Alternative rockers Oxbloods have yet to play a gig and yet they’ve already built up a following. With their first EP already out, we threw them our Band of the Day questions to see how they’d handle them…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Matt Lunn: Three fifths Wigan, one fifth Yorkshire and one fifth Hasslingden.
How did you meet?
ML: Me and Alex went to the same University but hadn’t really spoken a great deal, but we was both sort of aware of what we had done previously. Mine and Matty’s previous band had only just broken up and Alex had done all his stuff with his old band. So from there, we started recording song ideas to see what stuck. In the meantime, Chris had just finished with his previous band, and we knew he was a great guitarist from when me and Matty used to be in a band with him back in college. Chris said he was interested so I asked him to write a demo to see if it went with what we was thinking for the band’s sound which turned out to be “Ab Initio”, so he did okay I guess…me and Matty have been in bands together since we were 14 so it’s obvious he was going to join the band, and we finally found Charlie from searching through music uni Facebook groups after a couple of months looking for a singer – we just thought we was the right fit pretty much instantly.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Matty Ashton: Well, we’ve only been a public band for a few months now but we’ve collectively working on this project for a year a half. Our first official gig isn’t until June either. So I’ll say we’ve not yet begun “playing” as a band.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
MA: Chris’ Oxblood coloured Dr Martens.
Chris Horrocks: Well, it’s either my red Dr Martens or the red leather jacket AllSaints sell, which none of us actually own. Can’t quite remember. We had some truly awful first band names. We won’t be sharing those.
What are your influences?
CH: There’s tonnes of musicians that influence me, but it always comes back to Metallica, the first ever concert when I was 13 and I started guitar lesson less than a week after.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Alex Binnington: Saying your music is unique is always a difficult thing to prove. I wouldn’t say we’re pushing new ground and redefining a genre. Really we’re just five guys who threw our 20-ish years of being alive and listening to music in a pot and Oxbloods is what came out. We like to think of ourselves as a British rock band at heart, but there’s plenty of USA sprinkled in there. Maybe a little German in there too since Chris can’t stop banging on about Hans Zimmer.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Charlie Cothliff: Relationships both romantic and not so romantic seem to be a key theme. It’s like a glue that binds us all together as people and it’s different from person to person.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
MA: Not sure just yet! At the time of writing this we haven’t performed live together yet. But we’re confident our live performances will be very passionate. We’re currently preparing for our first show and already we’re throwing our guitars around. We don’t even have anybody watching us yet!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
CH: I’ve touched James Hetfield. Enough said really.
ML: Wouldn’t say wildest thing, but wildest person…Dave Grohl is just an energy ball, watching him live is unreal.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
CH – We could absolutely talk for hours about this because we’re all massive gear nerds.
ML – I’ve always been a massive PRS fan and Matty won’t touch anything that isn’t a Jazz bass. Chris has floated around a lot of different guitars while we recorded the EP but he’s settled on a nice Telecaster.
CH – Yeah for a million nerdy reasons I’ve gone with this beat up Fender Tele I bought from a guy in Preston 2 years ago. Amazing guitar.
MA – Quite sturdy too since he’s hit me in the knee with it twice!
CH – Amps-wise there’s a great dynamic between me and Matt. He sticks to a more traditional setup with an Orange amp and some great pedals. I use a Kemper Profiler which really compliments the sound. The guitars live are massive, we’ve really thought about our sounds.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
AB: Right now we’re promoting our debut single Clinton until the 20th April when the EP comes out. There’s some more stuff on the way too but you’ll have wait and see for that.
What are your plans for 2018?
CH: Sit waiting for the final season of Game of Thrones to come out, need to finish Peaky Blinders too. Oh you meant music? Sorry.
MA: Promote the EP from April and begin work on EP 2. That could even be out by the end of the year, we haven’t decided yet.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
CH: If we’re talking big bands I’d love to open for Bring Me The Horizon or Shinedown personally. Massive fan of those two bands live.
ML: As for support bands, playing with Milestones or Coastal would be fun, supporting Thirty Seconds to Mars would be great as well.
From previous Band of the Day, Serpent Lord: do you think there must be a limit for musicians when it comes to defining, or even changing their style/genre?
CH: Yes and no, it completely depends on the artist. For example, if Metallica brought out their 808 drum kit, they would destroy their fanbase overnight, if you’re Thirty Seconds to Mars on the other hand the results may differ. Heck, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry used to be country singers, look at them now.
From Crystal Ignite: have you been to Australia? Do you think it’s true they have pet kangaroos in their back yard and what is your opinion on drop bears?
MA: We all haven’t unfortunately been to the land of Oz, we’re not sure about the pet kangaroos but that sounds good fun. I’d have one and call it Trevor.
ML: What’s a drop bear and where do I find one?
CH: I’ll Google it.
MA: Sounds like a sub-genre into the hardcore scene.
CH: It’s a bear that apparently hides in trees and jumps down to kill you.
ML: Seems fairly legit.
AB: Purple Aki then? (Northern reference).
From Stone Theory: what do you think of the relation between social media and being a band in this day and age?
AB: Whether we like it not it seems social media is a key part in band’s success story. I know bands who I’m not too keen on musically but their social media presence is absolutely outstanding. And they’re doing really well. For us we trying to be the best we can at both. It’s not easy. But it’s the way the industry is going it seems.
