Today we’d like to introduce you to Blossom Aloe.
Hi Blossom Aloe, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The band came together in little pieces over time, but it originally started with two guys who enjoyed the same kind of music together. My name is Josh Vargas and around 2020 I was learning how to make music myself by not only learning the instruments I had, but also learning the ins and outs of producing itself.
Covid ended up hitting us not too long after the year started and we were all confined in our homes for longer than we anticipated. I thought it would be great to offer my mixing and mastering services to other artists in my area who wanted to take a stab at making music. I received a DM on Instagram from Jafet Lujan, who is our former vocalist. He wanted me to help him put together a song that he had in the works and I was interested. He came over one day with bits and pieces of the song and it was nowhere close to being finished. But he was determined to finish the song soon and we both bonded over finishing this song together. This was originally his solo project called “Bluff”, and eventually we finished the first single called Another Number (this was the sample used at the end of our song Lost in my Dreams).
He was impressed and wanted to work together on more projects and I agreed on the terms that Bluff would be a band effort. We started searching for a bass player and drummer. Our friend Aaron Ruiz joined as our bassist. When looking for a drummer, Aaron introduced us to Ian Morales, who had been releasing music under Ippy. Drums were not Ian’s main instrument at the time, but he was down to play with us.
There were a few other groups that existed with the name Bluff, and we wanted to be safe and not collide with different groups. So we threw a few words in a name generator and Blossom Aloe just stuck. Originally I didn’t think too much about the name but I would like to imagine that like some lyric content of our songs, one could Blossom into something new or could be healing from hurt and vice versa.
We eventually put out our first album in May of 2021, the world is still trying to overcome covid, and we were proud of our music. We never thought of playing shows at first but eventually friends and family were asking us to perform. The four of us just thought of our music as a studio project. However, after some discussion, we decided it was time to start performing.
At the time of making the record, I had written the lead melodies of most of the songs and knew I couldn’t pull off singing, playing lead guitar, and keys at the same time. We found Henry Huelskamp on Instagram because he followed the band. He had a few guitar videos that I watched and also enjoyed. We asked him if he would be willing to play for us and he didn’t waste any time asking for our address. We rehearsed together in my hot garage in the summer all the way till winter where we made a single and a music video with the new addition of Henry, while also preparing to play our first show in December of 2021.
I would say that from February of 2022 to the current present we’ve been really lucky to have a shot to play really great shows, from really popular bars and venues in Houston to getting airplay on the radio, opening for Palace, and eventually playing our first festival, Float Fest. There was also a lot of change going on in the band as well, in terms of our sound, our lineup, and where we were headed. We played our first show in December and six months later we were playing at a festival. For some of us, it proved to be stressful and was a test of how badly wanted to keep following our dreams.
Eventually, our singer Jafet went on to focus on his own solo career and we found ourselves having to look for a new vocalist who was just as driven as the rest of us. We held auditions for a few days, and when Mia Coyle showed up for hers, we knew we stumbled upon something amazing. Her presence, confidence, and style made us more in tune with ourselves and helped us become better performers. We offered her the spot, and that next week, she helped complete a song that we had been sitting on for months.
Currently, we’re working on new music and we want to see where this new era of Blossom Aloe will take us. We have so much to express and to talk about on our next album. We hope to continue playing amazing shows and to keep opening for the bands that inspired us to play and create music in the first place. It’s unbelievable that so much happened this year, and we’re excited for the next year, and so on.
-Josh Vargas
“We’ve grown so much since the time we started. Our live performances kept getting better the closer we got.
-Aaron Ruiz
“I didn’t grow up playing the drums. It was my weakest instrument so I jumped at the opportunity to improve. I’m just happy to be here and play music with the band”
-Ian Morales
“I was so stoked when I got asked to join the band because I missed performing. I grew up singing and had recently taken a few years off just due to life being crazy. But being back on stage and having a space to collaborate with the boys has been an honor and a gift.”
-Mia Jane
“There are times where I come in and hear what the boys are working on, and a melody comes to me out of nowhere. Songwriting can take forever, but something about the band environment makes it effortless.”
-Mia Jane
“Ian and I were in orchestra together in school so I had to hit him up when we’re looking for more members.”
-Aaron Ruiz
“I grew up going to see local bands like The Wheel Workers, Another Run, Wild Moccasins, and The Suffers, so being in a band just makes sense.”
-Ian Morales
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re all really close, support each other, and talk about what’s on our minds.
There were some struggles between the time we played our first show to when we played Float Fest.
We were just a few friends making music in my bedroom for fun and didn’t really think it’d go any farther than that. But people started to give our music attention and it began to make us nervous in a good and bad way. We’re all introverted so the thought of people hearing us play was a little scary. Hundreds of streams turned into thousands, and we went from playing dive bars to opening for touring bands and playing a festival. We got a little in our heads about how we played and what new music we wanted to write and for the most part, we focused on improving as musicians and making a better show for our growing audience.
After Float Fest, it became obvious that we want to play more shows like that for as long as we can. It definitely helped us overcome the darkness and pressure we were feeling beforehand.
-Josh Vargas
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Blossom Aloe is an indie rock quintet based in Houston, TX. We incorporate elements of bedroom-pop, psychedelia, and alternative rock into our sound, with no two songs sounding alike.
We bring song ideas to each other, jam on them for a bit, structure them, and once we’ve got what we want, Josh records, mixes, and masters the song. All of our recording, mixing, and mastering is done by Josh in his bedroom studio. When we’re not recording at Josh’s, we’re rehearsing or writing at a rental space.
We’re most proud to be from Houston. The city is full of creatives and artistic opportunities. This is the place to be.
-Henry Huelskamp
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Going to local shows is the best way to network with other bands, photographers, vendors, and music lovers. We’ve met some great photographers at local shows like our friend Brandon Smith, who took some of the photos in this article.
Social media has also been a great networking tool for us. For instance, we just played a show with Astralace at White Oak Music Hall, who we met on Instagram.
We don’t really have a mentor, just other local bands to lean on and talk about all things music related.
-Henry Huelskamp
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/blossomaloeband?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=cb04e0f3-5489-4663-8372-6195c11f7195
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blossomaloeband/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/blossomaloe/?refsrc=deprecated&_rdr
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlossomAloe1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcYi7vpQCTdUC182pWQlc_A
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/blossom-aloe/1546946746
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/36Wm5HxoJI6aIM8ux54HuI?si=dADwhek3Tmuo0BW0fJOkdQ
Image Credits
1-3 Hope Eaton
4 – 5 Jamie McDonald
6 Mark Hellige
7 – 13 Brandon Smith
