The band members include lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ethan Mendoza, lead drummer Samantha Cotrofeld, bass guitarist and backup vocalist James “Sunny” Garcia and lead guitarist Kevin Young. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Elevator Days isn’t just a rising local indie-pop band, but is actually composed of UH’s very own students and alumni.
The band previously performed at Frontier Fiesta last spring and are now all set to kick off their Texas tour in November.
The tour will begin on Nov. 10 and they will be hitting Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Houston and possibly performing in San Marcos and College Station.
The band members
The band members include lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ethan Mendoza, lead drummer Samantha Cotrofeld, bass guitarist and backup vocalist James “Sunny” Garcia and lead guitarist Kevin Young.
While Mendoza is a marketing senior and Cotrofeld is a kinesiology junior, Garcia and Young are both UH graduate students.
Mendoza recalled how it was funny as he met all the other bandmates at UH. He met Young during an accounting class and Cotrofeld through a common friend.
At the time, Garcia was living at Cullen Oaks and met Mendoza through a common friend who went to UH.
“I had a friend that would come to my dorm and make music,” Mendoza said. “Then we would head over to Sunny’s place to get the music produced by him and make big ideas.”
They were all close friends and had known each other for years before deciding to launch themselves as Elevator Days.
“They knew I always wanted to make music and after Sam got a drum set we all decided that we would jam,” Mendoza said. “Then we played a house show for fun and got hooked.”
Introduction to music
Apart from UH being a common ground for the artists, another common point was how they all had musical history dating back to their parents.
Garcia had always been influenced by music and would have guitars everywhere at his home.
“My dad and mom have always been heavily involved in the music scene. My dad has been in a band ever since he was my age,” Mendoza said. “And he’s even now in the church band and 80s cover band and my mom did the same.”
Young would pick up his fondness towards music because of his father who bought him a guitar at the age of about 14. His father was a lot into music and even ran a radio station.
“He would be playing all these cold songs that we would never hear before,” Young said. “Kind of annoying at first but it kind of rubbed off on me.”
For Cotrofeld, her father too was in a band that he started and Elevator days even played with them in Sealy, a little ahead of Katy.
Her father played the guitar before he went to the army. It’s also how he met Cotrofeld’s mother through the band.
He also encouraged her to learn keyboard in junior high however, they didn’t have a keyboard and offered percussion instead.
“So I was like, okay, I guess I’ll do percussion. So I never wanted to do it,” Cotrofeld said. “But then it was kind of cool, I liked it through junior high and decided to continue in high school.”
While Garcia’s parents were not involved in the music industry as professionals, his father played drums when he was younger.
Gracia was even taught how to play the piano when he was just seven years old by his father. He started playing guitar when he was nine years old because of his best friend who was playing at that time and was also in a band in middle school.
“I just randomly started picking up stuff, and then I started producing when I was like 15,” Garcia said. “I wanted to do hip hop beats.”
Apart from UH being a common ground for the artists, another common point was how they all had musical history dating back to their parents. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
The name
According to the bandmates, the name does not really have a real meaning and it is actually a lyric from one of their favorite bands, the Backseat lovers.
To them, it feels like a really good statement describing what it’s like to be a part of a chaotic youth.
“People always like to look back and say how great it is to be young but it’s also very challenging with a lot of ups and downs,” Mendoza said. “We like to refer to this as your elevator days.”
The band dynamics
Since half of the band has graduated while the other half is still in school, the practice session becomes difficult to manage, according to the bandmates.
However, their passion towards producing music and humble bonding with each other makes it possible for them to practice every now and then.
“We just try to find a lot of late nights and early mornings,” Mendoza said. “We also try to find areas in between where we can just fit as much schoolwork as possible.”
While Mendoza and Cotrofeld try to manage school work with band practice, Garcia and Young struggle with the Houston traffic, as they travel from the suburbs.
Despite these issues, the band agrees that while it is a lot, as long as they stay organized, it works out well for them.
“As long as we’re having fun on stage, it’s all that matters,” Garcia said.
The band will also be working on a very packed schedule during the Texas tour as well, since it will be the finals season for Mendoza and Cotrofeld.
“We actually have a wild plan for that, Sam and I have an exam on the 13th so we scheduled our off-day then so we will play a show on the 12th in San Antonio,” they said. “We will then drive all the way back to Houston the next morning, take our exam and book it to the show in Austin.”
However, their passion towards producing music and humble bonding with each other makes it possible for them to practice every now and then. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Future plans
Apart from touring in November, the band wants to start throwing events for different UH organizations and at places closer to campus, promoting the music scene in Houston.
As of now, they are navigating through school and work and trying to take it easy.
During summer, the band was heavily involved and played their first headlining set at White Oak Music Hall and even got to record at San Jacintos main studio.
Lucky for Houstonians, Elevator Days will be making it a free show.
