ViX (pictured with Serena Fioro) arrives with ease coming home to her roots in her hometown. The Box Bar Brindley Place in Birmingham is ready and welcome to greet this style and music icon – she is unhurried, warm, and instantly familiar — as if we’re picking up a conversation rather than starting one. There’s no rock-star posturing, no performative cool. Instead, ViX lights up the room with an open smile and a calm confidence that feels lived-in rather than curated.

Her look, though, is pure glamour. Animal print with a sharp 1950s vamp edge, it’s a nod to vintage femininity with a knowing wink — the kind of style that doesn’t chase trends but absorbs them and makes them personal. It’s a reminder that Fuzzbox’s visual language was always as deliberate as their sound: playful, bold, and unapologetically individual.

Fuzzbox didn’t begin with ambition or agenda — it began with instinct. There wasn’t even a band until the afternoon of their first gig.

“We volunteered to support a friend’s band,” ViX says, laughing. “We didn’t actually have a band. We just thought it would be fun.”

That moment of spontaneity became one of the most distinctive all-female bands of the 1980s — long before “girl power” was a headline or a marketing strategy. Now, forty years on, Fuzzbox are marking the milestone with a long-awaited book that captures their story in full colour: DIY beginnings, chart success, and a fierce refusal to be boxed in.

When Fuzzbox began, there was no manifesto, no strategy, and certainly no intention to make history. There wasn’t even a band — at least not until the afternoon of their first gig.

“We volunteered to support a friend’s band,” ViX recalls. “We didn’t actually have a band, so we just thought it would be fun.”

That off-the-cuff beginning would grow into one of the most distinctive and influential all-female bands to emerge from 1980s Britain. Now, forty years on, Fuzzbox are celebrating their anniversary with a long-awaited book — one that tells a story ViX – Victoria Perks - has felt was worth sharing for over a decade.

“I formally mentioned the idea to Maggie in 2014,” she says. “We’d started talking again after years apart, and I just thought — this is a really great story from fairy tale like beginnings.”

The book charts the band’s DIY origins, their sudden success, and the joy — and chaos — of being young women navigating a music industry that had few reference points for them. It also roots Fuzzbox firmly in Birmingham, a city ViX describes as central to their identity. “We’re really passionate about Brum and beyond,” she says. “The support we had was incredible.”

Although Fuzzbox are now often spoken about as trailblazers for women in music, ViX is quick to dismantle the idea that their gender was ever a calculated statement. “We didn’t even notice at first,” she laughs. It took an early interview for the realisation to land. “Someone asked, ‘Why are you all girls?’ We actually looked along the line at each other and went, ‘Oh… yeah.’”

Still, once that reality became clear, the band embraced it. They believed they were part of a rising wave of female musicians — a wave that, surprisingly, never quite arrived. “We really thought there would be loads of girl bands after us,” ViX says. “It’s strange that there are still so few.”

Part of that may have been down to how Fuzzbox were perceived. Their humour, self-awareness and playful image often masked how sharp and grounded they really were. “I think people thought we were airheads, bimbos,” ViX reflects. “We were down-to-earth Brummies who didn’t take ourselves too seriously — and I think the way I dressed didn’t help.”

Looking back at her stage outfits, she laughs, but insists they were never designed to be provocative. “It wasn’t about being sexy. I just liked the aesthetic.” Still, the assumptions stuck. “We had journalists say, ‘I thought you were going to be a load of bimbos and you completely turned me around.’ One paper even apologised publicly.”

That experience gives ViX a nuanced perspective on today’s debates around female pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Dua Lipa and sexualisation on stage in terms of outfits, song content and overtly sexualised movements on stage. While she is careful and mindful not to judge, she does believe context matters. It’s not just about clothes — it’s the performance, the movements, and who the audience is that matters “If something is overtly sexual, maybe it’s not for nine-year-olds.”

Importantly, she notes that Fuzzbox were never pressured to sexualise themselves. “The record company tried,” she admits, “but they wanted us to look like sexy secretaries. That wasn’t happening.”

Instead, the band benefited from something rare at the time: a female manager who fiercely protected them. “She was an absolute terrier,” ViX says fondly. “A proper feminist. Having strong people around you who you trust — that’s everything.”

It’s advice she now passes on to younger women entering the industry. Know your business. Draw your boundaries. Be authentic. “If you think acting a certain way will get you further, you’re probably heading for trouble,” she says. “People respect you more when you’re firm.”

Although Fuzzbox predated the 1990s “girl power” movement, their influence quietly fed into it. ViX speaks warmly of bands like Republica and Garbage, and recalls being deeply moved when Republica’s Saffron cited Fuzzbox as a major inspiration. “She said without us, there wouldn’t have been them,” ViX says. “That meant so much.”

Their reach extended far beyond the UK. Touring the US and Canada remains one of ViX’s fondest memories. “The audiences were so loud,” she says. “We’d look at each other on stage thinking, ‘Are we the Beatles?’”

Starting out so young — three members were just 15 — meant those experiences were formative. “It makes you grow up quickly,” she reflects, “but it also gives you confidence and perspective.”

Today, ViX’s focus has shifted inwards as well as forwards with a Wellbeing and Music Mentoring Coaching and Events Business called HAPPiLIFE - she is a savvy businesswoman who is deeply invested in wellbeing and mental health — a side of her that may surprise fans who remember the technicolour exuberance of early Fuzzbox. But that evolution feels fitting.

With the book released, gigs on the horizon, and a renewed connection with fans old and new, this moment feels less like a comeback and more like a full circle.

“We’re excited,” ViX says simply. “The book, the shows, Let’s Rock — it all feels really special.”

After forty years, Fuzzbox’s story is no longer just about the past. It’s about ownership, legacy, and the power of doing things your own way — even when you didn’t realise you were breaking ground at all. Her advice to young people in music is to ‘be yourself- be authentic’. It is advice that has stood the test of time; ViX has never shied away from authenticity and being herself despite external pressures and demands.