Interview: NeoHex

"You've arrived at your destination," the robotic voice comes through my speakers. My tires crunch the gravel when I slow to a stop along a stretch of Highway 35. A few minutes later, headlights pierce the blackness behind me.

I hop out of the car with my camera and lighting assistant, and we begin our trek through the woods with the lead singer of NeoHex, Rockport-native, Meg Sheridan.

After a couple of hours, and a brief encounter with local PD, we make it back to our cars, covered in sweat, to sit down and talk in some much needed air conditioning.

I love the name, NeoHex. Is the meaning literal by saying "a new hex?" In a way. It was a project on it's own, and when I came along with my vocals and ideas, it became a new thing, so we had to rebrand. "Neo" is the new part of that. The "Hex" has more to do with the story we're trying to tell with our music and characters.

What story is that? In a nutshell, we want this to be more of a concept, sort of. So, the story is about a girl and a group of her friends playing with a ouija board on Friday the 13th, and they open a portal. Long story short, she makes a deal with this interdimensional witch creature and the witch possesses her body. They use music to enact the witch's will on the mortal realm. Oh, I like that. That's such a cool concept.

When we last spoke, you mentioned you live here in the Coastal Bend, and your band lives on the east coast. How did y'all form? Two of the three members live on the east coast, South and North Carolina, but that's actually a crazy story. It was on a Friday the 13th, so that's why we kind of incorporated that into the lore of the band. I was doing a podcast with my former band, Haunt the Sleep, trying to promote them. I hopped on their podcast at the last minute because the band they were going to interview backed out. After the podcast, I stayed and we ended up just talking. He mentioned this project they were working on and let me listen to a few of the songs. It was a lot heavier, as far as the music goes. I was willing to just be a part of it and expand my more extreme vocals, but I ended up saying, "I want to be a part of this project." We started meeting virtually and coming up with ideas and started sending music back and forth, and here we are.

And that podcast, that was Sound Injection, right? That was the one you met on and everything? Yes, Sound Injection. That's the one we met on and now I cohost.

So, how long have y'all been together and has NeoHex been in the works? I want to say about a year, year and a half, roughly.

Well, now that we know the story behind your image, how would you describe your sound? It's definitely alternative, and it's within metal. There are so many different subgenres of metal that we don't really fit into one. We're kind of breaking the mold, as is the trend right now in metal music. Based on my voice I've heard Evanescence, Lacuna Coil; I heard Cranberries the other day. As far as the music goes, we've heard Sleep Token and Tool; a lot of different influences.

Choreography by Marianna

Why out of all the genres, and I mean this with all due respect, but why choose alternative metal, as you described it, compared to pursuing a career in mainstream rock or pop? I have to be special, I'm special. Meg laughs. No, uh, it's just what's always spoken to me. Something that sounds different, you're listening to it and you're like, "oh, that's not what's usually tickling my ears." I like things that are different. Different's good. That's why we wanted you for our first interview, so I can definitely see that.

I listened to your new song, The Invitation. You sound amazing. Did you write the song too or is it more of a collaborative process on the lyrics and melodies? Thank you. My bandmates work together to write the music, and I kind of have input on that on occasion, but they mostly handle the instrumentation. Then they send that over to me, I go through my little songwriting method and send back my recordings. We're lucky enough that our bandmate went to music school and can mix and master it, so we have a good song to put out. I bet that saves a lot on your budget.

If money wasn't an issue, what would the music video look like for The Invitation? Oh man, this is a question we ask on our podcast when we interview bands, but let's see. It'd have to go with the witchy vibes, probably a destination shoot, like a European forest, all foggy, with pine trees. We'd probably spend the most trying to stage the forest, make it look a little spooky. It's not a budget killing idea, but that'd be really cool.

Like, Hansel and Gretel's "storybook" witchy vibes? No, maybe not so much storybook, more high fantasy. Ah, okay. I can picture that.

I have to ask, since yall are a long distance band, does that kill the option for live shows? No, actually. Flights are pretty cheap to South Carolina. One of our band members is very well connected, he's been in the industry for years. He has a lot of good connections. I'm also a part of a company that does tour bookings. I'm able to fly over there, kind of hop on a tour, get our bus or van, and go. So, it doesn't kill it at all.

Compared to other projects you've been a part of, like Haunt the Sleep, do you think the distance is an extra obstacle or do you not see a difference in the number of bookings between the two? They both have their pros and cons for sure. With Haunt the Sleep, they're in Alice, so it's still like an hour and a half drive for practice, and then the shows are  in Corpus, but traveling was definitely a huge obstacle. Because of the time we live in, the future of 2025, we're able to hop on and practice through our computers. As far as performing, there are a lot more opportunities on the east coast versus the south. There are more people on that side that are into metal.

Is that the reason you chose to partake in a long distance band instead of committing 100% to a local one? No, I think I'm just open to trying anything and everything I can. I want music to be my full time. I want my art to be my focus. I mean, even with Haunt the Sleep, I wasn't looking for a metal band to join particularly. I had this opportunity land in my lap, grew into it, and now I love it. So, same thing with this one. I just had an opportunity and was like "you know what, let's go for it and see what happens." That's admirable.

Are there any challenges you've faced trying to pursue music in the Coastal Bend, other then the demographic difference you mentioned? Maybe not locally,  but what I've learned from doing the podcast, a major obstacle is learning how to manage your band like a business, as far as advertising, and promoting yourself and the band as a product. Always thinking of the next way to move forward. It's not the time anymore where you can just be creative, have good music, and if you're lucky, the right person hears it. Now, you really do have to do it all yourself on social media. 

Yeah, no one's going to look at you or give you the time of day without the followers, industry wise. What their looking at is "what can you bring to the table?" Exactly. It's "how can they help us," not "how can we help them."

I want to switch gears real quick. I know the version of The Invitation that I heard was a rough cut. Do we have an official release date for that yet? Not an official date, but it will be out by the time this gets published. Perfect.

Choreography by Marianna

Are there any other notable events or releases for NeoHex in 2026? Right now we are working on our EP, instead of an album. That's been our focus in between our day jobs.

How many songs are on your EP? Four, no, five. All the instrumentation is written, and I have lyrics done on two-and-a-half of them, so, we're getting there. It takes me a long time. I was never one of those people that like, would write music growing up. I had to learn how to go from writing short story fiction, to poetry, then music. It takes me a long time to write. The Invitation took me, probably a month and a half to write between working and everything else that's going on.

Who's your target demographic? Definitely the alternative market. I think it's music that can relate to a lot of people. They aren't political or anything but they're based on my feelings. With alternative metal music, a lot of it's kind of talking about dark themes, troubles, or challenges you face. Anybody that can resonate with those themes would be the demographic.

Do listeners need to know the lore of the band? No. I think the lore and the music can standalone, for sure. They don't have to know it to appreciate the music, and vice versa. If they decide to dive into it, it's just another layer they can enjoy.

Well, is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers? I'm just trying to put my art out into the world and I hope somebody likes it. You can find us on Apple Music and Spotify, all the major distributors. Check out our Linktree for merch and socials at linktr.ee/neohexband