It has been just over a year since VEXED fully entered the fold with their debut record, Culling Culture. A record that invoked righteous indignation, introspectiveness and the struggles of life. While Culling Culture might be defined by it’s pre-breakdown calls of “You and your fucking big mouth” in “Hideous“, or the shotgun vocals of “Narcissist“, the record truly captures the heart on its human moments within “Epiphany” and “Aurora“. With some tracks written as far back as 2017, vocalist Megan Targett has had time for plenty of time to reflect on their past work, “The sound we’re trying to go for now is far more mature and different, so it’s like a love/ick relationship. I love it to pieces, but I look back on it with a little bit of an ick.“.
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With live shows and festivals back in full swing, VEXED have been occupied by the present. Returning to the stage with In Flames, it provided a shock to the system, “It was like ‘Oh by the way, do you want to go on tour with In Flames in a month?’ We couldn’t say no really. So it was very last minute, we just had to throw ourselves into it and get on with it.” Alongside this, VEXED performed as a headliner act on the Pulse Of The Maggots livestream. “We actually filmed that back in July of 2021, so they’re old live sessions.” reveals Meg, “We shared it around with a few publications and then Knotfest stepped up and they really liked it and would love to share it.“. Now with the videos racking up tens of thousands of views, the patience seems to have paid off.
Now VEXED face arguably their most notable live show to date, supporting Spiritbox on their dual London headliner. Sparked by a innocent tweet responding to the announcement, “@spiritboxband in London you say!?“, it set off a chain reaction of fans believing VEXED would be on the line up. “Everybody kept tweeting us saying ‘Oh VEXED are playing it’ and we were like ‘We’re genuinely not, we haven’t been asked to.'” The noise generated by this clearly made enough sound that it resulted in the Canadian unit including the quartet on the double-header of shows, “One day randomly when I was cleaning out the chicken coops at home, I got a notification on my phone saying ‘Spiritbox have asked if you want to support them’ and I was mega excited. That’s how it happened, and I think it was down to having Spiritbox fans just being the coolest people.” Performing alongside fellow UK group Static Dress on the Monday, and Caskets on the Tuesday, VEXED are undoubtly going to leave their mark on punters turning up to one of the hottest tickets in town in recent years.
Within a blink of an eye, VEXED will be performing at one of the UK’s largest metal festivals, Tech-Fest, a festival that holds a special place in Megan’s heart. “That is like our home, VEXED played our first ever show there. It was the first thing as a band, because prior to that, we had smaller shows lined up and all of them in the most random way being cancelled.” As it has done to many bands globally, live shows have given VEXED much needed momentum and joy, “You see comments and see messages from people saying they love the album, but you can’t really comprehend it until you actually meet those people. Now that we can actually go out and tour, it’s definitely given us a kick up the ass and a confidence boost. It feels real again.“
In amongst all this, it’s difficult not to wonder what the future holds for the Hertfordshire group. Returning to writing in November of last year, VEXED put together a roadmap for LP2 song-by-song, with the resulting product being shelved. “It was the case of over the last year, at least for me has been incredibly hard, very painful, and I was just like ‘I want to write an album about it.’ So when I started writing about all these experiences, I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t begun to process those things myself, let alone explain it through music. Eventually we will write an album about that, but not yet.“. With a heavier and more mature record than Culling Culture now in the works, Megan adds “It’ll be very heavy, but with far more finesse and substance.“.
With a new record will come a new aesthetic for VEXED, “We’re going to have a complete 180 and change it up“, reveals Targett. The fire red and barbed wire too being outgrown, a new era of VEXED awaits on the horizon for their fanbase. With Megan continuing, “Colour themes, everything, will be a complete change. It’ll be really fun, since we need it.” The question that follows next is when. “We have set ourselves a deadline for when we have to go into the studio, so we have to get the album written before then.”. With the possibility of a single before 2022 closes out, there could be new material to give fans a taste of what is to come in 2023, “Before the end of the year, you should see a single, and the beginning of next year, an album hopefully. That’s the plan.“.
To bridge the gap and to give followers of VEXED plenty to indulge in, they will be following in the footsteps of the likes of Alpha Wolf, Northlane and Spiritbox in launching their own Patreon. “It’s definitely something we’ve wanted to do for ages, but just haven’t had the time. We also want to make sure we have several months worth of stuff so people won’t be disappointed one month to the next.“. The Patreon will come with a single tier for everyone, coming with weekly uploads and a monthly podcast.
For those who follow Megan’s Instagram stories, they will be well aware of the small family of ducks she keeps among other animals, “It’s Quacky‘s birthday today, which sounds so stupid but he’s two today and I’ve been singing “Happy Birthday” to him every time I see him.” And with this it’s difficult not to see why they have connected with fans, some artists in and out of their music stand on a brittle pedestal, yet VEXED are a group who feel down to earth alongside their listeners in the day to day joys and struggles of life. While VEXED may avert the gaze and attention of the wider ‘scene‘, it’s evident that the close-knit unit are starting to thrive in spite of this. For now, VEXED will showcase their talent and ability to a sold out London crowd this coming Monday and Tuesday.
You can read our review of Culling Culture, here, and find VEXED on the following socials; Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Discord