Voxhaul Broadcast Relive a Bad Trip at SXSW

Posted on Mar 20th 2011 7:45PM by Tina Benitez-Eves
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Kayt Jones

In their second-to-last SXSW show (of seven) Voxhaul Broadcast spiraled through a brief set at the PureVolume House. With no time to waste, the Orange County, Calif. quartet filled the next 25 minutes with six songs, mostly from their debut -- 'Timing is Everything' -- even sharing one story about a bad trip that inspired a great song.

Just two days earlier at the band's Filter magazine showcase, singer David Dennis, whose semblance to the later singer Jeff Buckley up close is striking, described their 'Timing' track 'Cheetah,' one of the most anthemic and anticipated tracks of their set, as a (drug) trip gone bad.

The story: Dennis was driving the band's van to rehearsal at a Los Angeles studio when the mushrooms that he took earlier started to kick in. As the hallucinogens flooded his mind, he parked the unlocked van and went inside and spent the rest of the night writing the punk-driven 'Cheetah.' By the next morning, the van was gone. Lesson learned, but in retrospect, the band laughs at the incident. It's just part of rock 'n' roll.

Throughout their set, bassist Phillip Munsey II sang along to each song, sometimes closing his eyes absorbing the music around him. Dennis jumped up on the monitors in front bent into the audience during the chanty 'Loose Chains' to the bouncing audience. His vocals filling in the monitor. The band, who will be heading on tour with Rooney and head out to the UK beginning this April, thundered through the rest of the brief set, closing on 'Backrooms' from their first EP.

Voxhaul have come a long way since their 2008 EP debut, 'Rotten Apples,' with their debut, out March 22, and produced by Tom Biller (Silversun Pickups)."We're a stronger band," said guitarist Anthony Aguiar. Dennis agrees and says that all the touring has really helped the band build itself into another beast.

"We just always wanted to play rock music," says Dennis. "We find what gets us lost. The freedom on stage is what means so much to me. That's what it's all about."