After a 12 year hiatus, Voxtrot is writing new songs, releasing a new album, and setting sail on a long voyage for a tour. Put another way, Voxtrot’s back, baby. The Texas favorites visit Urban Lounge on Thursday, April 2, to perform songs from their latest, Dreamers In Exile. Doors are at 7pm.
Once upon a time, Voxtrot’s future seemed all but assured. EPs were greedily devoured. Concerts were breathlessly energetic. Music bloggers adored them.
Success is a funny phenomenon, though. It wasn’t so much a “too much, too soon” scenario, but something else entirely. Frontman Ramesh Srivastava shared that the band’s long absence wasn’t planned: when Voxtrot broke up, he thought that was it for them. Period. That chapter of his life was all but over.
“Like many bands before ours, that turned out not to be true,” Srivastava says.
“The transition from being a band with no external pressures to one signed to a major label like Beggars Group was a lot of pressure,” Srivastava says. “Suddenly we were the focus of this huge machine and I didn’t know how to handle that. It’s a lot to take on when you’re 22.”
Lucky for them — and for the fans who liked them so much their first time around — the group regrouped at last, and their new music sounds like they never stopped.
“One reason I wanted to disband initially is I’d seen so many bands hang on into a land of diminishing returns. They continued to put out records, but did it because they felt they should, because that was the job,” Srivastava says. “What’s funny is now I have respect for that now that I’m back in it, and I’m obsessed with it. I love everything, even the hard work. Even when it’s not exciting, it’s good to do, because, yes, it is the job. I didn’t feel that way back then.”
After spending several long years in L.A. doing what probably passed as soul searching — putting out a couple of solo albums, playing some shows, and so on — the band’s climbing back into a 16-passenger van and hitting the road across the country and Europe. They’re ready to prove they still have lots of gas left in their proverbial tank and it shows.
Pitchfork even lauded their latest effort with more than a passing grade, something Srivastava admits would have meant the world a dozen years ago, but still feels pretty great now.
“I’ve always prided myself on my willingness to follow my heart, especially with having a music career in the first place. Many people — even those who cared about me — told me it was a bad idea. But I believed in it, and it worked out the first time around. When it got really hard, not just with Voxtrot breaking up, but also being a solo artist, pushing so hard and not getting very good returns, I still followed my heart through all of that. I believed it was the right thing to reunite the band and work through all of the logistical obstacles. The positive feedback I’ve heard from others, and the fact we get to take this thing on the road again, it’s super validating.”
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CAPTION FOR FEATURED IMAGE: Voxtrot performs at Kilby Court on April 2, 2026. Photo by Annie Gunn.
