Photo by Courtesy Photo

Eli Saenz, 12, performs on stage as lead singer for his band Housecall.

The stage raddled like an explosion, the lights blinded him, but not enough to see the crowd. Bodies in the audience inched closer and closer to the stage as the band began to play. This moment brought about some type of release – and the affirmation that senior Eli Saenz needed to.

“It was insane. We sold out the entire place. We were backstage [and] I didn’t know how many people were upfront. As soon as I walked out, there [was] a whole crowd that [was] packed,” Saenz said. “There [were] kids in the back, through the windows trying to get in. I want to do this for the rest of my life.”        

Saenz’s band, Housecall, began by the collaboration of two friends, Saenz, the lead singer,  and Willie Rodriquez, the bassist. They met in November of 2017 through mutual friends and on the basis of their shared love for music. The melodies, writing process and indie pop aesthetic birthed out of the duo’s constant indulgence within music, their funny moments and the constant strike of random chords in hopes that a harmony will burst from the back of their heads.

“He hit me up, saying he’s in this band, and that they needed a guitar player,” Saenz said. “[We] got the name, Housecall, because we’d go over Willie’s house to play [and we both said [housecall] at the same time.”

Like the naming of the band, Saenz’s call to play music felt like a matter of fate. He remembers the gravitational tug to play music at a young age. His memory of his childhood composed of recollections of traditional Hispanic and early 2000s punk music. These two unlikely genres stand as a reflection of Housecall’s recollection.  

“Before I made music, I had always been around [it]. My brother used to play in bands, and all my mother’s brothers play guitar,” Saenz said. “My brother made music in that [early 2000s] emo era. My music style [felt] geared to that era. But I always knew there was more of me than that. I found a good medium and the first song that really helped was Mystery Girl.”

Housecall’s first single, Mystery Girl, birthed out of Saenz’s frustration with how he wanted the band to sound like. The song not only opened a threshold of creative burst, but it pulled thousands of new fans towards their music. The record gained over twenty thousand views on Youtube and provided his band the opportunity to sing in front of a sold out crowd in Deep Ellum. Saenz recalls the sold out crowd, embroidered with faces who felt enamored to hear their music.   

“Mystery Girl was the first song where I made something simple, cheesy and I wrote it of the summer of July 2017,” Saenz said. “[Deep Ellum] was my first show ever. When we were practicing, I was nervous, [but] as soon as we got on the stage the crowd went insane. The whole stage was trembling. Once the song started, all the nerves went away.”  

He leans heavily on his internal tug towards music. Saenz wants to continue to pursue music and the call of musicianship on his life. For the band, every little step in their development has stood as a moment of growth- they embrace the mistakes they make along the way.

“We know we’re not the best, we’re the most random and simplest band. We keep our individuality by not trying,” Saenz said. “We don’t portray this image that we’re better than anyone else. Housecall is a reflection of what we do. In five years, I see ourselves with at least three albums under our belt, festivals and touring the world.”