Denis Stoff

Denis Stoff
Denis Stoff performing with Asking Alexandria at Rock Am Ring festival 2015
Background information
Birth name	Denis Alexandrovich Shaforostov
Also known as	Denis Stoff
Born	(1992-05-04) 4 May 1992 Donetsk, Ukraine
Genres	Metalcore, electronicore
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Sumerian Records
Associated acts	Asking Alexandria Down & Dirty Make Me Famous

Denis Alexandrovich Shaforostov (born 4 May 1992),^[1] now better known as Denis Stoff, is a Ukrainian musician. He started off his career making covers of popular songs on his Youtube channel called 'above92', and is currently the lead vocalist of Asking Alexandria and former vocalist and guitarist of Make Me Famous and Down & Dirty.

Music career

2010-12: Make Me Famous

The first major project Stoff involved himself in was metalcore act Make Me Famous which he helped form in 2010 with members Serj Kravchenko on lead vocals, Sergei Hohlov on bass, Dusty Boles on drums and Igor Yestrebov on guitar.^[2] The band gained recognition on the video sharing website YouTube, where Stoff previously released covers of songs and would eventually gain members after contacting each musician after gaining a following.^[3] The band released their debut album in March 2012 via Sumerian Records and successfully charted in the US top 200, peaking at 151.^[4][5]

In late 2012 Denis had announced that he had quit the band, which itself had announced to be disbanded after their final headlining tour that same year, officially disbanding in early 2013.^[6] The remaining members released a statement which went into detail how Stoff had never treated the other members like equals and that he found himself above them all, taking credit for the majority of the writing and also stated he lied to his label in order to gain more royalties, payouts and even daily tour allowances. They continued to write that he was also a poor touring member as he would sometimes miss shows simply because he couldn't be bothered to do so and would frequently give the other members grief for not appreciating the work he's done to get the band at their then-present stage.^[6] The remaining four members went on to form a new band Oceans Red.^[6]

2012-15: Down & Dirty

Stoff briefly joined the band Down & Dirty, the band was officially announced under the Sumerian Records label like his last project, and released their first single and music video in December 2013 titled "Move It".^[7] The band also released a second single and music video in December 2014 titled "I Will Never Lose My Way".^[8] Stoff was a member until the announcement of his involvement with Asking Alexandria.^[9]

2015-present: Asking Alexandria

On 22 January 2015, lead singer Danny Worsnop announced his departure from Asking Alexandria to focus on his new band We Are Harlot, of which it was quickly stated that his replacement was already found.^[10] On 26 May 2015, Stoff was officially announced as the new lead vocalist when they released their first single together titled "I Won't Give In" on 27 May.^[11] Speculation regarding Stoff's involvement started shortly after Worsnop's departure due to similarities between Asking Alexandria and Make Me Famous (who were said to have been ripping off the band's); the fact that they were label mates would have made the transition easy for Stoff to make, and on his personal YouTube account he had covered multiple Asking Alexandria songs.^[11][12]

Ben Bruce was asked if he considered anyone else for the role and he stated that "it has to be Denis" going on to praise his much greater vocal range and since he was inspired by Worsnop in the earlier stages of Asking Alexandria he can perform their songs live much better than Worsnop could, however when Stoff himself was asked how he would distinguish himself from him, he stated he would not make any comparison since he is a completely different person.^[13]

Discography

Albums

With Make Me Famous

• Keep This in Your Music Player (2011)
• It's Now or Never (2012)

Asking Alexandria

• The Black (2016)

Singles

With Down & Dirty

• Move It (2014)^[7]
• I Will Never Lose My Way (2015)^[8]

With Asking Alexandria

• I Won't Give In (2015)^[11]
• Undivided (2015)^[14]
• The Black (2016)^[15]

As featured artist

• "#OIMATEWTF" with Capture The Crown in 2012 on their album Til Death
• Sink Your Teeth Into This - Conquer Divide (2015)^[16]
• Lucid Dreams - Forever In Combat (2015)^[17]

References