no rehearsal

“He Loves You (When She’s Not Around),” the latest single by No Rehearsal (@norehearsalband), a blues group based in Humble, TX, is definitely not a blues song. In fact, it’s straight-up indie. While NR has classified themselves as a blues band, “He Loves You” demonstrates that they can be whoever the hell they want to be and still pull it off! 
The rhythm section, consisting of David Shorey on drums and Christian Mireles on bass, is absolutely stellar, with each member playing their intricate parts with ease. Matt Cobb’s voice is as good as ever, taking center stage where his soulful guitar solos might instead steal the show. 
“He Loves You” is very well written, both musically and lyrically, and this is most evident in the last two minutes of the song. The guitars descend in an almost-chromatic scale and the mood slows and darkens as the lyrics become more bluesy. The song disappears in a cloud of dissonant arpeggios and fuzzy distortion, combining indie and blues in one artistic stroke. 
Overall, a great way to wrap up NR’s EP, entitled “Before The Midnight Hour,” while also showing off their versatility as artists. Be sure to check out No Rehearsal on Soundcloud and follow them on Twitter (@NR_norehearsal) for updates on new releases and upcoming shows, and info on how to purchase their music. Have a great day everyone!!! - Brent McFarland

After hyping it up for the better part of three months, @norehearsalband have finally released their debut EP “Late In The Midnight Hour” on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. The album will be available for streaming and purchase on Spotify, iTunes, and Apple Music later this week. The tracklist includes singles previously released by @norehearsalband​ that have been tweaked or altogether redone and two previously unreleased songs. I will mainly focus my review on the two new songs but will briefly touch on the other three.

LITMH opens with a short clip of “We’re Blessed” by Fred Hammond in which the phrase “Late in the midnight hour” is repeated. The clip abruptly cuts to the familiar intro to “Winter/ A Winter’s Passed”. The intro is the only change made to “Winter”, and the upbeat gospel-blues sound is a great way to open the album.

The second track on LITMH is a new song, “My Girl”. It has a similar sound and feel to “Winter/ A Winter’s Passed,” using the minor blues progression and an organ in the background. “My Girl” has the same impressive guitar solos that we’ve come to expect from the more blues-inspired songs by @norehearsalband. “Winter” and “My Girl” are the most bluesy songs on this EP, with “Winter” carrying a more gospel flavor while “My Girl” has a more classic blues-rock style.

Track three of LITMH, “A.M.”, opens with a gentle jazz keyboard intro, a clip of “On Green Dolphin Street”. The intro ends and is replaced with a catchy riff that repeats throughout the song. “A.M.” has a blues swing rhythm but has a more alternative sound as a whole. Lead singer and guitarist Matt Cobb shows off his vocal chops with clear belts and falsetto oo’s and harmonies. The flashy guitar solos are replaced with clever rhyming and a more mainstream song structure. “A.M.” is my second favorite song on LITMH, and it transitions the album from a straight blues-rock sound into more alternative territory.

My favorite track on this EP is “Afterthoughts”. The heavily reverbed guitar and synth is replaced with a live piano and a cleaner, more compressed progression. The addition of the piano really helps the chords crystalize and allows for each note to be heard clearly. “Afterthoughts” was completely redone from the ground up and while it’s still 10:25 long, it doesn’t feel like it’s that long. A solid 3 minutes is taken up by the musical bridge, which has a Led Zeppelin feel towards the end of it with the crashing cymbals on every beat. I am very pleased with the new “Afterthoughts”. It has a much more mature sound that fits this EP very nicely. The album could have ended with the fading familiar chord progression of “Afterthoughts”, but @norehearsalband had one more song to throw in to complete LITMH.

The final track on LITMH is “He Loves You (When She’s Not Around)”, and I think it’s a great way to end the album. There really isn’t any difference between this version and the single, just a more balanced vocal part. Ending LITMH with a decaying dissonance is a great way to close because the tension is (kind of?) resolved and the album’s story is ended.

As a debut EP, LITMH is a very solid album. The transition from blues-rock to alternative is clear but not abrupt, all members of the band sound great, the album tells a story of love (or lust) found and lost, and the inclusion of a totally revamped song makes this album one of my new favorites to listen to. Be sure to give LITMH a listen on SoundCloud and buy their album on iTunes when it comes out this week. It is definitely worth a listen. - Brent McFarland

Combining blues, rock, and alternative styles, Houston’s no rehearsal may be young, but their slight grooves and fiery guitar riffs are far from it.

Formed while still living in Houston, Texas, Matthew Cobb (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Christian Mireles (Bass), and David Shorey (Drums), are now based in Boston as Cobb attends Berklee and Mireles, Harvard. Drawing influences from the guitar playing of John Mayer, pop melodies of The Neighbourhood, gritty elements ala The Black Keys, and songwriting of The 1975, they combined their talents to record an album based on youth, love, and emotion that they all had felt at the time of composing.

Their debut EP “Late in the Midnight Hour” released in 2015, blending their influences and experiences into one album. They describe the album as a “chronological story beginning by detailing the early stages of love and naivety of youth, progressing into realization of emotions felt in a toxic relationship, coping with lost love, and protecting others.” Detailing the raw emotion and angst that everyone feels at some point in their lives, they hope to meld their experiences communally.

no rehearsal is playing in the Starbuck’s Yard in Harvard Square on both March 10 and March 24 at 7pm and the show is open to all. Come support this band in their early stages and head over to hear some fresh sounds. - WEMF Radio

With today’s wide reaching musical landscape available to every music fan, it is often hard for many bands to make enough of an impression to break out from the massive sea of current competition.

Usually there needs to be a certain quality or formula that you can’t quite place – or you can’t quite describe that instantly captures the attention of the listener. Houston born no rehearsal has that quality.

Today, we are pleased to premiere a brand new track from the rock trio who are now based in Boston. The band’s focus is to break the preconceived notion that “young people” can’t keep up or have music of both technical and emotional value. no rehearsal’s sound seamlessly melds together guitar-heavy pop sensibilities of John Mayer, the melodic intricacies and atmospheric tones of The Neighbourhood, the raw and gritty blues packaged for mainstream media shown in The Black Keys, and the band dynamic and ability to just make solid pop music seen in The 1975.

“Back To Fall” has something for everyone as the band blends together melodic indie rock with subtle pop sensibilities to reach a wide range of fans. Their formula is calculated yet emotive. We hear blues influenced guitar rock shining through along with memorable chorus hooks you won’t soon forget.

“Back to Fall” is part of their forthcoming EP release.

no rehearsal are Matthew Cobb (Lead Guitar/Vocals), David Shorey (Drums), and Christian Mireles (Bass). Follow the band at: - The Revue

No Rehearsal just can’t stop. After releasing their debut EP, Late in the Midnight Hour, the group is back with a track off of their upcoming EP. “Can’t Stop” is an upbeat piece that tells a story about a fling that is equally confusing and appealing. The toe-tapping track unites shining guitar chords with complimenting vocals and drums. Instrumentals and lyrics brand this track as bluesy rock yet the tempo pushes it into the pop category as well. A genre bender at its finest!

Bass player Christian Mireles, drummer David Shorey, and vocalist/guitarist Matt Cobb make up No Rehearsal. The Houston-based trio draws inspiration from groups like The 1975 and classics such as John Mayer. The band has a mission to give younger people good music and break down the misconception that they can’t have music that has both “technical and emotional value” – how cool?

Their upcoming EP, Change of Heart, is due out September 9th. Five tracks make up the EP and are all mixed and mastered by Eric Palmquist and John Greenham, respectively. Keep on the lookout, this project is sure to be a hit. - Euphoria Magazine

Hailing from Houston, TX, this power trio consists of Matthew Cobb (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Christian Mireles (Bass), and David Shorey (Drums).

no rehearsal’s focus as a band is to break the pre-conceived notion that “young people” can’t keep up or have music of both technical and emotional value. Drawing influences from the seamless guitar heavy pop sensibilities of John Mayer, the melodic intricacies and atmospheric tones of The Neighbourhood, the raw, gritty blues packaged for mainstream media shown in The Black Keys, and the band dynamic and ability to just make solid pop music seen in The 1975.

Although the technical formation of the band is in 2009, this lineup has been together since summer of 2014. Before that, no rehearsal performed at SXSW 2013 at Berklee College of Music’s Day Party at Brush Square Park, and performed at New Daisy Theater on Beale Street as the Houston Youth representative for the Houston Blues Society in the International Blues Competition. Since this solid lineup, no rehearsal has amassed a solid following in Houston having performed at large venues such as the main stage at House of Blues Houston, and opened for some of Houston’s rock royalty such as Seasons After, and Escape (former members of Stride). They have even performed the official broadway scores of “Hairspray” and “Grease” the musicals!

In this interview, the band dives deep into their influences, challenges, and their newest project.

Full Q&A plus links and a stream of Back To Fall are below.



Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

We’re a trio, from Houston, TX. My name is Matt Cobb, I’m the lead guitarist/vocalist for the band. Christian Mireles is the bassist, and David Shorey is the drummer. We are all 19 years old, and are currently an independent band.

Our genre has certainly become quite the mix. It’s at the point where it’s hard to define anymore. It’s really become a project by project basis, rather than an all encompassing genre.

For me, I was incredibly influenced by the Beatles. From there I began diving into more blues and thus ended up idolizing John Mayer for his ability to blend my love for blues and pop (just as the Beatles did), but in a more modern sense. The focus on the guitar, the ability to craft stories, the pop appeal, everything Mayer stands for, appealed to me.

For Christian, it began with Black Sabbath and has since transitioned into Indie/Alternative with The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys. For David, it started with classic rock like Rush, and The Eagles, and stayed there ever since.

With our first project, Late in The Midnight Hour (2015) it was all about blues rock, and focusing on the dynamic of a band, and what a live take feels like to an audience. It was raw, and it was the perfect representation of us at that time. It was pop songwriting, with ripping guitar solo’s, extended instrumental breaks, and just the feel that started my love for music and guitar in the first place.

How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?

I’ve had the band “no rehearsal” since I was in 7th grade (2009). We performed around our town of Atascocita/Humble/Kingwood during that time. This lineup formed the summer going into our senior year of high school (2014). We had been writing since then, and got into our first commercial studio, at the very end of senior year (2015). We started recording at Sugarhill Studios in Houston, TX, in May of 2015, and then released our debut EP, Late in the Midnight Hour, October 3, 2015. That was our first real project that was available on soundcloud and band camp, as well as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc

Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going

Matt: My playing has always been influenced by John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimi Hendrix. Those have always been my top 3 when it comes to the guitar. In terms of writing, once again it falls with John Mayer, but also some of the modern indie rock/pop bands like Matty Healy from the 1975 or Jesse Rutherford from The Neighbourhood, have lately been inspiring my writing. I like Mayer’s ability to write a story, establish a sophisticated instrumentation behind the words, while still captivating a wide audience with pop appeal. With Healy and Rutherford, I like their ability to capture the rawness of reflection. Their writing delves into themselves in a way that can put your life into their experiences, as if you too have experienced it.

Christian: In terms of playing, I started with a love for Black Sabbath, but lately, since I’ve been apart of no rehearsal, I’ve connected to The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, and The Neighbourhood. The bass wasn’t necessarily my first choice of instrument, but it’s what the guys needed, and without those bands, I wouldn’t have even had the interest in filling a spot for a band like I am now.

David: I’ve always been inspired by the sounds of classic rock, since my dad was a disc jockey in the 80’s, he has hundreds of thousands of vinyls in the house from that time and even before. I grew up on The Beatles, Rush, The Eagles, etc. My drumming has always been hugely influenced by Neil Peart of Rush. Rush is my favorite band of all time, with him being the bulk of the reason that I am so fascinated by them.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

Before, with Late in the Midnight Hour, we had had a collection of songs that I had written, as well as some new ones that we had written together. Winter and My Girl were demos from my sophomore year of high school that we revamped and made our own since David and Christian weren’t in the picture at the time they were written.

A.M, Afterthoughts, and He Loves You, were written amongst the three of us. We had been earning a lot of money doing local restaurant gigs around our town, and playing as a house band for a non denominational church. Since we had enough to record a whole E.P. on our own dime, we decided to begin our first venture into recording our music for the public, at a commercial studio. Our goal at that time, was solely to get our foot in the door and put our name out there. Did we hope that we had struck gold with the record? Of course we did, but our main goal was to have music to our name. Fast forward 9 months later and now the goal is totally different.

With this new project (That is still currently untitled) we wanted to take the more commercial approach to our music. There’s a song on the previous EP that is 10 minutes long. With this EP, the goal was to keep all the songs under 4 minutes if possible. It’s much more pop inspired, specifically the 80’s and also modern indie rock/pop.The recording process was more precise as we did each instrument bit by bit. Drums played to a click and scratch instruments, and the rest of the band overdubbed each part to the drums. Before, it was all a full live take. This time was precise, and every part was calculated and brought to it’s full potential. We wanted the tracking to be as pristine as it could be since we were sending these songs off to Los Angeles to be mixed and mastered by big name engineers. Now it’s not a matter of just having music. Now, we want to reach the widest audience we possibly can.

What was the last song you listened to?

The new Hunny track, Colder Parts.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Vinyl is a fad. It’s just nice to have a physical embodiment of the music you like, with some extra content like booklets and pictures and such. Cd’s are obsolete, and if you’re talking about MP3’s specifically, then I’d take Vinyl, but if you mean digital music in general, then that would be my preference. Digital music can’t warp, or break, or sound scratchy, it’s an exact representation of what you created, and it’ll never age. If we’re talking merch, CD’s and MP3’s hardly sell apparently… It’s all about vinyl

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Apple Music. Me and Christian are both subscribers, while David is subscribed to Spotify. I just love everything Apple does, and I support all of their endeavors. Although, none of them are paying artists like they should be… But that’s a whole different story. Bottom line, Apple has the Drake Exclusives (and apparently Frank Ocean too) and that’s good enough to us.

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?

Our age. Being as young as we are makes people have a certain pre disposition that they shouldn’t take you seriously. It’s also really hard to come up in the live music scene when we have to turn away our 19 year old friends from strictly 21+ venues. Age has been the biggest challenge by far

Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?

We do gig, It’s mainly in the Texas area (Houston the most) but we are trying to start touring, once we start building some buzz to make touring worth while. We live stream all of our shows on Facebook, that’s been a good way to connect with our audience thus far. If you live in Houston, come through, until we make it to your neck of the woods. I would love to play in Tennessee… I almost ended up going to Belmont to attend the Mike Curb school for recording engineering.

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Soundcloud / We’re also on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, etc.

Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom

Shout outs to Isaac Chavez-Garza from Houston, TX, who tracked our whole EP at Third Coast Recording Co in Kingwood, TX, and his own studio in Houston, SoLow Studios.

Shout outs to Eric Palmquist at Palmquist Studios in Los Angeles, CA for mixing and adding additional production to our EP.

Shout outs to John Greenham in Los Angeles, CA, for mastering the EP.

The lead single, Back to Fall from our forthcoming EP, released on July 29th, and Can’t Stop being the following single, is releasing August 12th.

Big thanks to Middle Tennessee Music for seeing potential in our track, Back to Fall, and for featuring us in their interview!

Matt – Lead Guitarist/Vocalist for no rehearsal. - Middle Tennessee Music

NO REHEARSAL - BACK TO FALL
The Boston-based pop rock Texans share this vibrant new track from their forthcoming EP. Blending subtle melodic rock with an indie-pop vibe, the late teens trio work some 80s influences into their chorus hooks. - Little Indie Blogs

Has it ever happened to you- when you come across something new and knew without a doubt it was going to be something great. I guess I have a sixth sense when it comes to scouting good music. Call me crazy, but sometimes my heart just knows when an artist and their music is true and genuine.When you hear a band talk about their music in an electrifying/ passionate/ heartwarming way- you know they are in it for the love of the art and not for the fame and money. It is sad to see artificial musicians talk about the artificial music they perform. No connection, no feelings, just another way to generate millions of dollar off of people that forgot what good music is. I read an article in NME magazine that talked about Noel Gallagher’s shock when finding out Emilie Sande won the songwriting award. It was not the fact that she won- it was the amount of people that got up to receive this award. Eight people received the award…. EIGHT PEOPLE for ONE SONG…… I mean I guess that is how songs are developed now a days. Only four were named as the winners, but I repeat it took eight people to write that one songs. That freaks me out. I can’t grasp how the artist’s vision wouldn’t get lost in that process- with all those people manipulating the song. I guess I like intimate music. I like it when bands write the music they put out on their own. Songwriting is very challenging. You are allowing yourself to talk about a moment in your life when you were vulnerable. You are revisiting emotions, and most of all you put your heart/ soul whichever you want it to be all on the line. Once you write a song there is no hiding who you are. How are you going to fully let your emotions shine through if seven other people are helping you.

No Rehearsal is an upcoming band based in Huston, TX. Their music is 100% their music. Three guys with a dream to play stadiums. Can they do it? I think they most certainly can. How do I know this? I don’t, but I can see that they play music because they love it. The fame, the fortune, the glamour does not partake in their decision to be musicians. Their songs vary from talking about heartbreak to sympathizing with an artist career. Their music made just by them. Instrumentals- let me just tell you they have some badass guitar riffs. Passionet, yes very much. They are a good example of what a working class band should be. What I mean by this- Is that they are making their dreams a reality not buy selling their souls to a record label, but by staying true to their craft and working hard. No Rehearsal is a band you should check it out! (BTW- YES they rehearse- you can hear it by the quality of their music…!) Click below to watch our exclusive interview with 2/3 of the band! - Music, Why Not!

no rehearsal combine elements of blues, indie and pop rock. Their versatile style isn’t contained by genre, instead drawing from their numerous influences to create songs that can’t really be classified as one genre. The trio from Houston, TX, consists of Matthew Cobb, Christian Mireles, and David Shorey. The EP ‘Change Of Heart’ captures the feel of the band perfectly and won me over straight away.


This EP has a definite nostalgic sound to it, smooth vocals and blues-inspired guitars transport you to another place. Their eclectic sound sets them apart from most bands, its a sound that is undeniably no rehearsal yet contains aspects that remind you of all your favourite bands. This is especially true of ‘Summer’ and ‘Know’. The superb riffs pull you in from the start and have you hooked.

During those hours of study with friends ‘Back to Fall’ has become a favourite of mine to play. Although I can’t help but sing along, it never fails to make me smile despite how dull whatever I’m doing may be. This was the first song I heard from the band and I knew immediately I was going to like them.



‘Can’t Stop’ is one of those songs that gets you moving, I love this one and was singing along in no time. It brings to mind bands like Vinyl Theatre and Walk The Moon (both of whom I love). This is one I’d love to hear on the radio and that I put on when I just want to smile.

This young band are only just getting started, I for one can’t wait to hear what’s coming next. Listen out for no rehearsal – they’ll undoubtedly be playing on your radio soon if they continue like this - True Timbre (Amy Thomson)