Excerpt from transcription, audio
recorded on Monday, June 9, 2025
Pablo: My name is Pablo. I book shows under No Sleep Fest.
Ameer: So, how did you get into the scene?
Pablo: Oh, that's a hard question. Growing up, I loved rock music and went to a lot of bigger shows. I listened to a lot of screamo when I was little, so don't judge. Some of the first shows I went to were Bring Me the Horizon, I See Stars, Asking Alexandria—and then locals would open those shows. Some of the first locals I ever saw were An Author, a Poet, The Jonbenet. That inspired me to go to local shows, and that's how I met a lot of my friends. That was like 2013, maybe. I was 15 or 16.
Ameer: Do you remember the first local show you went to, ever?
Pablo: It’s funny. The first show I went to, I had food in my hands, and I didn’t know what a mosh pit was. I was eating chicken nuggets, and somebody hit me hard, and all my nuggets went up in the air. My friend was a big guy, a tall dude. He was quick—he just grabbed me, and I was out of there.
Technically, the first show I ever went to was in 2012, the All Stars Tour. It was a bunch of screamo bands that were up and coming. Ice Nine Kills when they were small, no one knew who they were. I See Stars, Stick to Your Guns, Suicide Silence before Mitch passed away. That was my first show. After that, I started going to local shows but still went to bigger ones. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve gone to fewer big shows. But yeah, that was my experience. I got hit hard, and my nuggets went everywhere.
Ameer: So what attracted you to everything in the scene? What was the defining moment where you were like, “I wanna be a part of this”?
Pablo: I was bullied a lot in high school, to the point where I had to be moved to another school. Before that, I was pissed off and angry most of the time, and that’s when I started listening to heavier music. Without that happening, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it, because before then I listened to a lot of rap.
When I started going to shows, I really loved the people I met. That’s what kept me around. And then the music—I love music. I’m a nerd. You can sit down with me at a computer, and I’ll be like, “Oh, listen to this. Hear how they switch out the bass?” [laughter]
So I love music. Growing up, my dad was a mariachi, and he taught me music at a young age. So it’s been my whole life. I love it. I’m familiar with it.
Ameer: So, what did you wanna accomplish with No Sleep Fest when you started out?
Pablo: Nothing. No Sleep started as just a show that we wanted all our friends to come to. It was pretty much a local show, but then it was too many friends who hopped on. So we're like, we might as well call it fest. So there were no goals, honestly. There was never a goal.
Ameer: What about now?
Pablo: Now it's kinda like, I don't know. I guess the goal now is just to see how long we can keep going. I wanna see what we could do.
It's just fun doing some crazy shit, honestly, like with the White Oak show. I don't know. I guess artist-wise, that's the only goal, you know? I remember in our second year, we wanted Heavy Heavy Low Low, and we're like, that's impossible.
And then it happened. It’s kinda interesting. I don't really have an end goal. It's just kinda like, how long can we keep going, you know? And I love doing it.
Ameer: Do you wanna keep it to this kind of really tight local sort of festival, or do you wanna branch out eventually?
Pablo: It’s kinda hard to branch out, especially because Houston gets skipped a lot on tours. A lot of agents don't like to send artists here for festivals, especially smaller fests. And I felt a type of way sometimes, how some touring bands won't come down—or specifically agents that won't let their bands come down here. But now, honestly, I'm fine with it being smaller and just growing like that.
Because it kinda is local, but it's getting there. Last year shocked me. I’d definitely like it to grow. I don't know how we're gonna do it, but even if we get bigger, I still wanna keep putting local and smaller bands on it.
Sometimes there are a lot of bands that play, and people don't know who they are. And it's always been like that every year.
I find bands I like, and I'm like, “You need to come to Houston.” So yeah, I’d like to get bigger. It just depends on how Houston goes, how it progresses, and also if we can get a space. That's the hard part—the space. A space to do all the crazy ideas.
But I think it's getting there. But I don't wanna get too ahead of myself.
Ameer: I've been hearing Houston's on the up and up. You know, like something's happening here, something's growing here. But you say all these promoters and agents and all that stuff are skipping Houston. Why do you think that is?
Pablo: It's a lot of things. One, they just don't know. There are people the local scene doesn't get to see, and there's that divide because it's like, there's the local scene and then there's the big shots—the ones who make the money, the industry people. They don't see that stuff. They're more focused on sold-out numbers or what city is the best market.
And also, in Texas specifically, there are some big promoters that have contracts with these agents. So when they come to Texas, they book all the shows. They don't even touch Houston because of that. Usually, it's Austin, Dallas, or they go from Arizona to Dallas, something like that. But it's because they have contracts, and it's basically like they're loyal to a fault. They'll just stick with those they've worked with.
Another reason Houston gets skipped a lot is because they see the low ticket sales. But Houston's not a presale city. All the shows at White Oak, Secret Group, House of Blues—they base it on that, which is not accurate. You know what I mean? Because local shows are doing great.
Ameer: Yeah, exactly.
Pablo: So it's that. It's just that disconnect. They don't know. And trust me, I get on the phone with all these agents. I'm like, “Y’all don't know.” So yeah, it's the disconnect.
Ameer: That's interesting because, obviously, I don't know that kind of insider information. From my perspective, I still see Houston growing in spite of that. I feel like the community has come together and created something so beautiful, and we have stuff like No Sleep Fest.
Pablo: Thank you. Yeah. I'm just happy to be here. [laughter] But Houston is on the up and coming. Houston's a really beautiful city. As someone who's been around seeing other local scenes in different cities—I'm not trying to be biased—but I think our local scene is the best in Texas. I'm sorry, everybody else. It is the best. But yeah, I feel like we have a lot of great talent, and there are a lot of wonderful people in it.
Ameer: How did No Sleep Fest get started in the first place?
Pablo: Well, we just wanted to book a last show of the year, and it was all our friends. Then more people were like, “Can I play?” And we kept adding on.
And the name—it doesn't really have a lot of meaning. But I have a hard time sleeping. I remember being at my computer at 3 AM, staring at the flyer, like, “What do we name this? We gotta name it something.” And I was just like, “I'm not getting any sleep.” That's why it's called that—because I struggle with sleeping.
Ameer: Was that your first time really getting into booking shows, or was there something before that?
Pablo: No, before that. I booked a few local shows before that. I didn't really know what I was doing—I was just doing it because a friend asked. And then after that, I really got more involved when I booked at The Clinic. I don't know if you know what The Clinic is.
Ameer: I’ve heard of it.
Pablo: I ran The Clinic. That's when I got more experience, or just got pushed into Houston—learning a lot, experiencing a lot. The Clinic was a DIY abandoned clinic, and we booked shows there. It was a very small room, like you can't fit 100 in there. It's just you and the band. No bar, no nothing. Just you and the band.
Ameer: So, do you have any favorite memories related to the scene that you could share?
Pablo: I guess—I know this is recent—but Peeling Flesh at White Oak, I’ll never forget that. That’s been a dream to book there for a long time, and I wanted to do it with only locals. Even though Peeling Flesh isn’t, they’re pretty much local, you know? But that’s probably one of my happiest memories.
No Sleep 2024—I was really happy to see how many kids came out. It’s weird when an idea you thought about on a computer at 2 AM actually brings people out. Another one was when someone flew out for No Sleep. I thought that was insane. I was like, what are you doing, you’re crazy. It was somebody from Canada, and I was just like, you’re insane.
The recent ones are probably the craziest. I Set My Friends on Fire—that was a crazy one at The Compound. Talking to Matt, we even talked about Smosh. I was like, I’m gonna ask you about Anthony Padilla. That was probably one of my happiest memories. I couldn’t believe we met them or even booked them. That was crazy.
Hmm… I guess Heavy Heavy Low Low is another one. I never thought we’d see them live. They were a band that broke up, and then they came back. I remember when I went outside looking for them—I was stressed, just walking around—and they were behind a dumpster. That’s how we met. I just saw these guys standing by the trash can. They’re like, “Pablo?” And I’m like, “What are y’all doing behind a dumpster?” [laughter] That’s another one—getting to meet them and talk to them.
Honestly, every single show is a victory once it finishes and wraps up. We used to do a lot of house shows. One that stands out—we had like 10 local bands in a house, free show, and I remember telling everyone to bring horchata. Everyone did. We ended up filling the fridge. They were just getting spoiled. That was a happy memory—we all ended up with gallons of it.
Most of my happy memories are after COVID, to be honest. Some of my favorite moments are when people come up and talk to me. I love it. It’s cool hearing somebody else talk about what they like. That’s probably one of my fondest memories, because I’ll be at a show stressed, or with something else on my mind, and a kid comes up like, “Can I talk to you?” I remember those more than whatever happened that night. That’s probably some of the fondest memories, honestly.
It makes me feel old, but getting to talk to everybody younger coming in—that’s probably the best part. Because only a few people who are here now in the scene were around when I started. Like Jason from Corpse Pile, and that’s pretty much it. There are a few others, but mostly Jason.
So, like I said, it’s really cool. Just being here and seeing people enjoy themselves. Brings tears. A lot of happy memories. But I think the majority is meeting new people and getting to know them. I love that. I really do. I try my best every single show, no matter how busy I get, I try my best to talk to someone new.
Ameer: So my last question. Any plans for the future that you can share with the public?
Pablo: I won't spoil anything. I love talking about it, but I guess just the fest, and just shows that we have coming up. Yeah, it's just a fest.
It's three days this year. That's pretty much it. I'm sure we probably have other things, but I talk a lot. I love sharing, so I don’t wanna spoil anything by accident because I've spoiled some things that shouldn't have been spoiled.
