There was a time when Strings & Heart wanted nothing to do with music. The three brothers from Tucson, Arizona—Angelo, Michael and Eric Espinosa—spent their childhood being dragged into piano lessons and church band rehearsals, resentfully plunking keys and strumming chords under the watchful eyes of their parents who once had a Christian rock band of their own.
As kids, they saw music as an obligation—a chore. Now, they see it as a calling.
“It was like, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it with all your heart,’” Angelo recalls, referencing the family mantra that eventually became their band’s namesake. “At the time, we didn’t want to do it at all.”
That changed in 2019 when, fresh off a transformative encounter with Jesus, Angelo approached his brothers with a proposition: What if they formed a band—not a church band, not a group forced into playing Sunday morning specials—but a real band, one that wrote its own songs and shaped its own sound?
They called it Strings & Heart, a name pulled from Psalms 150’s call to worship with every instrument available. It was a nod to their roots but also a commitment to creating music authentically—without the pressure of labels, formulas or expectations. Four years later, the brothers went all in, leaving behind any side gigs to pursue music full-time. Their timing couldn’t have been better.
For decades, Christian music has been dominated by industry gatekeepers—radio programmers, record labels and mainstream church culture—determining which sounds and messages were fit for mass consumption. The result was a genre that often felt predictable, formulaic even sanitized. But that’s changing.
Thanks to the rise of social media and streaming platforms, a new generation of independent artists is breaking through without the need for corporate backing. Strings & Heart is among them, joining the ranks of artists like Josiah Queen and Forrest Frank who are reshaping what it means to make faith-driven music.
“It’s so cool because people have wanted to do this for a long time,” Angelo explains. “But they couldn’t, because the industry only played certain kinds of songs. If you didn’t fit the mold, you weren’t getting played which meant you weren’t making a living.”
That’s no longer the case. Thanks to platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Spotify’s algorithm-driven playlists, artists can connect with listeners directly—no label, no middleman, no gatekeepers required. One viral moment can change everything. For Strings & Heart, that moment came in 2023 when their song “Flower Stress in Blue” took off online, pushing their monthly Spotify listeners from a modest 13,000 to nearly a million.
“We didn’t pay for marketing. We didn’t boost posts. It was just social media,” Angelo says. “It’s crazy how one song connecting can change the game.”
Strings & Heart isn’t interested in being boxed into a genre. When asked how they describe themselves, they settle on “indie Christian”—a broad enough label to capture their ethos without limiting their sound. Their inspirations range from The Beatles and Nirvana to Switchfoot and The Beach Boys, and their music reflects that range. Some songs lean into surf rock, others veer toward indie pop. Their upcoming album, Plastic Wine, cements their identity in indie rock but the brothers remain open to evolution.
“We can do whatever we want. We don’t have a label saying, ‘You have to sound like this,’” Angelo says. “It’s freeing.”
That freedom extends beyond sound. Thematically, Plastic Wine is an album about rejecting the artificial in favor of the real—starting with faith. The title was inspired by a church service where their pastor urged the congregation to recognize the weight of communion, not just go through the motions. The phrase “plastic wine” became a metaphor for anything hollow, anything performed without conviction.
“It made me think: What have I been doing that’s just going through the motions? What’s been fake?” Angelo says. “People are looking for authenticity. It’s what our generation craves.”
And authenticity is what they’re aiming to deliver. Their lyrics are rooted in real experiences—wrestling with faith, navigating doubt, encountering grace. Nothing is overly polished or cleaned up for the sake of palatability. It’s a raw, honest approach that’s resonating with listeners far beyond traditional Christian music circles.
“We get comments all the time like, ‘I don’t follow Jesus, but I love this,’” Angelo says. “That’s huge. That means something’s connecting.”
As they gear up for their first headlining tour and prepare to release Plastic Wine, the band remains independent but open to possibilities. They’ve had conversations with labels but they’re in no rush to sign. They know firsthand how quickly the industry is shifting, how the rules are being rewritten in real time. If the right opportunity comes, they’ll consider it. But they’re not looking to trade their independence for a deal that doesn’t align with their vision.
“Our goal is to never compromise for the sake of whatever,” Angelo says. “We’re not knocking on doors. If something fits, great. But we’re not changing who we are.”
That mindset reflects a broader shift happening in Christian music. The DIY movement isn’t just about breaking free from labels. It’s about redefining what Christian music can sound like, who it can reach and how it can exist outside the industry’s historically rigid boundaries.
“You don’t need the gatekeepers anymore,” Angelo says. “You can make the music you want to make and find your people.”
Strings & Heart has found their path forward. And they’re only getting started.
