An Open Letter: The Emotional Rollercoaster Diary of Bipolar Joyride
Houston’s upcoming indie rock band, Bipolar Joyride is a hidden gem within the local music scene who are on the verge of a major breakout with their “Indie With a Bite” dynamic and rich sound on their debut album, “Notes to No One”.
Photography by Kinley Erin (kinleyerinphotos on Instagram)
Notes to No One (2026) Tracklist - 1. Ain’t a love song / 2. Figure it out / 3. Dayjob / 4. Free Livin’ / 5. GLUE / 6. Notes to No One / 7. Fall Apart / 8. H.O.T.W (The Good Version) / 9. Bandwagon / 10. Song 1
To the readers of With The Band Magazine and underground music enthusiasts everywhere,
Houston’s upcoming indie rock band, Bipolar Joyride is a hidden gem within the local music scene who are on the verge of a major breakout. The group’s lineup consists of Cullen Cauble (vocals, guitar), Josue Flores (bass), Logan Allison (drums) and Dylan Mertes (lead guitar*), and newest addition Dakota Stilwell, who all make up the foundation of their “Indie With a Bite” dynamic and rich sound. A blend of infectious indie melodies that incorporates subtle elements of emo and alternative influences giving it an edge of angst and rebellion. The accolades of the band have played alongside other notable rising bands such Quarters of Change, Strawberry Milk Cult, The Hails, Foxtide, Max Diaz, Arcadia Grey, and Michael Cera Palin.
Bipolar Joyride released their first debut EP “Hop On” in March of 2023 featuring three tracks, ‘Arrythmia’, ‘A. Quincy Jones’, and ‘Head Out The Window’. A year later in September of 2024, the band followed up with their second EP, “The Slide Demos” consisting of three more brand new songs, ‘Song 2’, ‘Song 1’, and ‘Swag Monkey’. The collection of EP’s and demos further accelerated their need of producing and releasing songs to further find their sound and style as the next project up their sleeve will prove to be momentous. If you’re a fan of bands such as Flipturn, Lunar Vacation, The Backseat Lovers or Hippo Campus, Bipolar Joyride will be the perfect addition to your growing list of bands to listen to.
On April 16th, 2026, Bipolar Joyride debut record, “Notes to No One” featuring 10 brand new tracks. Despite the album title, their impression has certainly left a conveying message with us and we are now returning it back to the sender with an open and expressive love letter. The concept of the album encompasses the personal insight of various circumstances and life experiences that occur in the modern world. The occurrences of the events reflect back during a transformative or learning period that still carried a significant amount of weight and processed through the method of songwriting. The emotional outpours of one’s own inner monologue is shown within the lyrics as a way to navigate the feelings of love, heartbreak, solitude, and wanting to break free from a cyclical routine. “Notes to No One” shares characteristics within the popular method of writing down your anger, frustrations, and whirlwind of emotions down in a piece of paper that is scribbled away and torn away into a million pieces to be set on fire. This century old practice of venting was proved to be effective as it reduces all of the negative emotions and serves as a physical and tangible act that is released outwardly as a directory to let go and move on. The heavy turmoil of processing such intense and vulnerable thoughts targeted into one object ensues a highly spirited level of energy that possesses such power but as it is destroyed by the hands of the creator, it dissipates out of their psyche and into the abyss.
The album is vibrant and filled with soulful guitar that raises your spirits with its rhythmic guitar tones, jazzy sound, and groovy bass lines that makes it even more intriguing and hypnotic to listen to. The vocals from Cauble are tinged with dreamlike and surreal sweetness in diction but yet carry a very elusive and strong grit when it matters most to recall a significant line that is shouted out. The duality of the vocal tones against the heartfelt lyrics is an absolute match that comprises the best qualities of one another. The melodic and insanely catchy tracks such as ‘Ain’t a love song’, “Free livin’, and ‘H.O.T.W’. The song, ‘Figure it out’ is highly reminiscent of Snail Mail’s song, ‘Heat Wave’ from her debut album, “Lush” that also contains the similar breezy melodic guitar riff that sweeps you off your feet with a progressive drum and rhythm section that opts for a swayable dance track. In addition, the album also leans towards a more rockier and fast paced temp section with tracks such as, ‘Fall Apart’ and ‘Bandwagon’ that gets your heart and blood racing with a vibracity that leaves you wanting more. A standout track from the album is the instrumental breakdown in ‘GLUE’ that keeps you on your toes with a guitar riff that comes and goes, that swells in anticipation and is brought down as the whole band collides together creating a magnetic riptide.
The most vulnerable and virtuous track of the album and one of my personal favorites is along the title track of the album, ‘Notes to No One’ in which the narrator reflects back to a broken relationship with shame and guilt wanting to to turn back time to change their actions to restart over again. The song is mixed with melancholic guitar tones with a drumbeat and guitar riffs that reflect the anxious feeling that counterreflects the defeated and yearning vocals. The tousled drum kicks and darker guitar riffs antagonize the listener to focus on the songwriting and its bitterness of wanting to start all over in which the chorus lines recalls, “You said it’s not my fault, I still blame myself for it all. I get lost in the moments. I get stuck in the silence. I don’t know where my mind’s gone. I don’t know where my mind’s gone. I don’t know where I’m heading but I’m hoping tomorrow is better than today. So I keep moving forward and keep making mistakes”. What garnered my attention to this track is that it can be taken into different perspectives and not just in terms of a broken romance but something much bigger. It can be able to apply to any situation such as friendships, fractured family relationships, addictions, or anything one has to overcome. The only thing left to do is to look back in nostalgia to acknowledge the faults and take those painful lessons and figure out what led to the result at hand. To learn and grow from your own mistakes is one of the biggest rewards one can ever experience as it gives one a renewed sense of vitality and ignites back their once pristine rose coloured glasses into their life. One cannot be able to change the past and what all there is left to do is either to hold on or let go of those memories to let new changes and beginnings into their life. By moving on, it doesn’t mean to forget entirely but keeping those small components with you as a reminder to not go down the same path again and configure it to new circumstances.
Bipolar Joyride’s, “Notes to No One” is an exemplary album that precisely introduces the band’s talent and hopelessly lovesick songwriting with a unique indie rock sound that pushes the boundaries into a more alternative sound that is uniquely their own. The album deserves to be a soundtrack to an A24 coming of age movie where the main character fully embodies their personality, quirks, and lust for life. It is a record that personifies itself as a personal diary and is extended into a different artistic format. “Notes to No One” is the most vulnerable and nostalgic album a band can produce so early in their career. It’s infatuating to see how all different components and elements come together to create such a beautiful and cohesive body of work.
Bipolar Joyride has some fun and exciting upcoming shows in Houston during the summer. The band is set to play at Garf X What’s It Fest at Axelrad on June 12, 2026 along with other local Houston artists. Additionally, they will be joining Orion 244 with Cannon The Dealers for a show at the Bronze Peacock at House of Blues Houston on July 18th, 2026.
With love,
With The Band Magazine
We had the absolute honor to interview Bipolar Joyride for With The Band Magazine! You can read the full exclusive interview below! Thank you so much for taking the time to collaborate with us! Interview by Hannah Felix and story by Hanna Jasmyn Oliva.
WTBM: Can you walk us through about your recording process of your latest album, "Notes to No One"? Were there any difficulties or achievements along the way when making these new songs?
Cullen Cauble - “Honestly the biggest difficulty was taking so much time away from shows to focus on getting it done not to mention funding it.”
Josue Flores - “Just how the songs evolved over time to what they are now. Take song 2 and falling apart for example. Like the demo of song 2 to the final recording is night and day.”
Logan Allison - “The main difficulty was relearning the songs. We changed them with Ceej (our producer) before going in, and I was the first one to record. Josue Flores - That, but it was also an achievement. From there our musicianship has grown not just as individuals, but as a band.”
WTBM: What's the story and inspiration behind the creation of "Notes to No One"? Is this project a cultivation of all your most internalized deep thoughts and life experiences?
Cullen Cauble - “I don’t think there was one single inspiration or theme, but rather it was just a culmination of all of our individual life struggles and experiences, as well as our experiences as a band.”
Logan Allison - “I helped write some of the lyrics, and some of the songs are very personal for me. I was really going through a lot during the recording and preproduction process, and I think a lot of that emotion went into those songs. We had written some of them a couple years before recording.”
Josue Flores - “Honestly I think it is, in one way or the other. I think all the boys had some baggage to let go of, and even if it wasn't brought up or spoken about with each other, it was laid down on the tracks.”
WTBM: What personal attributes or characteristics do you believe have been crucial to your achievements as a band?
Cullen Cauble - “I think professionalism and persistence has taken us very far.We also pride ourselves on making sure that we enjoy every show and every song and I truly believe that allows us to put on a better show and to create a connection with the crowd.”
Logan Allison - “Caffeine and nicotine for me, then our hardworking mindset and collective conceptual love of art.”
Josue Flores - “I think my ear and sense for excitement, if a progression or chord isn't working out, or if things start to feel too busy or a bit empty I'll speak up about it after giving it a chance to meld. If it doesnt gel, it doesnt gel, but when it does, hoo, I'm the first to get hyped.”
WTBM: What’s been the most unforgettable performance of your career? And why?
Josue Flores - “Quarters of Change? No ? Save Farris? Whichever one that the venue was completely packed right as doors opened.”
Logan Allison - “Quarters.”
Josue Flores - “Yeah. I mean that/s the one where I felt the high for the first time. I mean shows are always fun, but that one gave me a taste of where we can go.”
Logan Allison - “For me it was this last show with Junkyard Cat. It was completely electric, the crowd enjoyed it, and everything felt nice.”
Cullen Cauble - “I mean honestly both of those shows were amazing getting to open for an act like Quaters of Change was huge. That being said the Junkyard Cat show was our first ever completely sold out show I mean people were on a wait list to get in it was insane.”
WTBM: What's the most difficult lesson you've had to learn as a band navigating the music industry?
Josue Flores - “As a band? I don't know… I guess the lesson of trying to put stuff out there and hoping it lands. The music and our passion alone isn't enough to make it. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without the help of friends, the bands in the scene, and creatives from different forms of art, like photographers, media designers, artists, and I guess business moguls. Some shit like that.”
Cullen Cauble - “No, 100% but I’ll say I think another important lesson was that not everyone is a friend; some people will pretend to be a friend, then screw you out of ticket sales or anything really. That has happened to us too many times to count and you really gotta make sure you trust the people around you and fight for yourself especially.”
Logan Allison - “Yeah, I like that, that playing isn't enough. You think it would drive out the art, because you want art to have this no strings attached way of working, but the strings and the little things that seem to hold it back only expand your ability to make good art. Not that we are high art at all, but that's what I've had to learn.”
WTBM: Throughout the progress of your extensive musical career and your growing knowledge, is there anything you wish you would have changed or knew about when you first started?
Logan Allison - “I would have tried to gig more as a younger man to build my ear better. Also, practicing. I think that's the main thing I would stress to a younger me: to hit those rudiments.”
Josue Flores - “Kept studying music like I was going to, pick up more instruments like drums, Piano, and Music production.”
Cullen Cauble - “Honestly I would’ve told myself not to be afraid to commit. Throw yourself in to the music and believe just keep pushing.”