Inner Wave Leaves It Up to Its Fans on the Jukebox Tour

"Time flies when you're having fun — I guess you can say that about the last 16 years," Inner Wave guitarist Elijah Trujillo tells New Times.

Trujillo and other founding members of the Los Angeles-based quintet — Pablo Sotelo (vocals, guitar) and Jean Pierre Narvaez (bass, vocals) — were in sixth grade in 2006 when they came together and slowly progressed into what would become Inner Wave, which now includes drummer Luis Portillo and keyboardist Jose Cruz.

The band played its way through local backyard shows, dive bars, small venues, and large festivals like Coachella and Desert Daze. (The band will also perform at the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, March 4.)

After touring last year in support of the pandemic album Apoptosis — the perfect psych-pop album with the right amount of funk, synth, and lo-fi vocals — Inner Wave is now spicing things up with the cleverly named Jukebox Tour, letting fans vote for which songs they want to see performed in their city.

"It's been insightful to see the tracks that get voted for the most," Sotelo says. "Of course, it's the popular ones that get voted for, but it's the middle tier of songs that pop up that are surprising, but in a good way, it keeps us on our toes."

Although submissions are now closed, the Jukebox Tour will make its way to Miami at the Ground on Friday, March 3.

In addition to the standard ticket, fans have the option of the "Inner Wave Pre-Show Experience," which Sotelo explains, includes a meet and greet, exclusive merch, and a chance to hang out with the band during soundcheck.

"We always try to meet with fans after the show, but it's hard," he says. "We realized there's a want for that, and we love to do it, so we thought this was a good option."

But before you head to the show, you ought to familiarize yourself with the band's code of ethics posted on their official site that explains Inner Wave's pledge and effort toward an inclusive community at its shows, including a collaboration with Our Music My Body, an organization that raises awareness about sexual harassment in music scenes and live-music settings.
The campaign hosts a booth at each show with educational resources, staff, and a safe space to report harassment. A dollar from each ticket sold at Inner Wave's headlining show goes toward the campaign.

"We have a lot of young female fans, and it's important for us they have a good time and a safe time at our shows," Trujillo explains. "When you create that safe space for people, it gives a free line to make new friends. A lot of our fans actually met each other at our shows and became friends and go to shows together now, so I feel like it's a small thing we can do that can make a big difference, and we hope the trend keeps on going."

Joining Inner Wave on tour are bedroom-pop musicians Jordana and Junior Mesa.

Jordana and Inner Wave released the single "Baby," an indie love song over a samba beat, on Valentine's Day before embarking on the tour.

The collaboration is the band's latest release since 2021's Apoptosis. According to Sotelo, Inner Wave will probably release music in 2024 after having spent some time writing songs.

"We hope after this tour to go back into hermit mode and work on music," Sotelo adds. "There's a lot of ideas floating around but no real direction yet."

Inner Wave's only live performance in Miami was in 2019 at the Pérez Art Museum Miami's launch of its Currents live music series.

"We got the full experience. We had a day to go to the beach, we ate some good Cuban food, and it was great," Trujillo says. "The museum was so unique. We played on the patio with the bay in the background. We have an off day, so I'm bringing my swimming trunks."

Inner Wave. With Jordana and Junior Mesa. 8 p.m. Friday, March 3, at the Ground, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; thegroundmiami.com. Tickets cost $21 to $76 via ticketmaster.com.