Band Interview – Of Our Design (Metal 2 the Masses Essex 2019)

Metalcore band, Of Our Design, will play in Heat Two of Metal 2 the Masses Essex 2019. They face off against Coda, Killerkorp, Seawolves and Herida on the 1st of February. The event takes place at The Soundhouse which is at The Bull, Colchester, CO3 3ES.

Each band will be giving their all to try to progress in the competition where the winner receives an amazing opportunity. A much coveted slot playing on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Festival, 2019. GBHBL are pleased to bring you a short interview with Of Our Design to help introduce them to the metal masses.

Have a read, enjoy and make sure you get down to The Soundhouse on the 1st of February to give them some support.

1 – Why Of Our Design? Where did the name come from?

The name Of Our Design was chosen a long time ago when Alex and George were first starting the band. They had been in a lot of bands prior to this one that didn’t get anywhere so the idea is exactly how it sounds. This band is “Of Our Design”. This can be interpreted in many different ways. For us, it gives a sense of freedom of choice and inspiration. This is the foundation we wanted to build the band upon.

2 – Tell us a little about Of Our Design. How long have you been playing together? Who is in the band? Where are you from? How did you meet?

Of Our Design has been around for quite a long time. It started around about 4 years ago with childhood friends Alex and George writing together. Haydn, being a long term friend, joined not long after. After a gruelling search we finalised our lineup with bassist Ray and drummer Sid just under two years ago. It has been quite the journey. We are mainly based around Essex with the majority in Southend-On-Sea, with the exception of Sid living in north London.

3 – What artists, metal or otherwise, have influenced you and your sound?

There are too many to note. However, we take huge influence from bands such as Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage and Born Of Osiris.

Individually we have influences from bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Periphery and Architects. Different members also have a large influence from different genres. A lot of members are in to genres such as Grime / Hip-Hop, EDM etc. This influences our sound in many different ways and is likely the reason we started to incorporate electronics and synth in our music.

4 – With so many genres and sub genres around these days, what genre would you put yourself in?

At our core, we are a pure Metalcore band. If you wanted to be very specific, we could even call ourselves post-metalcore. We do give the nod to Deathcore in songs like Fleshbank or even have the odd flavour of progressive metal / Djent in others. We do believe that sticking to a genre could be damaging and the freedom to experiment with different sounds along side a sound you have built for yourself can lead to some very interesting things. I believe this leads us to have at least something for all metal fans.

5 – What will you bring to the Metal to the Masses heats? What can music lovers expect and how are you going to win their support on the night?

We will actually be bringing a new set list, the first time since we started playing live. To those who have ever seen us before, you’re in for a completely different experience. To anyone who will be seeing us for the first time, expect a 30 minute explosion of breakdowns, solos, choruses and lots and lots of energy. See you in the pit!

6 – Any horror fans in the band? What are some of your favourite horror movies or books?

George is a huge horror fan. His top picks are the Insidious films and the Annabelle films.

Other than that, Haydn has been watching The Haunting Of Hill House on Netflix and highly recommends it if you haven’t seen it already! (Not a sponsor, Netflix get in contact 😏)

7 – How about games? What’s your console or game of choice?

We are all big gamers. Alex and Haydn are both PC gamers. Alex plays a lot of World of Warcraft / Counter Strike GO. Haydn is a huge Overwatch / Rainbow Six Siege fan.George is a Xbox player and plays UFC / Fortnite.

8 – Have you been to Bloodstock Festival before?

Haydn has been once before quite a long time ago when it was in it’s second year of being an open air festival.

9 – If yes, what is it you love most about the festival?

“It was a great experience, everyone was friendly and there purely for the music. Best of all, there were ice cream vans that drove around the camp sites followed by a flock of metal heads. Metal!”

10 – Where can fans check out your music, merch and find out more about you?

Best place to find out more about us is on our Facebook page where we are most active. You can also find us on Instagram if that’s your thing. All our music is available to stream on pretty much every streaming service / store. We love to hear from fans that have enjoyed our music so please get in contact or come say Hi if you catch us live!

11 – Aside from hopefully playing Bloodstock Festival, what else do you have lined up for 2019? Any releases due or tours/gigs/festivals line up?

Now we have released our concept EP, Utopia, we plan on branching out across the rest of the UK and getting our name out as much as possible. We want to meet as many fans / bands as possible and make an experience out of it! Got shows you want us to play? Get in contact!

We look forward to seeing everyone at our first heat on the 1st February!

GBHBL would like to thank Of Our Design for taking the time to answer these questions and we wish them all the best in their heat at Metal 2 the Masses Essex. Find out more about Of Our Design at their Facebook page and on Instagram. Also, check out some of their music on YouTube or on your favourite streaming service. You can also grab a copy of their song, Broken, on Bandcamp by following the link.

Importantly, get yourself down to the venue on the 1st of February and throw them some support.