The Deadlines - History

History

Shaun Sundholm founded the Deadlines in 1998 with drummer Jeremy Abbott as the evolution of their punk rock band, The Oblivious Kids, who had also been known as The Chosen Few and The Pinheads, among other names. The band originally started in 1996 under the aforementioned monikers and settled as the Pinheads in late 1996; Jared Beddingfield had joined the band as their bass guitarist. After two shows, the Pinheads broke up. Jeremy and Shaun kept playing together and eventually changed their name to the Oblivious Kids when they added Brian Jones on bass. The band recorded a four-song demo cassette and played a handful of shows. Around 1998, the band began taking on a darker, more horror-punk / rock n' roll sound akin to Murder City Devils, The Damned or The Misfits. Because their sound had changed significantly, the band members decided to change the band's name to The Deadlines.

During their years as a horror punk band, the members of The Deadlines used stage names rather than their given names. The first lineup consisted of Sundholm, whose then-stage name was Shaun Coffin, on vocals and guitar; Jeremy Abbott, who went by Jerry Attrick, on drums; and Brian "Spencer Spooks" Jones bass. The newly re-christened Deadlines began playing shows in the Portland, Oregon, area and soon caught the eye of a local start-up record label, Royal Star Music, and Astoria, Oregon, native Sam Waisanen. Not long after, Sam joined the band as Sammy Lugosi; and they were in a makeshift basement studio, recording their first album for the fledgling label. After the release the band began playing more and more shows, attracting the attention of fellow Astorian, Brent Salo, who quickly signed on to play keyboards under the guise of The Creature From the Brent Lagoon. Not three months later and the band was scheduled to play the growing Christian indie festival TomFest and were attracting the attention of several more well established independent record labels.

After their performance at TomFest, audience members expressed that they wanted the band to be signed, chanting "Somebody sign these guys!". Almost immediately, they were offered a recording contract by Tooth & Nail Records and became the first, and (as of 2006) only horror punk band in the label's history. Two months later, the band recorded their debut album for Tooth & Nail, The Death and Life of..., at the Robert Lang Studios, which had become well known in the 1990s as the place where Nirvana had made their last studio album. Soon after recording their first album, Jones left the band and was replaced by Thomas Demise. The album had not yet been released when Jones left, so Demise was listed as the band's bassist on the full-length; Jones was given credit (as Spencer Spooks) in the album's liner notes. Meanwhile, the band started touring more and more of the United States.

The band's lyrics mixed topics regarding death, gore and general horror movie fare with a basis in Christian themes. In live performances and photos, the band members wore old suits and pale makeup, intending to appear that they had recently escaped from coffins. The band's live shows featured blood spitting, fire breathing, and knife wielding extras, which set them apart from other bands in the Pacific Northwest.