Nestled in the rolling, pastoral hills between San Luis Obispo and Los Osos lies “The Ranch,” home of Cow Eyes vocalist and guitarist Eli Diaz. Surrounded by tall grasses and grazing cattle, his home is the three-pieces’ main practice space and the inspiration behind their new LP, aptly titled “Ranch Radio.”
The group — comprised of Diaz, CJ Canales on drums and recent Cal Poly graduate Kobi Kelly on bass and guitar — started jamming together in 2021 and began releasing music as Cow Eyes in 2023 with their single “we tried.”
The name Cow Eyes was born through Diaz’s proximity to the cows that often graze near his yard.
“You can look into a cow’s eyes and it’s like a mirror, you can kind of see your reflection…but I feel like the name can be whatever you want, it can sound like anything,” he said.
Like their name, the band’s sound is up to what the listener can parse out. Coming from different backgrounds and musical interests, the members of Cow Eyes often weave in unexpected references when writing new music.
“I think it’s just pulling inspiration from all different corners, throwing them together and seeing if they mix well. Because sometimes they don’t, but then you get something that’s either interesting or you just have another idea to piggyback off of,” Diaz said.
With influences ranging from Spanish jazz to the Smashing Pumpkins, every song has its own unique twist.
“We’re never really limited when we’re songwriting,” Canales said. “We can make a song sound completely different from one another in terms of genre, but because our overall sound is like that, taken from so many different ones, it somehow still fits.”
These attitudes helped the band create their new LP, one that they dubbed their attempt at a concept album, based around band practices at the ranch.
“We’re just playing guitar and jamming, we’re like the radio station of the ranch,” Diaz said. “It’s very much a live record.”
The latter evokes a feeling of driving alone late at night and flipping through stations on AM radio, an experience shared by the bandmates.
“It’s always on and it’s just a weird, eclectic mix of stuff. I guess that’s what we are — AM radio,” they joked.
The musical tracks of the album are interspersed by a female voice playing the DJ host of Ranch Radio. The voice announces tracks and cracks deadpan jokes on the theme of the album.
One track, titled “Ranch radio KOWZ” says, “You’re still listening to Ranch Radio, we’re only playing Cow Eyes. We couldn’t find any other parts of the cow.”
Looking back on the past three years of playing music together and into the future, the trio is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds. The group describes their creative process with one word: chaos.
“We’ll come together with a song or an idea and then just kind of rip it apart,” guitarist and bassist Kelly said.
This chaotic approach proves to be productive as the trio continues to produce new music and remains active in the SLO music scene, their songs often heard on Cal Poly’s KCPR.
Though they are winding down for the summer, the band hopes to start playing a wider variety of venues.
“We were banished to the backyard…but it’s not like being banished there is a bad thing,” Diaz said. “I think they’re cool and they serve an important part in the music scene. I would just like it if it didn’t get shut down.”
Breaking out of the backyard, Cow Eyes has a show coming up in July at Linnaea’s Cafe in Downtown SLO. The band hopes to start playing bars and other venues around town.
Canales explained that having the opportunity to play music with this group as friends has been more rewarding than can be put into words.
“Music says a lot more than I ever could,” he said.