Brought together from all over Texas, Vox Vocis is what happens when The Mars Volta meets Coheed and Cambria. The group has been together for the last four years, passionately chasing their dreams of stardom with hard work in the lively music community of Houston, where they have created undeniable, in-your-face progressive rock. With years of brotherhood behind them, Vox Vocis is set up for a release you can’t miss and a tour that you have to see.
Produced and recorded by Stephen Adwell of AMR Studios, and mastered by Mike Watts (Theory of a Deadman, The Dear Hunter, Story of the Year), the band’s first release, In The Arms of the Sun, was released January 22, 2016.
“The record is a culmination of things set in motion four years back. Besides containing a story we wrote as a band, it contains four years of struggle; the empty venues, the endless drives, and the times we thought we were done, but came back better for it. We want people to hear the tale we’ve put together, and through it hear the love we put into the album in the years that we wrote it,” explains drummer Zachary Burton.
Though the group has had a myriad of line-ups over the years, today they like to consider themselves a trio, with Alex Vaquera fronting the band, singing and playing guitar, Alejandro Nunez playing bass, and Zachary Burton drumming. Currently, the boys are out on a tour, a three week run up and down the West Coast. Vox Vocis has shared the stage with a number of heavy hitters including The Ongoing Concept, Hail the Sun, Stolas, Icarus the Owl, and Eidola.
Vox Vocis Tour Diary #1
Webster – Scout Bar
Like most tours we started ours with a few shows around our hometown. Initially we booked 20 shows but when the opportunity popped up to play another home show in Webster (south of Houston), following our album release, we jumped at the opportunity. We figured it would help us get more practice with our new line-up; this tour would be the first time we played as a five piece. This tour held a lot of firsts; we were supporting an album, we were playing for three weeks, and most importantly, we were touring in our newly purchased van.
Denton – JJ’s Pizza
And trouble found us quickly. The first night we were driving, the van died an hour outside of Denton. We left the lights on for what couldn’t have been more than two minutes, and it died. After 25 frantic minutes, with the help of the friendly locals, we got started and were only two hours late for load in. We played for a small but emphatic group of people crowded into the basement of a pizza parlor. Hands down, getting paid in free pizza was the best part of this stop.
Austin – Lucky Lounge
Parking here was a fiasco. We looped the venue countless times before we realized it was closed, and when we came back we loaded into a narrow alleyway behind it. We were lucky enough to meet an incredibly supportive online fan at this show, and chose to drive to San Antonio that night instead of the next day. Our bassist and front man, Alejandro and Alex, had family that would house us, so we made the night trek.
San Antonio – Jack’s Patio Bar and Grill
San Antonio is always one of our favorite places to play. Alejandro’s family always welcomes us with open arms, loading us up with water snacks and giving us a bed to sleep in, versus the usual floor in a sleeping bag.
We played at Jack’s Patio Bar, the same venue we played during our first ever out of town show nearly two years ago, and had a tiny family reunion. Alejandro and Alex played in a band together in San Antonio before, and members of that band opened up the show for us.
El Paso – King X’s Bar
El Paso was hectic. The venue had changed twice, and we got hit with a blizzard on our way there. We didn’t know what to expect. When we got to the venue it was more of a pool hall than it was a concert, but the owner was so kind-hearted. He had taken on the show as a favor for the previous venue who cancelled due to the freezing weather outside, and helped set us up for a successful night.
After no pay agreement was made, he still paid us, and fed the whole band from his restaurant next door. This was on top of the great turnout we got to play to, with our favorite locals. One of the bands we played with last time had a member pass away during the time between the two tours—but coming back to play with the new band the former member had made was really inspiring to watch. I think more than playing, we loved seeing her perform with her new act.
Tempe – Yucca Tap Room
We played with a wide variety of impressive locals but our first time in Tempe wasn’t without its trials. On the plus side, Alejandro bought a dress. We’re not sure why yet. Considering how much time we’d actually get to sleep, we decided to drive through the night to LA which was a regrettable decision. A few hours into our drive we were pulled over because our tail lights weren’t functioning and were ticketed. When we finally arrive at LA, nearly 10 hours after we had left, tour fatigue had set in.
Los Angeles – Silverlake Lounge
After staying with our oldest fan, Tony, in an ancient RV outside his house, we had delicious Thai food and played on Sunset Boulevard. We knew Tony from Instagram where he played short snips of songs by bands that we also followed. It was only a matter of time before we’d cross paths and when we did Tony became our biggest fan. The venue was a narrow hallway that was packed by the time we got to play, and we saw some of our favorite locals, The Masonry, that set us up really nicely last time we were in LA.
Chico – The 1078
We played The 1078 on our last visit to Chico, and the juxtaposition between these two stops was wild. Last time we played on a Sunday, when school was out for the summer, and only played for a handful of people. This time, we played on a Friday in the middle of the school year, to a rambunctious house of 60 people. The entire band had a blast. The front row of the crowd was full of people who knew the songs just as well as we did, jamming and singing along, and we got to see some new fans that we hadn’t had a chance to meet in person yet. Additionally, we saw our ‘band mom,’ Christina Springer who runs the 1078, who let us stay at her house and took care of us.
The tour is off to a wonderful start. Compared to what you hear about tours playing day after day of dead venues, with no money made, we’re experiencing a lot of success. Completely new people have approached us to talk about loving the album. In each city we’ve experienced welcoming locals at every show that are excited to talk, and offer us a place to stay. We can’t wait to see what the next two weeks hold.
