blank slate

about blank slate

Austin-based progressive band Blank Slate transcends musical limits through layered soundscapes that defy genre boundaries. Their newest singles, "under the blur" and "garden of sorrow", are available on all digital platforms.

Originally established in 2016, founding members Hannah Vokal and Jon Vokal carry the group forward into a new era of genre-bending composition and performance. While both are multi-talented, Hannah finds herself on bass and vocals while Jon steers each song on guitar. The evolving love child of post-rock, metal, and indie pop, Blank Slate is difficult to pin down by design and the type to punch above their weight.

In early 2017, Blank Slate released their first EP, "animate". Dynamic, punky, edgy, "animate" develops a stormy, dream-like atmosphere that sets the stage to dissect the interiority and agency of burgeoning adults, a hallmark of their brand. That same year, Blank Slate released another EP, "i have considered the following". Picking up right where they left off, Blank Slate smooths out their sound and amplifies its complexities. Each song bursts with hammering bass and drums, pierced by well-paced guitar lines and electric vocals. This first release sets Blank Slate apart as a musical project untethered by convention.

After recording two back-to-back EPs, Blank Slate wanted to experiment. In 2019, Blank Slate released three singles to showcase their maturity as a band. The first single released was "dedicate", a synthesis of their artistry, maneuvering musings on remorse with methodically plotted, reverberating harmonies. Shortly after, they released their second single, "figures". Clever lyrics, indulgent guitar segments, and masterful mixing allow Blank Slate to broach brighter, fresher timbres than ever before. Finally, at the end of 2019, "verified" hits streaming, the most angsty of the three. A return to their roots, they find the perfect balance of their influences by moving between different genres instead of trying to blend them.

Blank Slate had no intentions of slowing down, but the world around them did. Like everybody else, Blank Slate found themselves stuck at home in 2020. They pumped out their last EP, "drifting", locked in a bedroom. This time, Blank Slate swung indie, far more indie than any of their previous releases had, while maintaining their thesis of doubt and weariness. With total free rein found in isolation, refining each song to its final state was an act of reverence for the pair. "drifting" is a love letter to the genres they pulled apart and stitched back together.

After a four-year break, Blank Slate returns with their new single, "flow with the flood", out now, shedding off their hiatus sharpened and new, unfolding intricate paths with which they can take their music next.

In the past four years, Hannah has explored her solo music career under the name "feels like honey", releasing her debut LP "all things endless" in 2023. She is a full-time performing musician with local and touring artists in the Austin area. Jon hosts a series of independent projects, releasing his debut record "liminal space" in 2024. Blank Slate is a proud endorser of Balaguer Guitars and Bad Cat Amplifiers.

For Hannah and Jon, time spent in and out of other projects has ripened into new opportunities for Blank Slate. Older, wiser, and more robust than they were at Blank Slate's conception, their upcoming single is only the opening act for a major return to the music scene, as undefined and ambitious as they began.