Emerging with heart and honest, raw energy in the Alt-rock scene, Texas-based band Olive Vox share genuine passion and sonic adrenaline with each track they release. The band is comprised of brothers Parker James [vocals] and Caden Shea [guitar], Dayton Phillips [drums], and Ben Reid [bass]. Following their live debut at a record store gig in 2021, the guys haven't missed a beat with crafting catchy yet authentic tracks that capture their true essence as artists.
Their latest track, "T.A.N.G.O.," delivers a fun yet confident twist on the band's creative chemistry while maintaining their ever-growing sound. I recently had the chance to chat with the guys about their path as musicians and how T.A.N.G.O. came to life. Here's what they had to say.
How did Olive Vox first come to life, and what has the journey looked like since then?
Parker: It kind of started with just me and my brother writing music. We had a downstairs music room, so we just kind of wrote music down there, and then one day we were like, "Let's make this serious," and then kind of created a band, and we found all the members from there. We found Dayton through Caden; he was his fourth-grade best friend, and we met Ben online. So, that's how that worked.
What initially drew you toward pursing music?
Caden: I guess, for me, it was just the way I was raised around a lot of different music. I could speak for everyone. I know that everyone here has been raised around music and our families are very supportive, so I feel that plays a big part into why we pursued the arts route, and I just love it; it's amazing.
James: Yeah, I think we've all individually been inspired by certain artists, like, "Wow, this is really cool," and we've all started separately but came together to make what the band is now.
What elements do you feel define your sound or sets you apart in the alt-rock space?
Parker: I think what defines us and sets us apart is that there's no band out there that has the same 4 dudes. We're 4 drastically different people from the rest of the world, not because we're special or anything, but just because we're different people. I think that alone will set people apart in themselves.
James: It's been our alma mater recently. Like, if we just are ourselves and we all contribute equally, then we make something that's completely unique and completely our DNA that's coded between the four of us. That is what brings on the uniqueness of the music.
How would you describe your creative chemistry when working together and how does the energy usually flow with everyone?
Caden: I feel like it's a really big thing to have trust within your members because when you're all trying to get ideas into the pot, it can get a little messy, and sometimes it just takes trusting each other and solely seeing each other's vision to kind of make that work. So, I feel that trust is one of the biggest things that we all value in the writing process and bringing in ideas. Everyone wants their say, but it is a four-man thing.
Would you say your songwriting process is mostly collaborative, or does it sometimes start from one member's initial idea?
Ben: I think how we kind of operate is one of us will bring in either a guitar part or a drum part, or a bass part, or a vocal thing, and we'll just play on it and jam on it for a while. Then each of our individual parts will build on it, and then we can be like, "Are we liking this? Are we not liking this?" and then we can build it out from there. Usually it starts from one person being like, "Hey, I made this and I really like it. Let's work with it."
Caden: Or someone just seeing the potential in something that isn't passing in practice. You never know when an idea is gonna strike. It comes out of nowhere at times, which is usually when the best songs are created in my opinion, but it just takes someone saying, "Hey, everyone stop and do that again." Just seeing the best in something, and everyone else just trusts that vision and goes like, "Ok, let's build something off that." That's always my favorite thing that happens. You just have to be patient for things like that. It just doesn't happen all the time.
What inspired your past releases, including your most recent one, "Dying Breath?"
Caden: Yeah, for sure. I think the inspiration is always important, and always being responsive to other bands and what they do, and just being in love with the process. I think just having that inspiration offhand is really important, but I don't know where the inspo for Dying Breath came from.
Ben: I don't either. I can't remember that far back.
Parker: I think we all just sat down and wrote it, and we're like, "Oh, that sounds really cool!"
Ben: A lot of it just flows. Especially when sometimes an idea doesn't land the first practice, it will be months of working a song out because some songs come instantly and some songs we kind of have to massage out a little bit. I feel like Dying Breath was one of them. We just would always play in our rehearsal space and practice spot every time we practiced, and it grew into being a more developed song.
What inspired your latest single T.A.N.G.O., and how would you describe its personality or meaning, if any?
Parker: T.A.N.G.O. was actually one of those last-minute songs. We were going into the studio, and we needed one more song. Our producer was like, "There needs to be one more song that you guys need to get, and it needs to be a good one." So we ended up coming out with T.A.N.G.O., and it was kind of sitting in our back pocket. I can't really say what inspired us, though, unless Ben has anything to add.
Ben: The way it went down from my perspective is we were rehearsing, and we went out to take a break because we had been rehearsing all day, and we got a text from our producer. He was like, "Hey, we need 5 songs, and I don't think we have the fifth one yet. You all just go for it," and this was probably a week and a half out from pre-production and starting the recording process. Caden had the idea, and I think at that point it was still a voice memo, and it was just the chorus. Then, we all came up to our practice space, and we were all playing and adding parts. I think I played something on bass, and I was like, "What if this melody was on guitar?" and then it kind of melded into what T.A.N.G.O. is so it was one that flowed very easily. It was also one where we all locked it into place pretty quickly.
Caden: And it came from four different perspectives. Like, four different people putting in a different word. It really was like our collaborative child.
Parker: It was weird. It kind of started totally random. Like, for example, sometimes it gets written in the practice space or wherever. Caden came over to my apartment one day, and he was like, "Hey, I got this riff I'm working on. It's pretty cool." He played it, and in the chorus it says T.A.N.G.O. I was like, "What if it spells out something?"
Caden: We actually landed on T.A.N.G.O. that night. It was a random placeholder lyric and he was like, "T.A.N.G.O. It's the only thing that rhymes. It's the only 5 letter thing that ends with O. That's the thing.
Parker: That's funny. So that's how that song came to be.
What do you want listeners to experience or connect with when they hear this song?
Parker: I don't know, just fun. I mean, it's an upbeat song.
Ben: It's more lighthearted. I think sometimes we can easily take ourselves too seriously and write about really heavy subjects, so this is kind of the fun one. It's a little more lighthearted, and it's not so serious. I guess what we're addressing in the song is serious, but the part in a relationship that the song is referencing is the blissful, shitty parts of it. It's lighthearted, and you know it's not good, but you're still going back to this person. I think we wanted it to embody that blissful ignorance, and I think we did.
Which of your songs feels the most fulfilling or meaningful to you when you listen back? What sets it apart from your other songs?
Parker: For me personally, there's this song hopefully on the way soon called 14 Years. That one's really cool to me. I like the subject matter. I like the way the instrumentation came out and just the whole song. So, that one for me. I know you can't go listen to it right now, but when it comes out, you'll get it. You'll understand why I feel that way.
Dayton: For me, it's also an unreleased song we have right now. It's called Dive. It's just a good song to show how far I think we've gone from the previous stuff we've written to this. It's a new sound for sure, but it definitely still holds some of our old values and just the way we write stuff, so that one for me is probably my favorite.
Ben: I think every single song that we write is always going to be like that next step from my perspective. Every time we're writing a song that I'm excited for, that's where my mind's at. Obviously all the new stuff I'm thrilled about. Like what Dayton was getting at, it's really like a marker on how far we've come songwriting-wise and just how we've stretched our legs as a band, but I will say to me, one of those markers is T.A.N.G.O. It is kind of in my head as the entrance to our truly collaborative space of songwriting. That's one song where we could go down the list of everything that's in the song and split it four ways so cleanly and so easily, but I think that yielded a very unique and cool product. So, to me that's like the new era of Olive Vox, and I feel like every song is a new era, but yeah, for me it's T.A.N.G.O.
Caden: Yeah, I have to follow up with that too. I think T.A.N.G.O., as lighthearted as it is, is one of my favorites just because I guess I'm more into that type of stuff when listening to music. It's just something I can get my spirits up with and make me feel something I'm not feeling in that moment. For me, the ones that you can't hear, T.A.N.G.O., for sure. Absolutely.
What are you most looking forward to in this next phase of the band and how do you see yourselves continuing to grow from here?
Caden: Honestly, I feel like I'll speak for myself, but I know the other boys think this too: touring is going to be the best experience for us. It's just defiantly being out on the road, and we all feel connected, and most are in our element when we're playing live, so I think touring for sure. That's me, though.
Ben: I agree. I think the touring is going to be a big part of it, and also we finally have the support to do what we need to do. We can spend a lot of time writing songs, and we can spend a lot of time rehearsing. So, we don't have to struggle to do that, and that's really exciting—to be able to write new music. I feel with this past experience we've had with recording music, we're all still kind of starry-eyed about how we can just do what we want, and we can yield the product we want, and we can all work together and write together. It's such a collaborative space now, and I think that is the flag of the new era. That sort of DNA is ours.
Parker: You look at every band that is somebody, and you can go down their discography, and you can see their progression as musicians, as a group, or whatever. That's something that I hope to see in the future, and I think we will see it. It's just every time we're gonna get in that studio, it's going to be a new us in a way. I feel every musician out there is constantly trying to find a way to reinvent themselves and push themselves further. So, yeah, me personally, after getting done with recording in Nashville this last time, I can't wait to get back in there. I now have so many more ideas, and I'm pretty sure all of us do.
Dayton: I would add onto that, just obviously touring but also getting back into the studio and keep pushing more and more music out. I see so many bands; they'll release an album and then 5 years of nothing. Like, they'll be out playing shows, but also their fans have to wait a really long time to get new music, and I don't want that. I want to be consistent in the studio and pumping music out and release songs just so people have consistent music to stream and listen to.
What do you think is important for listeners to know about who you are as a band?
Ben: Come to our shows, please. That's where we can connect with our fans. We connect musically, but I think our shows are what has always been the thing about us. When the recording music hasn't been on point, our shows have been on point. That's been the foundation, so if you want to see us in our true form and our element, then come to our shows.
Caden: Yeah, you have to come to our shows. It really ties the music to something, and it ties it all together into the actual Olive Vox that we try to portray in our shows. I feel like once you hear the music on Spotify and you come to a show, then it makes sense. That's a good point.
Ben: Yeah, if you're skeptical about us. Just come to a show. You'll figure it out, one way or another.
Dayton: You bring the energy to our shows.
Caden: You're not going to be standing still, that's for sure. You'll have fun.
