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STAINED ILLUSION IS...
Ben: Guitarist/Vocalist. Ben contributes a lot to the bands songwriting, giving the band a starting point to build up a song. Without Ben's scorching riffs and melodies, the band wouldn't have it's edge. Ben and Al both contribute to the lyric writing.
Al: Guitarist/Vocalist. Al gives an extreme vibe onstage with his pounding riffs and high pitched voice. Al also contributes to the song writing by coming up with great ideas that make the song what it is. He also helps out with the lyric side.
Jake: The Drummer of the band. Jake, although at the back of the stage does not go unoticed! His drumming brings the sound of Stained Illusion to life. Jake contributes a lot towards the stucture of the songs and makes all the pieces fit together.
Formed by guitarist Ben Webb, ex-bassist Steph Kelly and drummer Jake Nicklin in early summer 2006, the band started out as an informal jamming session at Edgecliff
High School, Kinver, West Midlands.
After Playing -somewhat roughly- various classic rock and metal songs, it was clear there was potential in the room, and they all agreed to meet up agin, however it was clear other members were needed to be brought in. After auditioning for other positions in the band, the three agreed to bring
Alistair cox into the band, to take up position alongside Ben as joint singer and guitarist, with the pair sharing out vocals as well as the rhythm and lead guitar.
Starting practices around September 2006 at the KCA building in Kinver, the band soon began to gel and after learning various covers, began writing their first two songs,
‘Damnation’ and ‘Who You Are’, which ironically the band say were the easiest songs to write. Several months later on the 28th of November 2006, and after deciding on
the name Stained Illusion the four played their first gig supporting ’The International Misfits’ at the Plough and Harrow pub in
Kinver. Subsequently, Stained Illusion were banned from playing there again for being ’too loud’, even though they got a rapturous applause after each song.
Soon after the band got straight back down to writing, and now armed with their title track ‘Stained Illusion’ and ‘Remnants of Your Love’, played their next gig in support of
local alternative band ‘The Arcadian Kicks’ at the rock café 2000 in Stourbridge. Even though this was admittedly the wrong scene for the band, the gig went down well,
and let them know what it was like to play a proper music venue.
Taking a break over Christmas 2006, the band began practising again and refining their act, and then returned to the rock café 2000 to play an open mic night in
January. Even though the only audience were 3 other bands, the gig was worth it as they met up with another local band ‘Skull Fox’.
Throughout the following months stained illusion added a further three songs to their repertoire, the melodic ‘Times Change’, the Iron Maiden inspired ‘This Life’, and the
melodic yet heavy ‘The Defiant’.
Playing at other pubs around Kinver -namely Ye Olde White Hart and the Royal Exchange- the band gradually built up a reputation for being a great live act in their
home village and also building fan base around the local area by playing gigs around Stourbridge pubs -The Morrings- and in Halesowen -Benjamin`s.
The band were then asked to support the UK’s premier Slipknot tribute band ‘Slipnot’ at the Rock café 2000, along with local metallers ‘Godsize’. This couldn’t have gone
down better. It was an amazing night for both the band and audience alike.
Soon after this on the 18th April 2007, Stained Illusion played ‘The Actress and Bishop’ in Birmingham as part of the Surface Unsigned festival. This was the bands biggest gig yet!
The band pulled off an awesome set, obtaining a huge applause after each song. Incredibly, being the youngest band of the night proved no obstacle as the four racked
up 51 votes, the next place band got just 18. Not bad for a band whose average age was just 15 at the time?
The band then went on to reach the semi-final of the cmpetition which was a huge accomplishment considering their age and seeing that they had only been together half
as much time as any of the other band in the competition.
The band then got back to writing, and after thousands of ideas which arose around the practise room of Stained illusion, the band decided to work on the 8 minute masterpiece
‘Words Are Weaker Than The Fist’.
In the meantime the band opened the Marquee stage of the Dudley Councils ‘Rock the Castle 07’. The day was a great success and opened opportunities for a photo shoot.
The band then headed back to the practise rooms to finish writing ‘Words Are Weaker Than The Fist’ and preparing all of their songs for the studio.
After recording their 1st EP the band got their heads down on organising the release night for the EP... 4th October.
After weeks of promoting the gig the night came. Support by friends 'Fragile Motion' and 'Skull Fox' the night went down with the a blast. The 4 stepped out onto the blacked-out stage of the Rock Cafe 2000 greeted by a raturous applause. After an hour an a half full of sweat, adrenaline and even blood! the 4 returned to the backstage with their ears ringing, bodies aching and the best sense of acheivment you could ever wish you could have. A band, average age 15, pretty much selling out their local venue, a year of practise......
These are a band definatly to keep you eyes on in the next few years.
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REVIEWS
Surface Unsigned Round 1 Gig
The youngest band of the night, yet Kinver’s Stained Illusion showed they can make a well thought-out, grownup classic-metal/rock sound. Great distinctive vocals from Ben and Alastair, they worked well together, delivering their lyrics with confidence and ability. A satisfying and compelling noise, they really excelled on tracks like “This Life†which had some excellent rock-guitar solos. They could be tighter as a band, yet having only been together for six months, it will hopefully come with time. It’s great to see young bands with raw potential, and should prove interesting to see them against tougher competition in the second round.
Surface Unsigned Round 2
Stained Illusion have a sound that falls somewhere between classic rock and heavy metal. Driving guitars, dark basslines and furious percussion all come together well across some strong material, yet it’s the vocal combination of Ben and Alistair that really distinguishes the band, they both have strong voices that work really well together. Stronger on their heavier tracks, nevertheless there were some excellent slower, melodic moments, showing a decent variation within their sound.
We now have our songs uploaded online ready to download.
Click on the link below to go straight to the ordering page.
Thanks, Enjoy !!
For Booking or any info on the band please e-mail Jay Foxall on
[email protected]
visit our page at
www.bandmeup.co.uk
