The Many Adventures of Zax Vandal

By Jonathan Bristow

Vince Meneses - the veteran Filipino singer-songwriter from Portland, OR, who performs under the moniker Zax Vandal - is finding new life, vitality and inspiration with age. On a journey that began with his fathers love of Englebert Humperdink, a coming of age in the underground crusty punk rock scene, and a transformative season with Billy Joel’s “The Stranger” coming into fatherhood, the eclectic musician is now stepping back into his music as a solo performer, after the pandemic and the heartbreaking dissolution of his band.

Vince Meneses feels very lucky. 

Despite life’s many hardships and challenges, in some form or another since his youth, he has been able to keep his rock ‘n’ roll dream alive. 

And that’s been no easy task.

Ever bright and optimistic, even after an intensely difficult season of life, Vince is getting back out there. Recently playing shows again as Zax Vandal, he is rebuilding a band and brand  around himself, though this time around, as a solo artist. And whether it’s the gray hairs that come with age, or the actual wisdom gained from the myriad of hardships he has navigated becoming a seasoned adult, the gifted singer-songwriter is finding a new audience gravitating toward him and his heartfelt tunes.

A Zax Vandal renaissance.

Cassette Tapes and a Bass Guitar

The musical journey began for Vince with his Filipino father’s love of Englebert Humperdink bops. A lover of disco and karaoke, Vince recalls his dad’s diverse vibes ranging everywhere from the Beach Boys to UB40 to Shaggy. 

But even more than those musical roots, it was his parents’ consistent encouragement of his music that Vince credits as carrying him in his pursuits over the years. The opportunities to study music, as Vince did in his undergraduate work at Marylhurst University, and perform as he has over the years were something that his dad never had where he was from. 

His father fought very hard and gave everything so that Vince could have what he has.

Coming up, his first cassettes were Neil Diamond’s “Greatest Hits” and the Beach Boys’ “Endless Summer,” before discovering the majesty that was Tower Records, a revelation in his world, where he would walk away with the first Presidents of the United States of America album and a couple Weird Al records.

But the real rock ‘n’ roll magic happened for him the day he traded his skateboard to his sisters’ punk-rocker boyfriend for a bass guitar.

That was it for him.

He would never be the same.

Playing every day, day-in, day-out, music would become a safe haven, a refuge and outlet for Vince during his often tumultuous teenage years. 

That same punk-rock boyfriend of his sisters’ took Vince to his first Warped Tour, at which he was equally mesmerized and intoxicated by the crowd’s response and energy as he was with any of the bands he saw on stage.

It was transcendent.

And he wanted that. 

The energy. 

The atmosphere. 

He wanted to play for the crowds.

Crusty Punk Rock and First Gigs

Linking up with buddies in high school, forming his first band and obsessively attending every possible show they could make together, Vince would find salvation in the PDX crusty punk rock scene of the early 00s. 

While he never got as far in his anarchy dreams as growing his own vegetable garden in an abandoned building, the close knit community and the visceral nature of the music - the heavy, melodic guitars and guttural vocals - resonated deeply with the angry teen coming of age. Though his high school band would only ever land three gigs in those formative years, hanging out at all the house shows - where several bands would play and share members between them (some of the musicians playing all night long!) - made an indelible imprint on Vince’s soul. 

In a very real way, the music and the community very well may have saved his life.

Once in college, Vince set aside the treasured bass and picked up an acoustic, beginning to write new material for himself as a solo artist. With a sound that blended the ethos and energy of his crusty punk rock, inevitably combined with those Englebert Humperdink and Beach Boys vibes that resided deep in his spirit, Vince began to truly find himself as a musician for the first time. 

As luck would have it, he would land his first solo gig when a friend of his had to back out of a show and they needed someone to fill in!

Gigs kept coming, and it was a good thing too, because the money he began making as an emerging saloon-scene musician around Portland was the way he fed himself during college.

As Vince continued to hone in his sound, develop his craft as a songwriter, and gig consistently throughout Portland, this early solo period would culminate for him with a string of dates at legendary Old Town punk venue The Satyricon (the longest-running punk rock venue in the Western United States) before it’s closure in 2010, gracing the same stage upon which it is said that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love first met, and where Dave Grohl played his first Foo Fighters set.

Billy Joel and the Zax Vandal Era

According to Vince, every young man finds his way to “The Stranger” by Billy Joel.

It’s a thing of destiny. 

For Vince, “The Stranger” is a symbol of transition. 

A musical transition for him, to be sure. 

But more than that, it symbolizes Vince’s transition from young-adult into parenthood, with the birth of his first son.

It symbolizes growing up.

A deconstruction and remaking of self.

Which naturally, for Vince, was an invitation for a reinvention of the music as well.

In 2011, now a young father and married to his first wife, Vince debuted the Zax Vandal moniker for the first time, an homage to his daredevil nickname from the 5th grade and his childhood aspirations of becoming a stuntman.

The band began as a duo with his wife, initially accompanying him on the drums before eventually moving over to bass as they grew into a four-piece ensemble, complete with a cello and Vince’s best friend taking over on the drums.

Continuing to gig around town and developing their reputation and tight-knit sound around Vince’s compositions, Zax Vandal continued to ascend in the Portland scene during the 2010s, building a loyal following and playing everywhere from Pioneer Square to the renowned Kink Live Lounge.

The band was tight. 

The band was rising.

The band was family.

But as we all know, family can become… complicated.

Over time, the relationship between Vince and his wife began to unravel, and eventually ended in a painful divorce. And as their relationship unraveled, naturally, the band began to come apart as well. 

The performances during the final months of the band were especially painful and awkward as the songs Vince was performing with his family were literally songs about their family falling apart. They were standing six feet apart on stage, performing through the pain with songs about the pain.

After the divorce went final, Vince would continue Zax Vandal as a duo for a time with his drummer, and after the onset of the pandemic in 2020 would even complete the recording and production of the band’s self-titled Zax Vandal album, which he released independently in 2021. 

But in the strangest bit of irony, in the midst of the pandemic, the completion of the album seemed to mark the bitter end of Zax Vandal.

Gray Hairs and New Beginnings

Healing is a beautiful thing. 

And when we allow for healing to work its long process in us and through us, it’s remarkable how, oftentimes, we find ourselves with new opportunities. 

New beginnings. 

Which is exactly what has unfolded for Vince recently. 

Now happily remarried, a father of three, and having spent significant time away from Portland (and the music scene all together) for a season of life, to Vince’s amusement, Zax Vandal is unexpectedly rising from the ashes as new opportunities are finding their way to him.

Healing can be magnetic like that.

The return began with a desire to give back to the music community.

Vince was awarded a grant to join a cohort with Open Signal Community Media, his desire being to take the learning and skills he was developing in videography and broadcasting to develop a platform that would showcase local talent, becoming an amplifier for emerging voices and helping the community discover new and important art.

This work with Open Signal resulted in Vince’s own local cable access show, the Zax Vandal Show, which he affectionately describes as the Filipino Wayne’s World! 

All of Vince’s production endeavors were intended to be his pivot away from his own work and music, focusing on helping others with their projects. 

But lo and behold…

The more projects that have come along, and the more connections Vince has made in these new endeavors, the more his new community has recognized Vince’s special talent and the importance of his vision, urging him to pick Zax Vandal back up and include his own art as an integral part of his efforts to elevate others in town.

What a beautiful gift it is when our calling is recognized and impressed upon us by others, especially when we’re not looking for it!

Zax Vandal is back. 

And as Vince finds his way into more projects and new connections across the city, an exciting new chapter for the gifted singer-songwriter is unfolding.

The Emerging Scene and Hope for a Better Tomorrow

Vince has found himself re-energized and revitalized by the young bands and musicians he’s getting to know and playing alongside right now. Especially refreshed and inspired by the growing representation of young Filipinos and other AAPI and BIPOC artists, as well as the deeply seeded activism of the next bands up, he’s encouraged by the kind of dedication and integrity these new young artists bring to the causes and communities they represent. Having recently played a show to raise funds for Palestinians suffering under the genocide in Gaza, he’s filled with hope as he’s finding young, passionate players who know their stuff, who take time to educate themselves about what’s happening in the world, and who claim their places and spaces boldly in the scene - perhaps with more vigor than what he can recall of himself and players from his own generation back in the day.

For Vince, the music has always come down to two things:

Do I believe you?

And are you accountable?

This is the litmus test. 

If either aren’t true, he’s hitting skip, just like the rest of us are.

But he’s excited by the young performers he’s meeting who seem to share a similar ethos to himself in this way. And as he is re-emerging into the scene, a little old and wiser, these two questions are the barometer by which he evaluates his own craft.
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It would seem considering the many who are finding their way to the new incarnation of Zax Vandal, whether joyfully re-discovering Vince anew or for the first time, that he is most certainly meeting his own criteria. 

Whether it’s the gray hairs giving him more street cred, or the vibrant energy radiating from a man who’s been through hell and back and has lived to tell, the star is rising again for Zax Vandal - and we await with great anticipation to see just how far his bright light will shine.

For More with Vince...

To hear our recent interview with Vince in its entirety on the Ascent Radio Podcast - including pieces of his own music and his thoughts on all the songs we’ve highlighted from his story! - click here to locate the podcast on your preferred provider, or listen directly in the Ascent Radio app - available for free in both the Apple and Google Play stores!

And if you’re like us, anxiously awaiting the release of NEW Zax Vandal music - coming soon! - as well as dates for his upcoming shows, make sure to follow Vince on both Facebook (Zax Vandal) and Instagram (@zaxvandal)! 

​Also don't miss out on new episodes of the Zax Vandal Show over on the YouTube channel!

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