{"id":616873,"date":"2026-06-02T11:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616873\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:02:08","slug":"bury-dad-seeking-debt-help-after-metal-band-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/616873\/","title":{"rendered":"Bury dad seeking debt help after metal band struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Ramsbottom<\/a>-based dad Oliver Drake, 42, has dedicated most of his life to writing and performing music. He lived the rockstar dream, touring places like Japan, the USA and Canada with his brother and fellow bandmates.\n<\/p>\n

\n Heavily inspired by Metallica, Evile formed in 2004 with Oliver and brother Matt Drake, alongside school friend Ben Carter.\n<\/p>\n

\n Originally from Huddersfield, the band started playing shows in Yorkshire before being signed by Earache Records. They would go on to tour numerous countries and release six albums, with one song featuring in the movie Final Destination: Bloodlines.\n<\/p>\n

\n But with the reality of touring far less lucrative than many would imagine, singer and lead guitarist Oliver would find himself selling possessions and making sacrifices to keep the band afloat.\n<\/p>\n

\n Over time, this also brought debt. Being in an actively touring band also made it difficult to hold down a steady, well-paying job while needing to take months off at a time to tour the world.\n<\/p>\n

\n As a result, Oliver and the band took the difficult decision to stop regularly touring. Now working full-time as a service engineer, he spends long periods away from his wife and two daughters, aged five and eight.\n<\/p>\n

\n Alongside working full-time, he runs an online guitar school, regularly streams on Twitch, and creates guitar and comedy content online.\n<\/p>\n

\n But the cost-of-living crisis has made it incredibly difficult for Oliver to chip away at the extensive, long-standing debts he incurred while trying to make it with Evile.\n<\/p>\n

\n Oliver explained: “To be honest, the financial difficulties have always been there. Metal music is not the most lucrative genre to be a part of, and pretty much since we started, I was doing most things like writing music, logistics and everything behind the scenes.\n<\/p>\n

\n “And that means you can\u2019t really keep a job for long, because no one will give you three months off to go touring, and then you come back for two weeks and then leave again.\n<\/p>\n

\n “So there was a lot of selling your own possessions and getting a bit into debt to fund things, and eventually that just became financially unfeasible. Over the years, it\u2019s [debt] just racked up, and it\u2019s just so hard to keep down, especially now with the cost-of-living crisis and everything.”\n<\/p>\n

\n He added that the reasoning behind setting up the fundraiser and asking for help was more for his wife and daughters than to help himself, with the looming debt and money problems affecting their home life.\n<\/p>\n

\n “That\u2019s the main reason [for the GoFundMe],” he said. “My better half, she works at a nursery but struggles a bit with her mental health, and the girls have autism as well.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI work full-time. I\u2019m out on the road full-time as a service engineer, so it\u2019s all for them, really, the kids, and trying to pay for everything in the house<\/a>. The stress of being away from them is really difficult as well. It’s difficult on the girls.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Oliver said that while the band does still tour occasionally, it has become more of a hobby than a source of income.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “If something cool comes up like a great festival, we\u2019ll try and do it, but in terms of touring, we just can\u2019t do it any more.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I think it\u2019s no secret that touring bands don\u2019t make a lot of money. Everyone\u2019s streaming, no one\u2019s buying albums, so most of the money and sales come through merchandise.\n<\/p>\n

\n “But the cost of touring is really high. We looked into touring the USA and Canada again a couple of years ago, but before you even leave the country, it\u2019s like \u00a312,000 for the visas.\n<\/p>\n

\n Discussing the GoFundMe page and his existing efforts to clear the debts, Oliver was reluctant to admit the total figure he has been working to get rid of, but said he has made good progress so far.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It\u2019s very early days, but it\u2019s [the GoFundMe] already raised about \u00a33,000 and the goal is \u00a38,000, so I\u2019m already part-way there.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I’ve done campaigns online before where I\u2019ve streamed on Twitch and done a 24-hour stream to raise money to chip away at the debt, but this is the last hump to get over, and so hopefully I can reach it.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Asked if he’s had any interactions with Evile fans since starting his fundraising efforts, Oliver thanked those who have helped him already.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “A lot of Evile fans have come forward and said, ‘You helped me through tough times, so this is me repaying it’. It\u2019s very humbling, and I\u2019m just very appreciative.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I kind of naturally shy away from it [publicity], because it\u2019s a bit embarrassing to say, ‘I have lots of debt, please help.'”\n<\/p>\n

\n Acknowledging that he may get some criticism for his decision to set up a fundraising page, Oliver said that he understands how some might view his situation.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It was my choice to go into music,” he said. “I know people will say, ‘You shouldn\u2019t have had kids and bought a house then, if you had all this debt.’\n<\/p>\n

\n “I chose the path I did in music because I wanted to do it, and I accept that it\u2019s all on me. But you\u2019re a different person when you\u2019re 18.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We tried and tried to make it our career, and that was the goal, that being in a band would be how I made my money. But it didn\u2019t pan out, and my priorities have changed now. It\u2019s my family and our home, so any help is hugely appreciated.”\n<\/p>\n

\n “I take full responsibility for having chosen the path I chose, but I am not ashamed to ask for help, as we desperately need it. Any funds raised will be used to pay off debt and allow us to finally be able to improve our current living conditions, mainly for our kids.”\n<\/p>\n

\n To read Oliver’s full story, or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ramsbottom-based dad Oliver Drake, 42, has dedicated most of his life to writing and performing music. He lived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-616873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}