High school indie rock band Innlet, is based in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Singer Levi, guitarist Matt, bassist Charlie, and drummer Max began playing together on the Jersey Shore last summer. They describe themselves as an “unintentional band,” as Levi and Matt had a gig together and wanted some drums. Max came to the rescue and soon enough the four of them created Innlet, named after the street of their first show. 

Like many other up and coming artists, there are plenty of funny mishaps along the way that make the band and their music more interesting. Ten minutes before Innlet was going to play a show, the four high school seniors were standing in a gazebo waiting. Out of nowhere, guitarist Matt passed out, falling flat on the floor. Levi, Innlet’s lead singer, describes the scenario: “He went for a trust fall and nobody picked him up; he went straight back!” Matt explains what he remembers from that night: “I was standing up and the next thing I remember is this kid slapping my face saying my name.” Stories like this are why you should give this new band a listen: they are interesting and it is highlighted in their songs.

Since they are in high school, each band member has a different friend group outside of rehearsal, and each group reacts differently to the idea of them in a band. For Matt, his friends absolutely love it and think it is so cool. As for the others, their friends like to bash them about it. Innlet explained that it can also be hard to find time to rehearse together; as a younger band they do not live together or have much time to practice. In fact, Levi has a full schedule filled with sports, schoolwork, a job, and a girlfriend, let alone the band. The singer explains, “It is hard but I love it. You make time for it all when it is something you want to do. Hopefully it will all pay off.” 

Levi’s grandfather used to play in bands all over, so growing up his family always wanted him to play guitar. He began to really get into music by the time he was 11-years-old. His friends say that Levi “was born with a guitar in his hand.” Max began playing drums alongside his brother over six years ago. Matt has been playing the guitar for about seven years and, unlike the rest of the band, is a huge metalhead with an endless music vocabulary. The four can agree that their biggest inspirations for their music are the Backseat Lovers, along with Hockey Dad and Skegss. As for their favorite covers to play at shows, they enjoy “Maple Syrup” by the Backseat Lovers as it has a fun solo towards the end. A new favorite of theirs to play is “Freaking Out On the Interstate” by Briston Maroney.

For the process of making their songs, they typically use the formula of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. They describe Levi as “the base,” as he comes to them with an idea, then they all work together to build off of it using this formula. The four each make parts of the song, and then add all of the pieces together; they are all equal parts of the process, which is something unique about this band.

 Innlet’s debut single, “Black Horse Lake,” is inspired by an urban legend Levi’s grandfather once told him about a phantom hitchhiker in Montana. As the legend goes, whenever a car drives past the lonely highway by the lake, they will see a hitchhiker. When the driver gets close to them, the hitchhiker will jump in front of the car. But when the driver goes out to look for the hitchhiker, they are nowhere to be found. It has happened on several occasions, where the driver even felt the car hitting someone, yet no one was there. The band booked a recording session for the single, but felt like something was off about the song. They ended up incorporating several pieces into the song only two days before it was recorded. The high schoolers can all agree that they are pleased with the final product! As for their newest release, “Octopus Polaroid,” Max and Levi created the song while they were just messing around with three chords. They then added an opening riff and continued to build off of the chords. Innlet is currently planning to release another song by the end of April or early May. Their goal for the band this year is to release a full EP of original songs by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. The seniors explain that they want to perfect the EP, even incorporating some horns! They do not want to be a cover band, so are constantly working on new music. Their biggest obstacle, though, is that it costs so much money to record each song. Despite this, after graduating high school this spring, the band will be sticking together to continue making music. They are all planning on staying close to home with the exception of Levi. He is debating going away for college, but it will not be so far away that they cannot find time to rehearse together. His hope is that it would help Innlet find more gigs to play in new locations. 

One of the final questions I asked each Innlet member was what they love about music. Levi answered,  “It helps you convey emotion and makes you feel all different ways: you have a song that makes you feel happy, a song that makes you feel sad. Playing live is the best feeling; the feel of the bass, the feel of the guitar, the feel of everything in general.” Max added, “The coolest feeling is when you are listening to music, and can see a whole new perspective of the song now that you know how to make music.” The main lesson they have learned from this musical journey together is to not compare themselves and their music to others. When they began playing more original songs, the four explained that they noticed you begin to focus more on the little things in songs: the tone of the guitar, cover art, what others are doing. The band struggled with trying to make their music sound like other bands’, but learned to focus on themselves and keep doing what they are doing. Levi expanded, “We just have to keep continuing down our own path rather than comparing our music to others and trying to make it sound different.” To sum it up, Innlet is an incredible band that will be a lot of fun to keep an eye out for as they continue to grow. Their innovative lyrics mixed with catchy guitar riffs are sure to have them going far in the music industry!