Call it a concept album, call it what you will — “as i watch my life online,” the debut album from the ascendant late night drive home, is an important commentary on our relationship with the internet and the negative affects of its overuse. The El Paso band saw a meteoric rise with their 2021 EP, “Am I sinking or Am I swimming?” and is now using their fast-found influence for good, issuing caution while offering solace to anyone who cares to listen.

The aforementioned debut is out June 27 ahead of a month-long tour that kicks off July 16. But first, late night drive home was kind enough to answer a few of the questions I had about it all.

YY: “as I watch my life online” hones in on a near universal struggle in the digital age, particularly among younger generations, contrasting real life with life online. Although the album addresses an array of problems with the broader online landscape, social media is where this conflict is often most poignant. What are your personal feelings surrounding social media, and how do you – as a public-facing band – deal with its unavoidable necessity?

lndh: I feel like I am just as guilty when I say that humans are falling victim to a time-consuming trap that gets us invested in the most fiendish ways possible. We scroll and scroll to get our fix of dopamine. We consume like there is no tomorrow without giving a second thought to what we saw two posts ago. Misinformed people have the ability to spread misinformation like wildfire and with diminishing attention spans, who's to say people will even go and do the research on their own? Us humans fall victim to what some refer to as echo chambers without even realizing what's going on. Algorithms present you with exactly what you want to hear and as a result humans end up having a one sided view of the world instead of seeing the full 3D view of situations. An extreme situation that's arising right now would be the exponential growth in development when it comes to AI and generated videos. Although most of us can understand when we see a generated video, some people can't, which furthers the possibilities of misinformation.

There's a big epidemic of musicians having no other choice but to, in some ways, become an influencer online. Us as a band realized this at some point in our careers and were very put off by the idea. We could sit and sulk about the fact that things aren't the way they used to be in older days where bands would get signed and the labels would do everything for you. However, I think the beauty in all of this is that success is more in the hands of the artist these days being that these platforms are perfect for interacting with people that might resonate with the emotions us as artists are trying to get out to the world.

In a 2023 interview with Alternative Press, the band mentioned feeling that you had “succeeded the in-home studio,” speaking in the context of signing to a label. Some bands do their best work when they’re limited in some way, while others do better with more resources at their disposal. Which band do you think you are, and why?

I think late night drive home is the type of band that likes to experience all that they can. There's so much beauty in allowing your music journey to guide you through life, almost like a lazy river. We spent so much time recording in our DIY home studio and decided to step out of our comfort zone to see and hear where the feeling would take us.

In that same interview, you shared that the band is “a project that will continue evolving and never sticking to one sound.” How have you continued to follow this trajectory with your writing today, and would you amend that statement at all, now a year and a half later?

The whole meaning behind the statement was to scratch our beliefs in stone when it comes to the meaning of artistry. We continue to follow this trajectory by allowing ourselves to grow as artists and be there for each other on this ever evolving journey we call art. We allow ourselves to be vulnerable with our emotions and our beliefs and the result is the music that we present to you. To amend such a statement would be similar to stunting the growth of both individuals and a family that most people refer to as a band. <3

As I understand it, the songs on this album were some of your first that weren’t based solely on personal experiences. How did this shift happen, and did you find it difficult at first to pull from concepts rather than lived experiences?

Many discussions were held inside the band about the current state of the world. Many topics were presented such as the rapid development of AI technology, echo chambers, online dating, the spread of misinformation, the effects that social media have on mental illness including parasocial relationships. We would overthink all the possible outcomes of rabbit holes we would emerge ourselves in. We also talked to close friends about current situations and their relationships with the internet. After living in the realities of what was discussed, it really wasn't that hard to turn people’s experiences into actual stories.

With your debut album, you present the listener with a proudly Gen-Z take on “how it feels to be always online.” Do you believe it’s on us as a generation to warn others about the negative effects of internet use as living products of it?

I encourage everyone who grew up on the internet to reflect on their time online and think about how it's shaped you into the person you are now. I encourage people to talk about their experience, whether that be good or bad. It's up to us as human beings to question the validity of institutionalized constructs in today's society.

More broadly, what has been your experience as a younger band that has seen relatively early success?

The artist lifestyle is something that is very unique and dear to us. Under no situation do we ever take anything for granted, and there is something both beautiful and frightening about being in the position that we are in right now. The beautiful aspects are allowing ourselves to let go of the need to control our lives and just go with the flow. The tour life is a unique experience on its own and an opportunity for every artist to grow a little more. The darker side of the coin would be the thought that all of this could be taken away from us in an instant.

Expanding on the idea, no one is promised anything tomorrow, and success in this industry isn't always established in stone. Overall, the experience has allowed us to grow with each other, explore the world with a unique lens, meet people that we otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to meet, learn more about the world by chatting with amazing people.

”as I watch my life online” focuses largely on negative outcomes of internet use, but as discussed earlier, it’s a necessary evil. What reassurance, if any, might you offer listeners seeking a light at the end of the tunnel?

Any light I could offer to anyone in general is simply to be kind to people. Every human being is different in their own unique ways, right down to the way that we think. Just because two people think differently of one coin doesn't necessarily make either more valid than the other. I would encourage people to challenge their beliefs and maybe understand why it is you think a certain way.

You’re dropping your debut album June 27 and spending an exciting month out on the road shortly thereafter – what are you most looking forward to coming up, and what’s next for late night drive home?

Mostly looking forward to spending a month on the road with my best friends in the whole world. Maybe we'll play some video games on the road, the chess matches between us. I really wish there was sort of a three-way chess game out there. I'm looking forward to writing new music with my dawgs. As for what's next for late night drive home, I guess the answer is up to all the cool people that support our music and our journey as artists. I love everyone :D. Thank you for the interesting and thought inducing questions. C U LATER WORLD!!!!!!!!!