Meet Indigo Lane: The Soundtrack of The Summer By Angelina Kouchnir

From the busy city and traffic sounds of Tampa, an up-and-coming band is emerging. Indigo Lane the Indie band with something for every listener has been swiftly rising in the ranks, performing on a regular basis and releasing new material.

The band has just released their new single “Bird Cage” on July 17th. “I think for people listening out there, ‘Bird Cage’ is like Indigo Lane summed up in a song,” said Conner Dirksen, the lead guitar player of Indigo Lane. The band said that “Bird Cage”, which is available on all streaming platforms, serves as a turning point for them. The new single is the first song the band has written since the addition of their new drummer Laiba Nasir, and reflects Indigo Lane’s new style. The band said that “Bird Cage” serves as somewhat of a preview to the album which Indigo Lane plans to release either in late 2026 or early 2027. “‘Bird Cage’ is definitely the beginning of everything. That's kind of why we wanted to release it first before anything else,” said Alejandra Acero, Indigo Lane’s bass player, “it definitely embodies the beginning of who we are right now and where we've gotten,” said she.

Bird Cage Cover Art

In addition to their new release, Indigo Lane already has their EP Summer Party up on all streaming platforms. The EP features 6 songs which can be described as the perfect playlist to listen to on those fun summer nights. The band has been performing with this EP, “Bird Cage” and a list of not yet released songs all around Tampa. Some of Indigo Lane’s most memorable recent performances include playing at Curtis Hixon for Rock the Park and the University of South Florida’s Bullstock, during which they played in front of an audience of thousands on a stage shared with the Driver Era, MARIS and others. The band has also performed at the Tampa Orpheum on multiple occasions; after initially playing at the Orpheum in March, Indigo Lane was contacted by the venue to play again, opening for the Himalayas, which the band did.

Indigo Lane performing at Bullstock 

The cast of Indigo Lane said the band has been rising in popularity over the past few months with growing numbers both on Spotify and their social media platforms, the band’s members have said that they’ve even been getting recognized in restaurants and on their college campus. “We've gotten recognized a couple times… I think that's definitely a marked point in our timeline, for sure,” said Alejandra.

Indigo Lane is composed of five music major students from the University of South Florida. Each of their unique musical backgrounds creates the band’s iconic sound which has been coined as Indigo Rock, “Our roots go into many different genres,” said Connor Trimble, the band’s rhythm guitarist. The band’s unique genre has made their sound un-labelable and appealing to more than just one target audience. “I would say we're kind of a unique exception…we're not specifically one genre or even a mix of two or three. We're kind of like a blend of all five of our different tastes in music.” said Laiba Nasir, the band’s drummer.

A little bit about each of the band’s members:

Annabelle Lopiano, the lead singer of the band, originally from Ocala, Florida, said “I’ve been singing ever since I can remember”. Annabelle had started writing songs in high school and then after she had started attending the University of South Florida formed the band with Connor Trimble. “It was very different, kind of jazzy, indie,” said Annabelle, “It was a lot more slow.” Annabelle said that back then the band primarily included her style which she described as Indie Folk and Pop. She said the artists whom she enjoys listening to and shares similarities with are Lizzy McAlpine, Clairo and Laufey. Annabelle has also been doing solo work on the side, she already has her own music released and available on Spotify; she will also be releasing her own personal EP at the end of August which will feature the signature vocals of Indigo Lane but now accompanied with Annabelle’s own slower, indie, and very different music.

Alejandra Acero, the band’s bass player said she has always been around music. She was born and raised in Colombia, and said her dad, cousins, brother – everybody is in the arts. She started learning music theory at a very young age, was playing the violin, taking singing classes, “a little bit of everything” said Alejandra. However it was around the age of 16-17 that she decided she wanted to play the bass. Similar to Annabelle, Alejandra brings the Indie genre to the band, liking artists such as Wallows and Malcolm Todd. Alejandra also said that Måneskin’s bass player, Victoria De Angelis, served as a big inspiration when she started picking up the bass, “She was my role model” said Alejandra.

Indigo Lane’s cast is also deepened by the ‘two Connors’, more specifically Conner Dirksen and Connor Trimble, who both serve as guitarists.

Conner Dirksen, lead guitarist of the band, began his musical journey when he was 12 years old by playing the piano, which is his main instrument. Conner Dirksen has lived in Florida his whole life. He started off by playing a lot of classical music, learned music theory, then picked up the guitar and also learned how to sing as well as play the drums and bass. “It was just a hobby to me,” Dirksen said, eventually though, the multi-instrument musician started getting gigs, playing and singing country music. “I started to make a decent amount of money to where I didn’t have to get a job in high school,” said Dirksen. After that Dirksen officially started pursuing music as a career instead of his original choice of engineering. Dirksen’s addition to Indigo Lane brings in a new sound to the mix; the lead guitarist said that while country is his most listened to and played genre, he draws the most inspiration from heavier music and jazz. Dirksen brings in themes that would appeal to music lovers like him, who enjoy the sounds of Staind, Chevelle and Deftones.

The second Connor, Connor Trimble, is Indigo Lane’s rhythm guitarist. He’s originally from Baltimore, Maryland, but has lived in Tampa for the last 11 years. Similar to the other members of the band, music was a big part of his life growing up. Connor Trimble said that he never viewed creating music professionally as an option until he got to college, which is when he also decided to switch his career path from business to music, “It was the best thing I ever did,” he said. As for the style that he brings into the band, Connor Trimble said he likes to listen to the slightly “heavier stuff” like rock, indie rock, grunge, emo, and artists like The Fall of Troy.

Last but not least, this past fall, the band welcomed in their new drummer Laiba Nasir. She said she started playing music at a really young age, “My dad played guitar since he was in high school, so that was a big thing for me,” said Laiba. She began her musical journey by playing the piano, when she got to middle school though, she wanted to start playing rock and picked up the guitar. A few years later that is when she started playing the drums, “I wanted to play louder, so I wanted to play drums,” said Laiba. Like all the other members of the band, Laiba is a music student at the University of South Florida, however, there she is also studying biology. Laiba said that she wanted medicine as a career path, but she didn’t want to only have that one thing, “You hear so many stories of people doing medicine or business or something, and then completely forgetting about another passion they have,” said Laiba, “So I was making it a point for myself to do music.” On the first day of her music ensemble course at USF, Laiba met the rest of the band, they asked her if she wanted to rehearse with them and of course she said yes creating the version of Indigo Lane that is known today. Laiba was born and raised in Florida but her parents, who are her main musical influences, are from Pakistan. “My dad listens to a lot of like old metal, like Megadeth and Dream Theater, and kind of that side of things,” said Laiba, “and then my mom listens to a lot of more like glam ‘80s metal, like White Snake and rock like Bon Jovi, and then a lot of Scandinavian Swedish metal bands too.” This mix of genres can definitely be heard in Laiba’s unique drumming style, which has added to the band’s musical diversity.

Indigo Lane Performing

Indigo Lane has also proven extremely popular among other musicians. Because all the band’s members have studied musical theory and know how to play their instruments professionally, their songs tend to have a lot of technical aspects. From odd time signatures to syncopated drum fills and hits – “Those aspects are there for people who are kind of like music nerds,” said Laiba, “but it's also for the people that might not know exactly what those terms are, but they can still kind of enjoy it.”

The future of Indigo Lane looks bright, the band has multiple large gigs coming up this summer. Indigo Lane will be travelling a long way from Florida soon, when the band will be performing at Musikfest in Pennsylvania on August 2nd. Indigo Lane will also be opening for Easy Honey at New World Brewery in Tampa, Florida on August 28th. “I think there's gonna be a lot of new stuff playing that we haven't played before,” said Alejandra, “obviously ‘Bird Cage’ will be there, so if you like the song streaming, then you're gonna really like it live.”

Indigo Lane from left to right: Annabelle Lopiano, Connor Trimble, Alejandra Acero, Conner Dirksen, and Laiba Nasir

Overall Indigo Lane has been performing on a regular basis, the band always has a next gig for fans to look forward to. “I think we were just in the right place at the right time” said Annabelle referring to the band’s luck with Tampa, their main location, being so supportive of music creators. Connor Trimble even said that today’s Tampa might be one of the best places for any starting out musicians “I think it's probably the best it could be right now… So many new bands are coming out here.”

When it comes to the near future Indigo Lane said that they look forward to finishing recording and releasing their new album as well as being able to further perform and build connections across Tampa. The band also teased a possible Florida-state tour which could follow their new album’s release. For now of course, Indigo Lane fans, listeners, or just people who want to add some ‘Indigo Rock’ to their playlist can listen to Indigo Lane on Spotify, see them at their upcoming gigs, or keep up with them on social media:

By Angelina Kouchnir

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6o8YP0yQvdzxp6NtOKhQjZ?si=jcCe7XSKTOCsxiQS_LwyVg 

Website: https://indigolaneofficial.wixsite.com/indigolaneofficial 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@indigolaneofficial?_t=ZT-8uSu3s43rby&_r=1 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indigolane_official 

New Single “Bird Cage”: https://open.spotify.com/track/3tZpl5cVrvnu9WTcDfPuwq?si=e7222939dbeb480d