Dawn Of Anubis Interview
Dawn Of Anubis were runners up in the highly competitive Leicester Metal To The Masses Final, and earnt the right to a slot on the Jagermeister Stage, often a great way to catch new fans who tend to stick to the main stage area. I caught up with the band to find out a bit more about them.
The band members have been around for several years before forming DOA so I started by asking them to provide a quick history of the band and introduce us to the current line-up.
“We all started as a covers band called The Bench that rocked which went on to be very successful gigging 2-3 times a week but it took over from playing our own music so we started Dawn Of Anubis as an outlet. The band’s line up features: Lead guitar/ backing vox: Tom Ion; Rhythm guitar: Kyle Ahearne; Bass: Harold Billingham; Drums/ backing vox: Sam Roswell and lead vocalist Billy Chamberlain.
DOA have released an album called The Eye. Having listened to their latest songs Now Way Out and Broken Souls as I wrote this I was struck by the different styles that each song has. I asked the band to describe their sound for those who haven’t heard you? “Our first album ‘the eye’ was our first ‘sound’ our more recent track are developed versions of our first sound and we do not define ourselves as one genre. We have a mixture of influences within our music“. Okay, so who are the main influences for the band?
”Each member has different influences but main influences of all members include bands like A Day To Remember, Of Mice And Men, Whitechapel”
As in all my interviews, I like to find out about the guilty pleasures. “Country music is a big love of a few members within the band specifically an acapella group called Home Free“.
Inevitably, it was time to move on the Metal To The Masses and I asked DOA to provide their road to the final story. “Our road began with a music video for our track Broken Souls. We dropped the video the week before or first heat to build some hype, and from then on we ended up dropping a video on every single one of our rounds giving back to the fans that gave us constant support. It seemed to have helped getting us all the way to the finals“
As we know from our interview with winners Seven Hells, Leicester has a solid metal scene. Did the band feel confident they could get to the MTTM final? “After our first heat our confidence really increased it hit us, we can do this, and it just drove us on“. And what about the build-up to the final? How did DOA manage to balance gaining support and avoiding saturating everyone? “We did in our opinion just enough pushing on social media to keep people interested with being too pushy sharing our videos giving away tees all helped towards the end goal”.
I’m sure there were a range of emotions going through the band so I asked them to tell us a bit about how it felt when they were told that they had a slot at BOA. ”We were very happy when we heard another slot had been opened up for one band and we knew then and there we’ve done it, that slot is ours. Some band members shed a little tear!” It’s pleasing to know that a tear or two was shed. This is emotional stuff after all. Good for them!
DOA have a Sunday slot on the Jagermeister Stage. It’ll be tight for five on that small stage. So what can we expect from the band? Why should those who are undecided come and watch? The band are clear about this: “We are something new and fresh and up and coming, become part of our experience and say you were there at the beginning as we aren’t going to stop”.
As well as playing, who are the band looking forward to seeing at BOA this year? “Mortishead are a huge favourite of ours and are really looking forward to seeing them again, oh and the almighty Gojira!” Indeed. Who isn’t waiting with anticipation for the French headliners?
The band haven’t experienced Bloodstock before but they are clear about why you should grab a ticket. “There are some excellent bands on the line up that’s a selling point enough. For us it will be our first bloodstock experience and we are very much looking forward to it“
Away from Bloodstock, the band have been around for a few years so what are some of the highlights so far.“Our biggest highlight within Dawn of Anubis has to be playing uprising as a part of the metal 2 the masses final it was an incredible evening that we will always remember”. And finally, what’s next for the band? “We are in the process of writing a new album full of our ‘up to date’ sound. keep your eyes peeled!” And no doubt your ears pinned back.
So if you fancy something that may be a bit different to the main Bloodstock fare, head for the Jagermeister Stage on Sunday 12th July. Give these guys a cheer and discover another of the UK’s up and coming bands. Many thanks to Dawn Of Anubis for their time and we wish them a cracking Bloodstock experience.
Dawn Of Anubis were runners up in the highly competitive Leicester Metal To The Masses Final, and earnt the right to a slot on the Jagermeister Stage, often a great way to catch new fans who tend to stick to the main stage area. I caught up with the band to find out a bit more about them.
The band members have been around for several years before forming DOA so I started by asking them to provide a quick history of the band and introduce us to the current line-up.
“We all started as a covers band called The Bench that rocked which went on to be very successful gigging 2-3 times a week but it took over from playing our own music so we started Dawn Of Anubis as an outlet. The band’s line up features: Lead guitar/ backing vox: Tom Ion; Rhythm guitar: Kyle Ahearne; Bass: Harold Billingham; Drums/ backing vox: Sam Roswell and lead vocalist Billy Chamberlain.
DOA have released an album called The Eye. Having listened to their latest songs Now Way Out and Broken Souls as I wrote this I was struck by the different styles that each song has. I asked the band to describe their sound for those who haven’t heard you? “Our first album ‘the eye’ was our first ‘sound’ our more recent track are developed versions of our first sound and we do not define ourselves as one genre. We have a mixture of influences within our music“. Okay, so who are the main influences for the band?
”Each member has different influences but main influences of all members include bands like A Day To Remember, Of Mice And Men, Whitechapel”
As in all my interviews, I like to find out about the guilty pleasures. “Country music is a big love of a few members within the band specifically an acapella group called Home Free“.
Inevitably, it was time to move on the Metal To The Masses and I asked DOA to provide their road to the final story. “Our road began with a music video for our track Broken Souls. We dropped the video the week before or first heat to build some hype, and from then on we ended up dropping a video on every single one of our rounds giving back to the fans that gave us constant support. It seemed to have helped getting us all the way to the finals“
As we know from our interview with winners Seven Hells, Leicester has a solid metal scene. Did the band feel confident they could get to the MTTM final? “After our first heat our confidence really increased it hit us, we can do this, and it just drove us on“. And what about the build-up to the final? How did DOA manage to balance gaining support and avoiding saturating everyone? “We did in our opinion just enough pushing on social media to keep people interested with being too pushy sharing our videos giving away tees all helped towards the end goal”.
I’m sure there were a range of emotions going through the band so I asked them to tell us a bit about how it felt when they were told that they had a slot at BOA. ”We were very happy when we heard another slot had been opened up for one band and we knew then and there we’ve done it, that slot is ours. Some band members shed a little tear!” It’s pleasing to know that a tear or two was shed. This is emotional stuff after all. Good for them!
DOA have a Sunday slot on the Jagermeister Stage. It’ll be tight for five on that small stage. So what can we expect from the band? Why should those who are undecided come and watch? The band are clear about this: “We are something new and fresh and up and coming, become part of our experience and say you were there at the beginning as we aren’t going to stop”.
As well as playing, who are the band looking forward to seeing at BOA this year? “Mortishead are a huge favourite of ours and are really looking forward to seeing them again, oh and the almighty Gojira!” Indeed. Who isn’t waiting with anticipation for the French headliners?
The band haven’t experienced Bloodstock before but they are clear about why you should grab a ticket. “There are some excellent bands on the line up that’s a selling point enough. For us it will be our first bloodstock experience and we are very much looking forward to it“
Away from Bloodstock, the band have been around for a few years so what are some of the highlights so far.“Our biggest highlight within Dawn of Anubis has to be playing uprising as a part of the metal 2 the masses final it was an incredible evening that we will always remember”. And finally, what’s next for the band? “We are in the process of writing a new album full of our ‘up to date’ sound. keep your eyes peeled!” And no doubt your ears pinned back.
So if you fancy something that may be a bit different to the main Bloodstock fare, head for the Jagermeister Stage on Sunday 12th July. Give these guys a cheer and discover another of the UK’s up and coming bands. Many thanks to Dawn Of Anubis for their time and we wish them a cracking Bloodstock experience.