_{By Zach Collier
Cover Photo by Maxwell Rojas}

Another Quiet Morning’s name is fitting, because they didn’t start as many bands do: with a loud bang – a frenzied explosion of youthful energy centered around some half-baked idea and an amalgamation of their wildest dreams. Instead, Another Quiet Morning slowly revealed itself.

It began at the end of 2022 as Caden Abilla’s solo outlet for ambient guitar sketches that he’d run through pedals. These were shared more out of instinct than ambition, mixing found sounds and simple arrangements with lofi recording textures. Gradually Another Quiet Morning took shape as a full band. By the time they played their first show, it sold out – but everyone knew there was an expiration date.

“As a senior in high school and in preparation for my church mission, I dedicated the early months of 2023 to recording the songs that were in my head,” Abilla says, referring to a two-year period of mission service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “All of our currently released music was recorded in this period.”

The songs on their final EP before their hiatus – entitled maybe in another dream, – were recorded last. “They were all live takes, with a few overdubs for ambience,” he explains. “All the acoustic tracks were recorded with either my phone or a simple condenser mic with my window open, hoping to capture the sound outside.”

To date, their most-streamed song is “once these trees grow over our fence, then it will be a home.”

“You can clearly hear my siblings playing outside and my mom talking with them,” Abilla says.

“The goal for the EPs was to demonstrate the struggle and acceptance of saying goodbye to music and my life as I knew it for a time. I wanted maybe in another dream, to reflect the acceptance of letting go. The sounds in the background help me look back and smile at that chapter in my life.”

The success of the EP was unexpected. It went on to amass nearly half a million streams. Compared to their other EPs released during the same time, these took the least amount of time and effort but yielded the largest results by far. If anything, that looseness and lack of overthinking gave people something real to hold onto. Listeners found their own meaning in it, and the band watched those songs take on lives beyond their original context.

“It has been cool to hear about how others connect to those songs and how those songs have grown to represent something for them,” says Abilla.

Eventually, it was time for Abilla to leave to the Dominican Republic for two years. After launching AQM, consistently gigging for about 6 months, and feeling the momentum around this new release, the timing felt a little cruel even though it was always part of the plan.

“I put everything aside to serve a mission,” he says. “We had just started to see the fruits of all the hard work we had put in. We had just joined another band on a leg of their tour… But the decision to go on a church mission had been made years before, which helped it feel more like a bittersweet step into the next chapter of my life.”

That clear, early choice helped them plan ahead. They worked hard for months knowing that, in the near future, they would have to put it all on pause.

“I am thankful for those moments of subtle doubt in my decision,” Abilla reflects. “In the long run I think they really helped me be more sure in my decision to serve a mission and the importance of what I was going to do.”

Music didn’t disappear during his two years away. It just got stripped down. “When I got to my mission, I instantly wanted to buy a guitar to be able to keep writing. I waited a few months so I could get proficient in Spanish and adjust to the culture, and then I bought a right-handed guitar at a local music shop. I’m left handed so I bought an extra pair of strings and switched them around. That was the guitar I used for two years, and that’s how I kept up with my musical chops.”

There, he wrote without pedals or production – just acoustic ideas and unfamiliar tunings. That constraint reshaped his approach. Back home, the rest of the band followed their own paths, gathering experiences that would eventually feed back into the project. The distance ended up clarifying a lot of things.

“For others that may be about to face a hiatus – whether it be a church mission or something else – simply be thankful,” Abilla says. “Life is often lived in chapters. These chapters open and close and sometimes – if we’re lucky enough – reopen. There is something innately beautiful about loving a chapter of life so much that the idea of moving on from it brings dread… It makes it all the better if a chapter does reopen. Life is full of so many surprises.”

“I think a hiatus from playing is necessary for all musicians, at one time or another,” says bandmate Tanner Evans. “We try to appreciate any break from any passionate endeavor through a lens of fasting, returning to a sort of artistic stimulus baseline. Taking a step back from what sometimes feels like an all consuming emotional process is necessary from time to time.”

“Music is an ever-growing art form and it’s important grow with it,” says drummer Lukie Fisher. “I think the two years we spent apart definitely gave us more of that perspective. We were able to reflect on the time we had before the hiatus and better prepare ourselves for when we did have more time together. Anyone in a similar long-term hiatus situation should rest more comfortably knowing that there is always a silver lining.”

Their return show at Kilby Court on February 7, 2026 felt like a closing and an opening all at once. A sold-out room, a crowd that stayed with them, and a set that ended with “interlude” – the same song they played before everything paused. This time, it carried the weight of those two years. The band invited the crowd to sit with them, like they always do, and the room followed. Some smiled, some cried – but everyone felt it.

“It felt so good to be back. The energy at the show was incredible and such an emotional experience,” says Abilla. “It was such a beautiful way to symbolize the ending of an interlude. We’re back!”

Now, Another Quiet Morning is moving forward. They have shows lined up through the summer, new material in the works, and a sound that’s more refined but still unmistakably theirs.

“Our goal is to continue to help foster a safe community where others feel safe to be themselves,” Abilla says earnestly. “Overall, we just hope that in some way we can help influence our community for good and heal the divisions there are in our communities.”

It’s not the kind of flashy ambition most bands start out to achieve, but it’s a real one. If maybe in another dream, is any indication, the quiet approach might be the right one.

Make sure to follow Another Quiet Morning on Instagram. You can check out “a song for the deer that licked our hands” below.