Interview // Tony Garcia - The Vox Arcanum
We'd like to introduce Tony Garcia (Lead Singer/Rhythm Guitarist) of The Vox Arcanum as our very first interview guest!
As a short prelude Tony G. founded The Vox Arcanum back in 2014 and quickly formed it into an intricate story of love and conflict that goes a lot deeper than this simple sentence portrays. The bands music and lyrics take you on a journey and every song connects to the next in more than one way.
Without further a due,
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Hello Tony, glad you agreed to do this little interview, I know how your schedule's been pretty hectic lately, can you tell us a little about how that's been? Compared to, say, the same time last year?
Tony G: Hectic is the exact way to describe it, haha. In the last 6 months leading up to the release of our album I picked up a second job putting me out there 7 days a week. In between 2 jobs, studio time, filing all the forms to make the band an official business, mastering the album, rehearsing with the band, trying to compose new music, keeping in touch with dozens of publications for coverage on the release, working on our upcoming music video/teaser, I barely get any time to breathe. But the final product is absolutely worth every second of effort. Circa This time last year we were riding the hype of playing our first show at The House of Blues and we were kicking out the shows non stop in an effort to push TVA on the scene. And round about June of last year (11 months ago) we sat down and began to orchestrate the plan to release professional music. Nearly a year later and we are pretty much in order to show the world what we got.
A lot bands don't usually follow a linear story when writing their songs, The Vox Arcanum is something different, maybe some people don't realize how deep it goes, would be great if you could give us a brief glimpse of what it's about.
T: We here in TVA love conceptual rock, and I myself am absolutely crazy for it. Concept albums were just the start, and I began to fall in love with bands that dedicated themselves entirely to their concept, across MULTIPLE albums. Coheed and Cambria, The Dear Hunter, and even Gorillaz are in this category. The depth and scope of great story telling in music can really take the helm with the amount of music available to portray it. And so we became that. Our concept is a little different, however. Whereas some concepts are the linear progression of a protagonist, ours is the infinite progression of a character that can only be described as a true chaotic neutral. The Vox Arcanum. I could write pages and pages about how this album is more an exploration of the illusion of choice, more than DIRECTLY of The Vox Arcanum himself. So perhaps in another interview I can delve deeper into the abyss with that question, haha.
Going back to the DIY self release of this album and knowing that it's an expensive and stressful affair, what exactly made you want to push out an entire record on your own (as a band) rather than, say, waiting on a label to do all the work like most others do?
T: Well, we figured it was time. As a band that has been around since 2014 and performing since 2015, we have up there on stage delivering performances to audiences without having anything for them to take home, besides a shirt or poster. No real recordings are out there of The Vox Arcanum. Not even a fully realized demo. Round about this l Time last year we began to receive a bit of guidance and outside help from Armando Flores, who encouraged us and pushed us to begin the process or releasing professional music. At first it was one EP, but we had so much material we turned it into a double EP with each one to be released 6 months apart, then it turned into an album, and here we are. We also figure that the scene is a DIY scene right now anyhow, and that waiting for a label isn't as necessary as it used to be. I mean sure the finances are helpful, but right now when it comes to your own music and art we feel what the strongest move to make is to go out and get it.
Not many bands take that step, so major props for that. As for the future, what's the plan for the rest of the year, after the release of the record?
T: Shows, shows, and more shows. We have been on a small hiatus for the last 6 months due to completing the album. But after 2 years straight of gigging I feel it was a necessary step back so that once the album drops and we get back in the swing of things our drive and ambition will be entirely renewed. We have been itching to get back out there. We are looking at a widesoread distribution of our album, digitally its going everywhere. All the major streaming services, and online purchasing sites of course. Depending on how well the release goes over (we are optimistic, considering the attention of many out of state friends) we intend to invest a lot of the revenue back into the band of course, and hopefully soon enough into an official touring van. We have new merch, t shirt designs, the album, streaming services and online sales, and plus paid gigs as well, I feel confident we can rack up the funds if we go hard enough. He technically have half of LP2 ready to go, delving deeper into our concept and exploring new genre territories, too. But we gotta ride out LP1 first, of course.
It's great to see you guys already have new material lined up. Once again, thank you so much for taking the time! Please let everyone reading this know what the new Vox Arcanum record is named and when they can expect it to be out. As a final goodbye you have to challenge 3 other musicians/artists/friends to do this interview with The Collective, GO!
Tony G: The official title Of our debut album is "Of Time and Fate" and it's due out this Summer. If all goes well it should be released before the end of June. Singles and videos due within a matter of weeks! My 3 picks for other artists are... Wolf Rage, Mad Survivor, and PsydeShow. Thanks again for having me, we are extremely excited for this release, as it embodies exactly everything we want to share with our fans. And it's only the start.
The Vox Arcanum 'Of Time and Fate' due out this Summer, for now enjoy their live performance at the world famous Anaheim House of Blues.
