Too Loud For Broadway: An Interview with Eliza Endless of Eevie Echoes and the Locations
By Staff | October 18, 2026
Photo credit: Krys Fox @krysfox
In our first bassist profile, we're proud to feature Eliza Endless, affectionately known to their bandmates as “Screws”. Anchoring the four string for NYC's Eevie Echoes and the Locations, they bring a mix of punk energy and theatrical flair to the stage. Eliza boasts a musical background that's all over the map, from classical vocal training and musical theater to jazz improvisation, and somehow it all fits together. We had a chance to sit down with Eliza and chat about what it’s like playing alongside Laura Jane Grace, finding a second family in the band, and why when none other than Eevie Echoes lays a nickname on you, it tends to stick.
Welcome Eliza! You've mentioned that you dreamed of becoming a rock star since your childhood in Chicago. What's been the biggest difference between what you imagined and today's reality?
Thank you!!! Yes, as a kid I listened to classic rock bands and watched the movie School Of Rock over and over until the DVD broke. I longed for the energy of performance, having fun onstage, and connecting with the audience. All of that is just as wonderful as I’d imagined, if not more. For what’s different, recently I got home from a long day that ended in a music video shoot (hey you should check out our music video for Tell Me You Love Me), I looked in the mirror, tired with my bass on my back and thought “woah, I’m living the dream ... I did think the dream would feel more financially stable." Perhaps that was foolish of me, on the other hand maybe we’re getting there.
How did your background in jazz, musical theater, and classical vocal training influenced your approach to performing in a loud, chaotic punk band?
Great question!! My time singing in choirs taught me about how our voices together are stronger than one alone. I think about that a lot whenever the audience sings or chants along with what we’re doing onstage. Choir also helped build my ear for harmony, I love getting to sing together with Eevie and Emma on stage.
Theater taught me about theatricality and how to emote and move on stage without fear. Throughout high school I was the theater kid in rock band rehearsals and the edgy punk in theater rehearsals. Listening to Meatloaf, the Dresden Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Green Day’s American Idiot album showed me that I could do both, rock the fuck out and be theatrical while I do it (I’d argue that punk is inherently theatrical, but that’s for another time). When I first started to play in rock bands, transitioning out of the musical theater space and into a rock one a director told me “you onstage in rock can still be a character, that character is you x10. Who’s the coolest version of yourself? How do they move? What do they wear? How do they engage with others? That’s who you can be onstage.” While performance feels 2nd nature now, I still carry that philosophy into my playing today, always trying to show up onstage as my best self. I love putting on my show makeup, making big faces onstage, getting my whole body into it. So much of punk music is about catharsis, by being big and showing a wide range of emotions on stage, it helps show the audience that this is a safe place to feel all the big feeling.
Photo credit: Billy @bb.ph0t0
Jazz!!! While I knew my passion was punk, I chose to go to jazz school because I wanted to strengthen my vocal technique, my knowledge of music theory, and my ear. But it was learning the history of jazz as well as studying free improvisation with Fay Victor that I learned about freedom through sound. When playing free improv there were no wrong notes, sometimes there wasn’t even a key, the only wrong answer was not listening to your fellow musicians. I had never felt so present, playful, and curious about sound as when playing free jazz improv for the first time. This opened so many creative pathways, I learned to embraced dissonance and chaotic sounds. Jazz taught me that you can find a sound for every feeling, even if it sounds jarring, because sometimes that’s the exact sound the emotion needs to get released.
You've performed at major festivals like Lollapalooza and in intimate punk venues - which experiences have left the strongest impressions on you and why?
We played Black Cat in DC for Liberation Weekend 2026, that was really special. I had played there in 2017 when it had a smaller bar stage, so when I first walked in I was in awe of a venue much bigger than I remembered. The staff there was almost entirely women and trans folk, which was so refreshing since venues tend to be very cis male dominated. We got to open the festival weekend, playing the same day Laura Jane Grace was headlining. She’s always been such a huge musical inspiration to be, so sharing the stage was so meaningful. The fest was also such a wonderful colliding of worlds between the Brooklyn and DC trans punk scenes. Getting to interact with the DC scene really makes our little trans punk world feel a bit bigger in a beautiful way.
Photo credit: Billy @bb.ph0t0
What's the story behind your nickname “Screws”, who was the primary perpetrator in laying it on you and how accurately does it reflect your personality both onstage and off?
EE&TL had a gig in Jersey, before the set Eevie and I were chatting and somehow I got to talking about all the dental work I’ve had done. Some people get grossed out by it (that’s fair, I get it) but Eevie was so intrigued. I was telling her about an oral surgery where they put four screws in my mouth, to which she replied (in a thick Brooklyn accent) “Ay we got Screws over here!!!” And from then on it kinda stuck. I liked it, fit as my “nonbinary name” and felt right that it was given by a friend. If we wanna talk symbolism, part of it evokes the crazy energy I like to bring onstage. I also have a love for logistics and try to be a grounding presence for people in my life, the screws helping hold things together. Also at any given time I just might happen to have a screw or two on me, idk how they get there, I just like to feel prepared.
Looking back on your two years with Eevie Echoes and the Locations, what unexpected experiences or discoveries have made the biggest impact on you?
As soon as I met the band (just hours before the first time we played together) I was struck by how open and easy to hang with they all were. My second time playing with EE&TL they asked me to do a gig in Connecticut, I thought “this is the test, I already like the music and they seem to like how I play, but can we hang in a car for 4-5 hours?” By the end of the drive back I was offered a spot in the band. We had so much fun not only playing the music, but laughing and telling stories in the car. When I got the call to play bass I didn’t think I’d be getting new besties too! This is a band where I get to show up authentically and bring 110% because I know my bandmates will be doing the same.
Photo credit: Krys Fox @krysfox
Your band is appearing on the Trans Riot! compilation that some dopey punk label is putting out next month: excited, or just meh?
Oh I’m so excited!!! Always honored to have our music paired with other great trans bands. Curious to listen to all the other artists!
If you could organize a completely outrageous, unhinged punk show - unlimited budget, any venue in the world, musicians from any era, some kind of freaky flea market - what would you come up with?
I’d love to put together a festival day, both with big and local bands. Ideally a festival in autumn for the slightly cooler weather, ooo and maybe it’s just a little muddy. For bands, in no particular order, I’d love to see Gogol Bordello, Pink Shift, Death, X-ray Specs, Against Me!, Bad Brains, and Mannequin Pussy. We just had a great time playing the first Chimera fest, so I’m feeling a particular love for all those bands, so I’d wanna include our friends in Bum Babies, Tricktheriddle, Atrophy Wife, Already Late, and Crush Fund as well…. Wait and that’s a fun lineup, we wanna be on it too, Eevie Echoes and the Locations would be there!!
Photo credit: Steve Hughes @steveinatxpics
Anyone you'd like to thank for their support?
In the order I met them: my parents Carrie and Brian, Rebecca/Aliyah Black, Gabby Gubitosi, and Piper Nickels. As well as my wonderful bandmates (also in the order I met them) Eevie Echoes, Emma Taylor, and Nick Grasso.