In a city that thrives on live music, Rival Waves is staking its claim as a fixture in Austin’s eclectic rock scene. This dynamic band, combining the grit of classic rock with the urgency of punk and layers of alternative indie, has gained momentum with a series of high-energy shows, a soaring fan base, and a debut album that captures their signature sound.
Founded in 2018, Rival Waves consists of Austin locals who share a love for raw, artistic, and meaningful music. Songwriter and lead vocalist Joel De La Garza, a Padre Island Latino Texan with roots in the city’s music scene, serves as the band’s frontman. The band formed after they worked together on De La Garza’s studio project with E-Session, a then-new platform that allowed musicians to collaborate remotely with industry legends.
“I was in grad school at St. Edward’s here in Austin, working on a digital media MBA, and one of my capstone projects was creating a marketing plan for this internet startup called E-Session,” De La Garza said. “As payment, they let me choose one of my musical heroes, people in Hans Zimmer’s orchestra, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Pearl Jam to play on a few songs. I was going to keep it a studio project, but when I met some of these artists, I was blown away by how great it sounded, and it pushed me to kickstart this project into what it could be.”
In 2018, Rival Waves solidified its lineup and launched its first EP, Transducer, which established them as a live act and helped them build a local following. Building on its initial success, Rival Waves began working on a full-length album in 2019 with Grammy-nominated producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith who is known for his work with Austin artists like Gary Clark Jr. and Jackie Venson. The recording process was intense with the band independently financing the album and being pushed to their physical limits while rehearsing.
“We’re independent, so we fund everything ourselves,” De La Garza said. “Every night of that weekend, our drummer had to sit in an ice bath because he was so sore from playing.”
The release of Rival Waves’ first album, “A Meaningless Chaos”, was originally planned for early 2020. With the release of their first album, the band was set to perform at SXSW and showcase their music for various record labels. However, the COVID-19 outbreak forced the band to delay its plans. During the pandemic, they continued to meet through Zoom, but the shutdown still jeopardized the release of the album, which was put on hold until things were back to normal. Nevertheless, Rival Waves persevered and released “A Meaningless Chaos” in 2023, which debuted at ACL Live at the venue 3TEN.
“We knew we had a really good record, we just didn’t want it to disappear into the ether,” De La Garza said. “We wanted it to matter. It felt amazing to be back. It was a magical night. We had two great opening bands, sold some albums, and about 200 people came.”
While Rival Waves is still rooted in Austin, they have continued to grow globally, garnering over 400,000 streams on Spotify. Their track “100 M” gained unexpected attention in the U.K. when a local radio station began playing it heavily. Their fan base has a top streaming market in Brazil, Mexico, Finland, and Australia.
“I’m very data-driven; I keep dashboards on Spotify and other platforms to track our streams,” De La Garza said. “When that radio station picked us up, we saw our popularity grow in the U.K. Around the New Year, we ended up as #20 on their end-of-year countdown.”
As Rival Waves moves forward, De La Garza remains focused on releasing music that the band can be proud of and people can get behind. De La Garza feels that, in many ways, Rival Waves’ story mirrors Austin’s passionate, musical, and creative culture. As they continue to grow, the band’s goal is to leave a lasting mark on the music scene globally while remaining rooted in the heart of Texas.
