ABOUT
Box Monster are a 4-piece Rock/Metal/Grunge/Stoner band from North London. Influenced by many legendary bands (see influences), and are willing to experiment with different aspects of Music. Box Monster are born to make you ROCK out, CHILL out, TRIP out, MOSH out, and generally send you on a roller-coaster of emotions...
If that sounds half-decent, semi-interesting, or just random then check us out at a gig near you, or add us to your friends list for updates, or just check out our website, or even turn-around, look away and go home... either one, it's up to you.
THE BIRTH OF A MONSTER:
Box Monster is a collective of musicians from various bands and musical backgrounds. Based in North London, Box Monster was born in early August 2005. The band had originally got together in early April 2005 with talks to form in March 2005, under the name of 'Distorted Visions'. The first line-up consisted of Alex on Vocals (ex-Aorta/From Grace), Mitul on Guitar (ex Blind Eye), and Alan on drums (ex Mendoza/From Grace). After trying out a couple of Bass players (including Alan’s nephew Luke), they settled on a guy called Calvin, who had played in other bands as a guitarist, and had played the bass only for a few months or so previous to his arrival…
So, Distorted Visions had a line-up ready to go, and were preparing for their first ever gig which they had booked even before Calvin had joined the band. After only a couple of rehearsals, and a few jams, they managed to scramble together enough material for the gig including a re-write of an old song (‘Stow Away’) by Alan’s old band Mendoza and also throwing in a cover of ‘It Ain’t Like That’ by the forever loved Alice in Chains.
A week before the gig was on its way Calvin the bass player had to leave the band for a job he had just got in Hungary. He contacted Alex via a text message (modern technology, Ha, what happened to chatting to people?) and delivered the news. Although not enough details, or any form of proper explanation was given, we still had a gig to do that week. After a little discussion and a bit of begging, Distorted Visions managed to get a good friend in to fill the empty slot. Neil (Repent Guitarist), also close friends with the band, had one rehearsal and a couple of acoustic jams with Mitul before the gig’s approach. What took Calvin a few months to learn the songs, took Neil less than 6 hours to learn. With that mishap sorted, the gig at the Bull and Gate, in Kentish Town, on the 25th June ’05 went down pretty well. With other commitments already attended to, there was no chance that Neil (Repent) could stay and carry on as the permanent bass player for the band, therefore the search had to re-begin.
While on the lookout for a new bass player, the band decided that the name Distorted Visions was basically… Lame. It gave a message and a possible hint on what genre the band could be categorized in, which the band didn’t want due to the willingness to experiment with various different styles and genres… plus it sounded a bit too serious. So it almost went back to square one, a new name for the band was needed, and a search for a bass player was still in process.
After sending out various ads, and researching on possible band name ideas, the band had struck gold (not literally… but imagine if we did, that’d be pretty sweet… anyway). After days of research, Alex, using the best format on research, the Internet, discovered a little article about a potential ghost living in the attic of a hotel in North England. The article had written ghostly stories about the hotel, and had mentioned that the apparent poltergeist living in the attic, would throw around boxes and other items found up there. With these characteristics the locals named the aggressive ghost as the ‘Box Monster’… so that’s were the name came from. After a lot of ‘ifs and buts’ the band settled with the name, unsure at first but eventually they grew into the name, and now there’s no turning back. Box Monster was born, but still without the much-needed power of a bassist, the search continued. August was approaching, with nearly two months passed since their first gig, the process with sending out adds in local music shops, rehearsal studios, and Internet forums were repeated once again. Box Monster received a few replies and tried one guy out called Jeff. A granddad from North London, with a history of playing with various bands, his bass style was very bluesy and old school rock orientated. This was perfect to jam with and Box Monster had an amazing session playing alongside Jeff with some great memorable jams, but the band also had an interest from an Austrian born guitar teacher, Dan, who was interested in learning the bass properly after dabbling with it a few times, he wanted to see what Box Monster was about.
So the band couldn’t say no, especially when they never received this much interest before the departure of Calvin, and plus a guitar teacher playing bass sounded bloody interesting.
It was now August ’05, and the following week after Jeff’s try out, Dan stepped in. With the personality of a saint, the musical capabilities of a genius guitarist, and his willingness to play some hard-hitting music, he seemed to fit in perfectly with the other 3 members. Dan came down for the next few rehearsals and comfortably found his place in the Box Monster.
Ever since then the 4 have been meeting up regularly, writing music, sharing the same passions as one another, and enjoying ever aspect possible when creating music. Box Monster were now complete, with a few gigs under their belt, and an-upcoming Demo (Handle With Care EP), the band are moving at a steady pace to try and spread and share the music that they continue to love & enjoy playing… that's what it's all about isn't it...?
- Screen name:
- Box Monster
- Member since:
- Mar 20 2006
- Active over 1 month ago
- Level of commitment:
- Committed
- Years together:
- 1
- Age:
- years
Influences
Many! Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Jeff Buckley, Guns 'n' Roses, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Death, Pantera, Metallica, Jerry Cantrell, A Perfect Circle, Silverchair, Tool... and many more.
Members Of Band
Alex - Vocals
Mit - Guitar
Dan - Bass
Alan - Drums
