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 #3
Los Angeles – The House Show to end all house shows
We crashed again with our friend Tony at his house after another overnight foray into Los Angeles. The venue we had originally booked suddenly closed with no warning two weeks before the show, and Tony put together an amazing house show that culminated in 100 or so people gathering outside his block for some of the best bands LA had to offer.
The experience was flattering to say the least. That someone states away would put together such a huge show for us left us at a loss for words, leading to heart felt good-bye’s the next moment whenever we set out for Flagstaff, Arizona. Little did we know that Flagstaff would juxtapose the night before an impressive amount.
Flagstaff – Hotel Monte Vista
Our one and only bar show, we set out for Flagstaff at 9 that morning anticipating a 3 hour show and a warm hotel bed. A few hours into our desert driving day we had a blow out on both of our back tires. Our 20+ year old van had been lowered before we bought it, and because of this, had become susceptible to having the tires torn open by the frame of the van, which happened.
After a two hour stop for tire changes, we set out again for Flagstaff, where we arrived to a double booked show. At some point in the booking process the show had been double booked between two events, and because of this, the night, and the money, and the rooms, had to be split between both shows. As the others arrived first, we found a hotel room on the outskirts of Flagstaff.
It sounds like a rough night, but we were all relieved. This night would be the ‘worst,’ and really wasn’t even that bad. We still played for a ton of people, we still got some pay, and we still had a good time. Before we left, we made the decision to treat this tour like a vacation with pay. So the days where we made no money, we just made fun instead. So when we finally arrived at our hotel at 3am, needing to leave at nine the next morning, that is exactly what we did
Las Vegas – The Warehouse
Luckily, Las Vegas was pure joy. We got into the city a few hours before we played and had a group coma at the house we were staying at in the hours preceding the show. The show for that night had been set up by a band we opened for in Houston a year and a half before, and they returned the favor tenfold. The group, Twin Cities, ran a DIY venue outside of Las Vegas called ‘The Warehouse,’ and packed the place like sardines. We kissed the City of Sin goodbye early that next morning, wondering if we should have gambled away the tour money, or continue onto Colorado Springs. Surprisingly, we made an adult decision
Colorado Springs – Zodiac Bar
This beautiful drive was the first time we had played in Colorado, almost everyone’s first time there too.
Our first entirely foreign stop, here we knew no-one. We came in contact with Zodiac Bar after a local musician heard about us looking for a show and wanted to be sure we were at a venue that took care of the bands; her own venue of course. The space was huge, and the bands that played with us were friendly. The Mostly Don’t’s were a funny, self-aware punk band that threw condoms into the crowd while they sang about STDs, their set inspiring antics that we would later utilize.
Dallas – Prophet Bar
This show had us FINALLY sharing the stage with some of our oldest friends, Pseudo Future. We met the group via their bass player, Patrick, who shared a love of Coheed and Cambria with us. The minute we met one another we knew a show was in order, and after a year or so of missed attempts, tonight we got to play one.
Besides playing with our best internet friends, we got to see a lot of old friends, and for our first time in Dallas, played to a pretty good number of people. It was here that we were all suddenly aware that the tour was over tomorrow. It was a bittersweet moment. The exhaustion had begun to encroach upon us all, evident in the slow pace at which we rose, and the half eyed look we had all taken on in photos. Regardless, the night was a wonderful set. The songs we had been playing for days on end were just as familiar to us as the lack of sleep, and it showed, for better or worse.
Baton Rouge – The Atomic Pop Shop
Here we are with the end. This show was added on at the last possible minute. We had a Friday left to fill on tour and knew we couldn’t end a 3 week spree of rabid driving and passionate playing on a Thursday night and decided on a whim to contact the only place we ever played east of Houston. We had stopped here in August after being invited by another local Houston band heading to Baton Rouge, and fell in love the minute we stepped in the venue. It was a record store with a tiny hallway leading into full venue in the back. Every person we met on our last visit came to see us this time, and it was just as hard to leave as last time. But considering the proximity to Houston, we bit the bullet and drove home over night.
We got home at 7 a.m. The tour was finally over. 21 shows, 7,500 miles, 7 states. Considering that we had only been on a 9 day tour before, we had no clue what to expect financially, but we came back a huge success. Because of this, we’re itching to get out again. We’ve been home for not even a day yet, and we’re already ready to set out again. The shows were phenomenal across the board, but the bonds and memories we forged outshined every minute on stage.
Read the other Vox Vocis tour diaries here.
