Rising Stars: Meet Insomniac Drives

Today we’d like to introduce you to Insomniac Drives.

Hello Insomniac Drives, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Jesse (Guitar) and I (Jacob, Bass) have been friends and musical collaborators since Highschool, when we lived in a suburb near Sacramento, CA. We moved from Sacramento to Denver in 2020 during peak covid to pursue music degrees at CU Denver. Classes were all online but we managed to meet Nick through an online performance class when they blew us away with a cover of a Snarky Puppy song.

After that first class, we wanted to play some music with Nick so we reached out to them asking to do a cover of a Jacob Collier song with us. All of us had already met Jules at different times, and so we invited her to come sing. After learning a couple of songs together the four of us decided to start an original band, and we started rehearsing at Rocket Space downtown.

It’s been two years since our first rehearsal and since then we’ve released our Debut album, “Ghost Stories,” sold out our album release show at Moes Barbecue, and played at iconic Denver venues like Lost Lake, Globe Hall, Mutiny Cafe and more. We’re currently working on our next batch of songs and music videos and we’re excited for everyone to hear some of the new music we’ve been working on.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The music has always come very easily for us, partly because Jesse and I were in a band together before we moved here, so we were used to collaborating. We also all have a very good idea of what we like, and Nick and Jules are super talented and creative with their part writing, so usually when we start a new song it gets finished pretty quickly. However, there’s a lot of work that goes into being in a band besides the music that most people don’t see, and it’s been a learning experience for all of us as we continue to grow and learn more about the industry.

There’s been a lot of early mornings spent putting up posters and a lot of late-night rehearsals trying to get the settings dialed in, but it’s always so gratifying to see the hard work we put into these things pay off in great shows. The scene has been extremely welcoming of us so far and we’re excited to see what happens next.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We call ourselves an Indie rock band on the internet but we take our influences from a large variety of sources. Jesse and I both like a lot of the same artists, including a new sub-genre of metal called “Dreamo”, but we both love traditional Jazz and contemporary improvised music too.

Nick takes a lot of influence from Rnb and Electronic music, and Jules draws from pop artists like Young the Giant and Bastille. As a band, I think our variety of Influences helps us keep our sound unique, and makes for a lot of really cool moments while we’re writing new material.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Our best advice for networking in the music industry is to go to a lot of shows, introduce yourself to the bands and ask/offer to work with them. Especially in Denver, everyone in the scene is so kind & most of the time they do want to work with you in some capacity

Contact Info:

• Website: insomniacdrives.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insomniacdrives/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insomniacdrivesband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@insomniacdrives2058
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6kgs7nW30xDeYp7eifIaQe?si=MUVvwn7WRXe1xsIerqcF1Q&nd=1

Image Credits
Jessica Nelson and Noah Thomas