The Oxford Street Montage

Once in a while a band emerges from an unheard-of city and turns heads everywhere they hit the stage. These boys hit the road with nothing but determination and domination on their minds. With every ounce of their being, TOSM leaves the jaws of the audience dropped with their passionate delivery and stage presence. The Oxford Street Montage will not slow down; their goal is to stand out from their peers. Each current member of TOSM found themselves in the past confined musically in acts that left much to be desired. In the summer of 2007 Binek, Shafe, Crans and Parry decided to forge a new path for themselves, with much uncertainty ahead. “When I joined the band it felt right, like I needed to be in this,” explains Parry, “this band will be my life until the day I die because I can’t have it any other way.” After many rehearsals, the four young, but ambitious musicians understood that performing and composing music was their calling. After dealing with some inconvenient set backs with a couple member changes, they knew that their line up was united when Edworthy solidified the group with ease. After finally having a complete line up, TOSM took the initiative to build their hometown fan base, and then take it to the rest of the scene. After playing in multiple GTA cities, it was time for the band to spread their wings and take off.
The summer of 2008 felt promising for the young act as it swiftly approached, and TOSM had planned a tour with their friends “Breaking the Fourth Wall.” For approximately two weeks, they hit up as many cities as they possibly could. After receiving their first taste of life on the road, TOSM earned themselves an offer they could not refuse; a tour with Blind Witness (Torque Records). Ecstatic but, exhausted, TOSM only had a brief twelve day resting period between the tours. They geared up for a chance to prove themselves to everyone in the local scene, to their agencies, and to everyone who thought they were wasting their time. TOSM hastily bonded with the boys in Blind Witness. It was effortless to distinguish that the two bands had become like family. After twenty-four dates, the “Summer Assault Tour” came to an eventful end. The bright light had become more luminous for the boys in TOSM as they became more and more reputable each night they obliterated the stage. After realising the potential that the band now had, they started to take things a lot more seriously by building their reputation every night at sold out shows, accepting the advice from a veteran band that was willing to show them the ropes of the touring lifestyle, and graciously listening to what their new fans from every city had to say.
The guys in Oxford took the opportunity to tour with the well informed bands as one of the greatest learning experiences they have ever endured. The boys emulate their standpoint, their beliefs, and their knowledge from the constant exposure to veteran acts. “You can see how they get better every time they play a show, they get tighter, it just works.” says a hometown friend. With that being said, it goes to show how much respect hard work can get you. Their indescribable sound fusing the multiple styles of hardcore, ambient, southern rock, metal and post-hardcore, leaves people wondering, what’s next for Oxford? “With the way things are going, we’re hoping that the future is limitless” says Crans “anything could and probably will happen” he says with confidence and pride. Edworthy agrees, “you can do anything by putting hard work into it, we don’t want this to stop so we’re going to continue to do this because it’s amazing when people tell you that you’ve changed their views on music.”
“We’ve watched as bands we know were struggling and we now know what it’s like because we’ve been there too, it’s not fun, but looking back on everything that it helps you accomplish, it’s definitely worth it” Binek states. The band has seen it’s fair share of up’s and down’s in the past and they definitely won’t forget where they have come from. With the path that they have set out for themselves it’s obviously apparent that the members of Oxford don’t see the end of this band anytime soon. Their immense passion for music is being put before any of their other priorities, even if that means making sacrifices for now. “It’s hard leaving your loved ones behind for weeks at a time, you’re not just leaving family behind but sometimes you can’t get the time off work and you’re forced to quit your job, but it’s also hard leaving a band that you’ve bonded with over the course of a month and became family with, you’re kind of stuck in the middle of something you’re supposed to do and something you know in your heart you should be doing”.
While their future looks endless and full of prospect, The Oxford Street Montage is one of the names that has either hit up your city and left a lasting impression or is about to take the stage and tear it to the ground. “This is the real thing man, this is it” concluded Shafe with an ear to ear grin on his face. With every ounce of blood, sweat and tears along the way, the band has absolutely no intentions what so ever of letting anything stand in their way. They’re planning on hitting up any city that will have them, they’re willing to sleep on any floor that has room, and most importantly, as long as there’s gas in the tank they’re willing to drive as far as they can. “The reality of it is, that not many bands ‘make it’, but we want to be one of the ones that does, and we’re stopping at nothing until we have it” finishes Crans.
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