Austin’s Veteran Doom Metal Trio The Well Talks Old Austin and New Music
Interview and photo credit: Jennifer Greene
RØKKR sat down with Austin’s The Well before their Levitation Festival set to discuss the evolving Austin music scene, managing multiple projects, and what music they’re listening to right now.
The Well is an Austin power trio formed in 2012, with Lisa Alley (bass, vocals), Jason Sullivan (drums), and Ian Graham (guitar, vocals). For 14 years, they’ve been an Austin metal staple, blending psych, doom, and 70s rock.
They have toured with All Them Witches, Truckfighters, and Mood Destroys, and will soon join desert rock band Pink Fuzz on a 17-stop western US tour in October. They recently released their fourth studio album, …And Flames Ran Like Living Animals, on September 14, 2026, via Austin label Spaceflight Records.
So my first question is, how did The Well come together?
IAN: I got kicked out of the band I was in and was wanting to do something that would kind of crush conceptually everything I ever did before. And met Lisa. She could sing well, and she could play some chords. We started. She liked the idea. We started harmonizing. I literally, we had a bass drum and a guitar in the garage, and we wrote the first three songs. I played with Jason for years, roped him into playing drums at a session where we practiced. We rented time in a music lab.
LISA: We used to rent it hourly, and then we ended up having a big space there before it closed.
IAN: Yes, we went and we knocked that out. I think it was like three practices, and we played a show in a backyard during South by Southwest. You know, it was very Austin, the whole thing, and we just kept building from there. And I think our next show was with The Sword. But this is like 15 years ago too.
LISA: I know. It's hard to remember.
IAN: There was no one to play with back then, you know There were like two metal bands, and then there were serious metal bands too, you know, like gnarly metal.
So you have seen that sound evolve in Austin? What was music at the time, Emo?
IAN: It was indie, psych
LISA: And a lot of garage
IAN: A lot of garage happening at that time, and we have a garage element for sure, and we've kind of held on to that too. I mean, not on purpose, I think by proxy.
So y'all have been together the whole time, the original three people. So the other question I have is, Lisa, I know you're in a couple of bands. Are y'all in other bands as well?
IAN: No. I'm monogamous.
JASON: A Solo project (joking)
For you, Lisa, how do you juggle at all?
LISA: I think it's just like making sure that within the different bands, you have different roles, so like for The Well, I have a lot more responsibility in terms of tour managing f and coming up with merch and all of that. And then with TV's Daniel, Daniel writes all of the material. It's technically his solo project; he's assembled all of his all-star cast to be in the band, and so much less responsibility there. And then Mugger, I'm playing bass; they literally just got back from tour last night. They got a fill-in for me. So it's been really nice to be able to explore other avenues, like within different categories and boundaries.
This photography music world is so different from what I do in my “day job.” It's a nice balance as well, to kind of have different roles.
LISA: It's very cool to see different scenes too. Yeah, I really enjoy that.
RØKKR: When I started this, I thought I'd be drawn more toward calmer indie music.
LISA: No, it's way more fun over here on the rowdy side.
What is your favorite place to play in Austin? Or even any place that doesn't exist anymore..?
LISA: I really wish I'd gotten to play at Emo's. I didn't get to Old Emo’s. Yeah, yeah. Now, I would say, playing Stubb’s was a bucket list. We got to do that for Levitation a couple of times; Mohawk is a wonderful venue.
IAN: Red Seven was a fun venue. Red Seven was great.
LISA: I do miss Red Seven and Barracuda. I'm really, really, really sad about Valhalla. Yeah, that place is like one of those spots that felt like a place out of time, and now it is...
IAN: Yeah, you can't really skirt over that. That we're in the midst of a change; like before, we were like “well, well, well…”, but there's no more “wells” like this shit has happened.
LISA: I'm really happy that the Lost Well was able to find a new spot.
JASON: Listen, I’ve got to shout out Hotel Vegas.
Last question: What is a new band that you've been listening to?
LISA: For me, it's YHWH Nailgun, and they're from Brooklyn, and then they're fucking phenomenal, especially live- great, captivating. And then this band, Piss from Vancouver. I was just spellbound the entire set. It's really, really energetic and visceral. Like it almost feels improv, even though I don't think it is. It has this poetic element to it. But yeah, Piss and YHWH Nailgun, for me.
JASON: Wesley Willis. I've only heard a few of his songs before, but now I know he's on Spotify. I really did a deep dive into that guy. It's interesting.
IAN: RZN good. That band is good. Like, they're new to me.