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Ol Drake

Born: Mar 28th 1984 - Huddersfield, UK
Instrument: Guitar
Vitals: Blue eyes, brown hair, 6' tall

Born in the North of England to a musical family, Ol was surrounded by all the influences to ensure he became involved in the music world.

Ol's father, Tony, played guitar from a young age and played in many local bands (Rudy and the Zipps), sharing bills with the likes of early incarnations of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc. He would even try out for King Crimson. Ol and friends would ask Tony to play tunes for them, like the Batman themetune, and he could make the guitar cry, which intrigued Ol.

Ol's brother, Matt (Rhythm Guitarist & Vocalist) took classical guitar lessons at a young age, but gave it up. In his teens Matt would recieve a Fender copy guitar for his Birthday. There would be Metallica guitar tablature books lying around. With Ben (drummer) visiting the house, and also being a fan of Metallica and the guitar, Ol was intrigued by the songs and the guitar. When Matt would leave the guitar alone, Ol would pick up both guitar and tab books and start to learn. His parents being very supportive would go on to support him in buying an instrument.

Ol also started to play the drums, inspired by a visit to guitar virtuoso Maurizio Mielle's store in Milnsbridge. He would spend a full day playing on a kit, setup directly above a hairdressers. Ol would play in a few bands on the drums, but his heart was always with the guitar.

After school Matt and Ben would get together and jam their favourite Metal tracks, mostly being Metallica songs. A jam took place in an old church in Honley, and Tony would run Matt to the rehearsal.. Ol came along one day and was blown away with how loud and powerful it was, having never experienced live music before. After months of practicing, Ol had learned some Metallica solos, and asked if he could join in. From the first rehearsal together he was hooked on being in a band, and he knew what he wanted to do.

After aquiring Mike (Bass guitar) through an ad in a local guitar store (GTR Guitars), They would all jam together.

Inspired by James Hetfield, Ol's parents would drive him far across the UK to locate an ESP Explorer guitar. He decided this wasn't the guitar for him and settled for a BC Rich Jr V. He would use the BC Rich for every show from then on, borrowing his father's Ibanez guitars as a backup.

They would go on to play live in the local areas under the name "Metal Militia", Ol taking on the role of lead guitarist, though after 3 or 4 years, this grew stale for the band, forcing them to eventually go on to form Evile in 03/04. Original songs would feature in the live set, with positive results, so it was clear to Ol what he wanted to do, aswell as the rest of the band.

In this time Ol spent all of his personal time on the guitar. A friend would buy him Testament's "Practice what you Preach" which got him heavilly into Thrash, though he had already discovered Metallica and Sepultura. Matt bought Ol Annihilator's "Never, Neverland" on CD for his birthday, as their father owned Annihilator's "Alice in Hell" on vinyl. Ol was fascinated with Jeff Waters' riffing and soloing. He would dedicate all of his time to learning Jeff's guitar work.

Ol would eventually go on to discover Moser Custom Shop guitars via the internet. Blown away by the shape of their "Bastard V" he immediately bought one. He has used this guitar for every show since.

Ol Drake uses:

Moser Custom Shop guitars
Peavey Amplification
Ernie Ball Strings
Homebrew Electronics Pedals
Boss Pedals
Sennheiser Wireless Systems
Dunlop Picks
Bill Lawrence Pickups