves out there to the public, the band experienced significant support and praise for their first single.“We got so much support, more support than we thought we would. It was just crazy” Ochoa admitted. We got support from other local bands. To name a few, [there was] Physical Paranoia, Sycamore, Bummer Trash. Yeah, it was just crazy, the amount of support we got was more than we thought. We thought we weren’t even gonna get that much support.”

Since then, the band has released two more songs (“Best Friend” and “Expectations”) and a music video for “Intention.” As they work to finish their EP and work on new music, a hint to how their upcoming music will be is that it will be.

“It is, like, different in so many ways, but it’s also very similar. We’ve grown into different phases with genres and we’ve been trying very different things. Yeah, we have more variety for this upcoming EP” Garza said.

As the band continues to work together to finish their EP they try to find ways to balance their friendship and their work. While the band does get inspiration from artists they all like, such the bands “Wallows” and “Dayglow”, each member has their own music taste which vastly differs from the others. However, they also manage to push through and create a product that all the members can agree on.

Yepez shared the story of one of their songs, “Best Friend”. The song initially started out very different. As Garza began to work on the song more, it ended up very different, but both Yepez and Ochoa really liked the newer end product.

“As long as we are keeping an open mind about each other’s ideas, we still get through it” Yepez stated.

Throughout the interview, the band continually thanked the people who listened to and supported their music. As they work towards finishing their EP, they also look forward to being able to see their fans and play live shows in the future.“Hopefully, we get to see our fans out there; maybe us playing [a live show]” Ochoa said. “I feel like that’s one of our goals this year to get a play on a live show. We’re really, like, urging to play [live].

Garza added to Ochoa’s sentiment: “Everybody’s always asking like, ‘oh, when are you going to play live? Just cause now we lack equipment like that’s the only thing that’s like stopping us. But hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, we [get to] play shows, just for fun, you know, for love. Not for recognition and stuff.”