Meet BEX: the rising, WARGASM-approved punk star inspired by riot grrrl, Olivia Rodrigo, and growing up with Kerrang!’s very own TV channel…
Jumping on a call from her widely red-coloured accessorised room that matches her hair, 22-year-old BEX is more than excited to be chatting with K! right now.
“I used to watch Kerrang! TV all the time,” she grins. It started her on the road to where she is today, one of the most exciting and interesting breakout stars of 2024. Hailing from Milton Keynes, she’s already had some micro-hits in the shape of 2023’s Don’t Date The Devil and this summer’s Fight, as well as touring with Witch Fever and WARGASM.
So, how did music become a full-time deal for her? Like most music-obsessed creatives, it began with a guitar, something she played every day after school.
“I wasn’t hanging out with people,” she recalls. “I was learning how to write songs. Then I joined a weekend music club where they put you in bands.”
After a series of local gigs – notably Christmas market shows – BEX headed to Guildford to get immersed in a music scene. It was at that town’s Boileroom venue where she got inspired.
“I went there to figure out what music I wanted to make, because I didn’t really know,” she says. “That’s where I found punk rock and, later, started learning bass.”
Soon enough, BEX wound up at the Academy Of Contemporary Music (ACM), a school she says “everyone ends up at”. It’s true, the ACM has churned out such notable names as Dan Flint of You Me At Six, Matty Healy of The 1975, and Ed Sheeran.
As the music began to take shape, BEX got an unexpected message from WARGASM’s Sam Matlock.
“Sam messaged me saying we should do some writing together,” she says. “I was baffled because I didn’t think anyone knew I did music aside from some old covers.”
Since then, BEX and Sam have become semi-regular writing partners, brainstorming new music ideas together when they can. One such session brought to life BEX’s grungy recent banger Taste Better.
“We started messing around with some scales BLACKPINK use. We came up with Taste Better in a couple of hours,” she explains. “I wasn’t a fan of them before but I am now. Sam really liked one of their songs and it all went from there.”
The lesson BEX has taken away, then, is to not write off any type of music.
“I listen to Olivia Rodrigo every day and I understand why it’s in the charts,” she says. “There’s so much music coming out in the world. It’s stupid to not listen to it!”
BEX plays London Omeara tonight, November 1. This article originally appeared in the autumn 2024 issue of the magazine.
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