A sense of belonging can be hard to find, especially for college students, but music can help a lot of people find that space where they feel they belong. For Trinity students, exploring the local music scenes around San Antonio can be a way to become more involved in the community.
It can be hard to navigate a scene when you’re unfamiliar with it, though. To give you a taste, here’s an introduction to three bands that have made waves in the local music scene to help get you started on your search for community.
DogMad – Instagram: @dogmadband, Available on Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music & Apple Music
In a house filled with goblins and ghouls alike, local San Antonio band DogMad played along to the sound of moshing feet. There was an electric feel in the air on Oct. 21 as Joseph Giuoco, DogMad’s vocalist, encouraged the crowd to make more noise.
DogMad has been a part of the San Antonio music scene for only one year, but according to Giuoco their band has been a long time in the making.
“I’ve been playing music with the main songwriter, Echo, for about six years,” Giuoco said. “I was his longtime best friend. Four years ago, I was like, ‘Why don’t you just teach me how to make music?’”
DogMad doesn’t like to conform to just one genre. They get their inspiration from all sorts of genres that they mix together to make their unique sound.
“I’d like to say we’re in the same ballpark as rock and roll, but I have heard of futurecore before, and I like that too,” Giuoco said.
Their new EP comes out Nov. 25, which they will announce at an upcoming show. Max Porter, bassist, said that the venue is still looking for bands and vendors for the show. To get a spot, people can reach out to them on Instagram at @dogmadband.
“November 25,” drummer Taylor Walker said. “Bring your friends, bring your grandma, bring your moms, bring your grandma’s moms. Just get ready to listen to awesome music.”
Lease Agreement – Instagram: @xLeaseAgreement, Available on Spotify, Apple Music, Twitter, TikTok & Facebook
It all started at the Weezer fan club. That’s how guitarist and backing vocalist Mauricio Garcia, vocalist and guitarist Jakoby West, bassist Ethan Esquivel and drummer David Gadea first met. Together, they formed the band Lease Agreement as a quarantine side project in 2020.
“We’ve played everywhere from a Cracker Barrel parking lot to opening for bands like Prince Daddy & the Hyena,” West said. “I’m definitely introverted, so at first, everything felt wild until I became more comfortable in sharing this very personal side of myself.”
A favorite song of West’s that Lease Agreement has written is “Worry Wart,” which covers the feeling of anxiety he feels when leaving the house. Many of Lease Agreements’ songs are about topics like this.
“Our music really touches on slice-of-life-type of events,” West said.
Those feelings are the entire premise of Lease Agreements’ new EP “Browser History.” They hope to make people feel more comfortable coming to terms with a parasocial life. They plan on hyping up its release with a few events.
“We’re really hoping we can do a mini Texas tour to promote the EP, release much more music and play bigger and better shows,” West said. “But honestly, just having friends in the scene and people who have told us we’ve impacted their lives with our music is
enough for me.”
Rival – Instagram: @fuckin.rival, Available on Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music and Apple Music
When guitarist and vocalist Robert Aguilar and drummer Izzy Vargas first met in their eighth-grade guitar class, nothing could have prepared them for the years that followed — music, moshing and moving around. Though they struggled at first with finding their groove, Aguilar and Varagas were inspired by Nirvana and Metallica and their roots. They invited bassist Alex Piñones aboard to create the band Rival. The band’s genre, however, can be hard to describe.
“I just say [we’re] metal,” Aguilar said. “People can be really picky, and I’d rather just put it under metal because we play everything. I feel that if you write about the way you feel, most people will feel the same way and they can relate to it,” Aguilar said.
Unlike most, they are a band that prefers their fans to show up for live shows rather than just listening online.
“Whenever we get a good crowd and people are going crazy, that makes us want to go crazy,” Aguilar said. “We promise we can play really [well] if the energy is there.”
Rival has a show coming up Oct. 27 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m to celebrate the release of their new album, “Raging Serenity.” Not only that, but they have a new song coming out on Nov. 3 called “Waves Apart.”
