By Nate Wilde
Like stereotypes, tired old cliches like, “all good things must come to an end” exist for a reason. In the case of Colorado’s INTHEWHALE, one of the best things to come out of the state’s local music scene in the past 15 years is doing just that, but not before leaving behind a massive, impressive, legacy.
Consisting of guitarist/vocalist Nate Valdez and drummer/vocalist Eric Riley, INTHEWHALE is likely the loudest two-man operation you’ve ever laid eyes, or perhaps, ears, on.
A Hunger for Forbidden Fruit
Valdez’s musical journey began in the tiny farm town of Las Animas, Colorado where, as a boy, his insatiable hunger for something other than mainstream country and Christian rock saw him sneaking forbidden fruit from artists like Minutemen, Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, and Local H into his discman while covertly teaching himself to play his brother’s guitar when no one was looking.
However, a move from the eastern plains to attend college in Greeley would serve as the catalyst for a partnership with a magnitude greater than could ever be predicted.
Stop Folking Around
It’s the noughties, Northern Colorado’s music scene is dominated by the “stomp clap hey” phenomenon, and a budding friendship between Nate Valdez and Eric Riley was getting ready to give birth to something completely different.
The pair, who had been in their own, separate bands at the time, discovered a mutual feeling of, as Valdez puts it, being “on the treadmill too much” and decided to join forces to create something to sonically “pick a fight with something.”
For the Birds
INTHEWHALE began as a two-man, experimental outfit playing instrumentals with bird sounds that quickly morphed into a raucous punk rock band with fun, tongue-in-cheek songs that complimented the DIY college keggers at which they frequently appeared.
As the band gained local notoriety, Valdez and Riley were soon overtaken by the desire to say more with their music, to mature as a band, and to delve into more serious topics lyrically. While early fans weren’t initially the most receptive to the shift, the newfound passion would prove to be the Tabasco that took INTHEWHALE to an unprecedented next level.
A Recipe for Success
The undeniable chemistry between Valdez and Riley, the shared belief in what they were doing, the sheer passion in both music and lyrics, the resourcefulness in utilizing every tool in the toolbox to produce a massive sound from only two performers, a shared relentless drive, and perhaps even a cosmic phenomenon of stars aligning, all played a role in the band’s meteoric rise to an unprecedented level of punk rock success. In fact, the band’s first-ever tour saw them sharing a bill with ‘90s favorite The Presidents of the United States of America.
The hometown heroes later found themselves touring with big names like Jane’s Addiction, Gogol Bordello, The Offspring, Local H, Fu Manchu, The Darkness, Authority Zero, Anti-Flag, Middle Class Rut, Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat, The Living End, Slash, Electric Six, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Falling in Reverse, Descendents, Poison the Well, Supersuckers, 10 Years, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Green Jelly, Jello Biafra, Badflower, Lit, Pennywise, and more.
The band would live to tell tales of traveling through horrifying blizzards and hurricanes, sleeping with bed bugs in Canada, and a night in the filthiest motel room in Arkansas where the housekeeping staff couldn’t be bothered to clean up the blood splatters, dog poo, and dried-up bodily fluids left by previous guests.
However, INTHEWHALE’s time on the road wasn’t all dog poo and bodily fluids, as among the experiences Valdez will never forget are three instances of being attacked on stage at three different shows by three different assailants, the most remarkable of which involved an intoxicated woman who high-kicked the vocalist in the head in Canada, leaving him with a chipped tooth that he wasn’t able to get fixed until the band returned to the states.
After playing in 45 states, 12 countries, big festivals like Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and Austin City Limits, multiple tours of the UK and even a homecoming show at Red Rocks, it appeared that INTHEWHALE was nothing short of unstoppable. That is, until a global pandemic changed the world forever.
An Amicable Decision
“Early on when we first started, when we were first doing that experimental music, we made a pact with each other that if we ever got to a point where either we plateaued, or it’s not inspiring us anymore, that we were just gonna do the dignity of calling it quits.” – Nate Valdez
INTHEWHALE had achieved the ultimate goal – watching the fruits of the hard work, dedication, blood splatters, sweat and tears that the duo had endured for over a decade truly pay off, when in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
The band had just finished recording at Dave Grohl’s 606 Studios in Los Angeles and were driving back to Denver when their management informed them that some sort of flu might affect some of the tour dates they’d had on the books. Not thinking too much into it, Valdez and Riley arrived home only to find out that the COVID-19 pandemic had derailed all touring plans that had been previously set up.
While the band doesn’t place all the blame on COVID, the pandemic certainly put a damper on much of the momentum that INTHEWHALE had built up to that point and ultimately saw a need for the duo to pause and reflect on the state of things both professionally and personally, prompting the necessity for a big decision to be made.
Ultimately, Valdez and Riley came to an amicable decision that the time to mark the final chapter of the juggernaut they’d created had come.
The Final Chapter
There’s no doubt that INTHEWHALE’s 15-year tenure as one of Colorado’s most beloved and successful heavy rock bands will forever be the thing of legends and while the outfit’s fate has been set in stone by its creators, it’s not quite over yet.
INTHEWHALE plans to go out in a blaze of glory with a handful of farewell concerts in Colorado including a stop at The Moxi Theater in Greeley on May 2nd, a stop at Denver’s Oriental Theater on May 16, followed directly by a show at The Mesa Theater in Grand Junction May 17th, and a final show in Fort Collins at a date that is yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Valdez is keeping plenty busy acting as tour manager for numerous bands, creating artwork for artists, running a studio out of his home, and has even taken up lap steel guitar. In addition, be sure to check out a new project featuring both Valdez and Riley called Graveyard Choir, as well as an ‘80s-themed project inspired by Valdez’s love for The Smiths.
INTHEWHALE may be hanging it up for good this year, but the music, the memories, and the legacy will undoubtedly serve as a prominent section in the library which contains the annals of Colorado’s musical history books.
