KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) - It's clear that members of Katy band Garbage Girlfriend are brimming with ambition. When asked about their goals, they don't even have to think before rattling off a list of dreams: a record deal, albums, touring, and multiple Grammy awards.
Evelyn Moreno founded Garbage Girlfriend in 2022 and is one of two original members, along with Mya Howard. The band's musicians – Moreno, Howard, Liv Teixeira, Ciona Casino, and Christy Ferra – are high school students who met through School of Rock, which offers music education for all ages and skills.
Four of the five band members attend high schools in Katy. Moreno attends Taylor H.S. Ferra is a Mayde Creek student. Casino goes to Seven Lakes, and Howard is a student at Paetow. Teixeira attends Bridgeland High School in Cypress.
Garbage Girlfriend
Top right hanging off: Ciona Casino, bassTop left sitting: Christy Ferra, guitarStanding left: Evelyn Moreno, drumsSquatting: Mya Howard, vocals & keysStanding right: Liv Teixeira, vocals
According to Garbage Girlfriend's website, the band's unique name stems from Moreno's ex-boyfriend's message, saying she had been a "garbage girlfriend." Moreno turned the phrase into her new band's name.
Garbage Girlfriend plays covers of popular songs and original music. They have performed at many venues in the Houston area, including BFE Rock Club and Dan Electro's. They also headlined the KPRC TV Crawfish Fest at Discovery Green in April 2024 and appeared on the TV program Houston Life multiple times.
Garbage Girlfriend is set to perform a free show this Saturday on the Central Green stage at La Centerra from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Covering Katy News: How would you describe your band to someone who knows nothing about it?
Moreno: "We're an all-girl team and rock band. We play a lot of alternative music. We do a lot of pretty popular covers and some other not-so-well-known covers, and we're starting to write our own music."
Covering Katy News: How did School of Rock influence your sound or the structure of the band?
Teixeira: "It introduced us to a lot of the covers and artists that I feel like we take influence from and that we play. And it not only taught us a lot about our sound, but a lot about how to be in a band and working together as musicians as well."
Casino: "School of Rock gave us a stage to perform on, and that's probably the first time I've ever performed with anybody. And it's how I learned how to communicate with other musicians and how I met all of them too. It's a big influence."
Covering Katy News: What female musicians or bands inspire you?
Ferra: "Joan Jett, obviously."
Moreno: "Definitely The Go-Go's for us because they're one of the most known all-girl pop punk bands. I have the drum heads signed by them. They're really cool. They're huge supporters of us."
Teixeira: "We also don't only take inspiration from female rock musicians, but I think we take them from other genres too. Like, me personally, I am a huge Swiftie. Like we love Taylor Swift, but in all sincerity, she's an incredible performer. Her and Fiona Apple and Stevie Nicks, for me, are my holy trinity, and they're all from varying genres. And I feel like that influences a lot."
Covering Katy News: Everyone in the band is in high school - do your friends at school know about the band?
Moreno: "It's on varying levels, but a lot of my friends come. Our upcoming gig for La Centerra – this is the gold mine for all our Katy friends to come."
Howard: "People at my school have been finding out. Like, I was at camp last week, at cheer camp at Texas A&M. There's this girl that runs our cheer account, and she was looking because my mom had liked one of their posts, and she was like, oh my God. And then she came up to me at breakfast, she was like, I found your band."
Moreno: "It definitely feels like kind of a double life. Like you're at school being a normal high schooler, and then you're out just playing gigs."
Teixeira: "So we're all Hannah Montana. Another influence of ours. Hannah Montana."
Covering Katy News: Is there anything you think people should know about you as a band?
Moreno: "I would say we are a very lucky band especially because of my mom with all her marketing things and my dad with all his engineering – he does our sound. And then we also got insanely lucky that all these amazing supportive local Houston bands like Shosty, Lucid Illusions, 307 Departure, and all the other amazing bands that have gigged with us and helped open the door to this amazing community that we get to be a part of."
Ferra: "I will say, in the band community or just being a band in general, networking is so important. People overlook it so much because like Evelyn said, if we didn't network with other bands when we performed at Discovery Green, we probably wouldn't be who we are now. And with all the networking we had, we've been having so many more gigs, especially at better venues, and we're getting paid."
Covering Katy News: What do you have planned for your show at La Centerra?
Moreno: "We have some Sublime. We have Zeppelin, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo. We have Fleetwood. Foo Fighters. We have a great mix of a couple niche and some very popular and some that is very us, so I'm really excited for it. We're gonna have a fun spin on Hotel California, so that'll be cool. So it's gonna be a fun gig."