Sheffield has a proud metal tradition and their M2TM Masses winners are always of high calibre. This year is no exception with Deformation of Man winning the competition. I caught up with guitarist Stef to find out more about them.
Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band
Stef: We formed in November 2010 when I was introduced to Luke via Luke’s sister and it all just feels like a haze from then to now.
Paul: Who is the current line up?
Stef: Carl vocals, Stef guitar, Luke drums and Ben bass
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences?
Stef: We take a lot of influence from heavy groove based metal like Lamb Of God, DevilDriver and Chimaira
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band
Stef: We formed in November 2010 when I was introduced to Luke via Luke’s sister and it all just feels like a haze from then to now.
Paul: Who is the current line up?
Stef: Carl vocals, Stef guitar, Luke drums and Ben bass
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences?
Stef: We take a lot of influence from heavy groove based metal like Lamb Of God, DevilDriver and Chimaira
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Stef: Opening for Mushroomhead and Evil Scarecrow those were some really awesome gigs and some of the biggest crowds we’ve ever played for.
Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey?
Stef: We were asked by Gareth if we would be interested in playing, keep in mind at that point we’ve not gigged in about 3 years due to various health reasons – at that time we just finished recording a new album so we had no idea how the new tracks would sound live so we took this opportunity to see how people would react – M2TM is great way to pull a crowd and it all just seemed to fall in place for us as each round went by.
Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it?
Stef: The last week before the final we all just took some time out from practice as to not try and build it up mentally – at the end of the day we wanted to play the final like it was just another gig – it was sold out night and general vibe in the venue was amazing people were there to see a show, as soon as the first note started playing all four of us knew why we were there and what we had to do – regardless of a 3 year gap, we ended up doing what we do best – pull the crowd in, make them feel welcome and give them a good time.
Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?
Stef: You don’t really know how much emotion goes into being in a band up until the last 10 seconds that the winner is announced. I paced around the venue while the judges decided – I kept looking at Luke and say: ‘What ever happens we made it this far that’s all that counts’ the run up to the show you bump into various people who knew members from other bands in the final who hands down swore that they would win, so you end up doubting yourself a bit. But once they announced our name as the winners a flood emotions came out it felt like all the tough times we went through the last 5 years wasn’t for nothing and now it’s just the start.
Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Stef: Raw honest music based on everything that’s happening around us at this moment
Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?
Stef: Scorpions, Anthrax, Children of Bodom, Soulfly
Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?
Stef: Carl has been – and it’s first for the rest of us!
Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey?
Stef: We were asked by Gareth if we would be interested in playing, keep in mind at that point we’ve not gigged in about 3 years due to various health reasons – at that time we just finished recording a new album so we had no idea how the new tracks would sound live so we took this opportunity to see how people would react – M2TM is great way to pull a crowd and it all just seemed to fall in place for us as each round went by.
Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it?
Stef: The last week before the final we all just took some time out from practice as to not try and build it up mentally – at the end of the day we wanted to play the final like it was just another gig – it was sold out night and general vibe in the venue was amazing people were there to see a show, as soon as the first note started playing all four of us knew why we were there and what we had to do – regardless of a 3 year gap, we ended up doing what we do best – pull the crowd in, make them feel welcome and give them a good time.
Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?
Stef: You don’t really know how much emotion goes into being in a band up until the last 10 seconds that the winner is announced. I paced around the venue while the judges decided – I kept looking at Luke and say: ‘What ever happens we made it this far that’s all that counts’ the run up to the show you bump into various people who knew members from other bands in the final who hands down swore that they would win, so you end up doubting yourself a bit. But once they announced our name as the winners a flood emotions came out it felt like all the tough times we went through the last 5 years wasn’t for nothing and now it’s just the start.
Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Stef: Raw honest music based on everything that’s happening around us at this moment
Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?
Stef: Scorpions, Anthrax, Children of Bodom, Soulfly
Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?
Stef: Carl has been – and it’s first for the rest of us!
Paul: Describe the three best things about the festival?
Stef: Carl has mentioned the general atmosphere, great music and it’s a great place to build new friendships.
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!?
Stef: We’re all a strange bunch so I’ll give you general guilty pleasure – we like Abba, Roxette, Eminem and I tend to blast out Queen every now and then.
We tend to think that bands have it easy getting to the final. Deformation Of Man are a story of triumph over adversity and it’ll be a storming set from them at Bloodstock this year. They play on Saturday 10th August and be sure to check them out.
Stef: Carl has mentioned the general atmosphere, great music and it’s a great place to build new friendships.
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!?
Stef: We’re all a strange bunch so I’ll give you general guilty pleasure – we like Abba, Roxette, Eminem and I tend to blast out Queen every now and then.
We tend to think that bands have it easy getting to the final. Deformation Of Man are a story of triumph over adversity and it’ll be a storming set from them at Bloodstock this year. They play on Saturday 10th August and be sure to check them out.