yells at eels

about rhythm, melody, volume and economy, Aaron says.

“But when we worked all those things out, we found that really, we have a chemistry that we can’t get with anyone else,” he says.

There is no pecking order onstage, they say. They’re a democratic band. And as a band, they are instinctive. They hardly have to look at one another to communicate.

“There’s a certain freedom in our chemistry that is parallel to our family dynamics,” Aaron says.

Aside from Yells At Eels, the Gonzalez brothers also comprise the metal band Akkolyte, with Stefan on drums and vocals and Aaron on bass and vocals. They also have a band called Unconscious Collective, with Oak Cliff-based guitarist Gregg Prickett. Their band Humanization Quartet has members from Portugal, so they only play about once a year.

Stefan also is in Dead to a Dying World, The Young Mothers and Ogrullo Primitivo. Aaron has a band called Deflowered Electric Flesh Bride.

So Stefan and Aaron typically have three or four gigs a week.

All three members of Yells At Eels teach music lessons at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center as well. Juggling all these bands and collaborations comes easily to the Gonzalezes, for whom musicianship is a way of life.

“At this point, not much is off limits or scary to us,” Aaron says.

Dennis Gonzalez says he never thought of his babies as future musicians. And he never overtly encouraged their music careers. It’s not an easy life, after all. There are millions of musicians in the world, and they all want to make a living. But Dennis and Carol always wanted their kids to feel they could do whatever they wanted, even if that was playing a toy saxophone alongside world-class musicians.

Aaron says he thinks audiences have moved past the novelty that Yells At Eels is a family band, and he hopes they are making a difference in Dallas musical culture.

“I think we’re here to open up people’s minds to expression, whether it’s musical or visual or whatever,” he says.