Shaun Sundholm founded the Deadlines in 1998 with drummer Jeremy Abbott as the evolution of their punk rock band, The Oblivious Kids. The band began featured a darker, more horror-punk / rock n' roll sound. 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 make-shift 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.
Almost immediately, after their performance at TomFest 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 … 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.
Tooth & Nail released The Deadlines' album, The Death & Life Of..., in March 2000. Tooth & Nail was planning for some controversy regarding the album, and they released it with different album covers for the Christian and secular markets. The album met with some additional controversy in Christian circles, due to its lyrics that dwelt on death, vampires, and drug use, among other topics. The band eventually agreed to included a card inside the "Christian market" CD case that explained the lyrics to each song.
Following the release of the album, The Deadlines hired 2nd guitarist Carlos Colón (aka Carlos Cadaver) to take over the lead guitar as Shaun Coffin assumed full time vocal duties. The tour that followed would consist of over the top theatrics including spitting blood, lighting their equipment on fire, and on occasion Sundholm's brother juggling knives.
The Deadlines underwent a major overhaul in October 2000 after their three-month United States tour with Huntingtons and Squad Five-O, when Sammy Lugosi, Brent Salo (aka The Creature), Carlos Cadaver and Thomas Demise left the band. Carlos Cadaver moved back to Los Angeles. After a period of disillusionment, lead singer Shaun, began writing new songs, although in a completely different vein, and once again called on Jerry Attrick to help him flesh the new tunes out. Playing through the new material with Attrick led to the maturation of the new songs from a '60s garage rock to more glam '70s sound. Not wanting to discontinue a still relatively new band, Sundholm and Abbott recruited several new members, namely Joshua Griffith and Tim Eurich. The new incarnation of The Deadlines decided to completely drop the horror schtick, instead favoring a more straightforward sound that blended blues-based rock 'n' roll with glam rock and punk influences. The Deadlines immediately started work on their new album and was released in November 2001 with the title Fashion Over Function. Soon after, Abbott left the band to start a family and was replaced by Travis Waldie; The Deadlines also added Gerrit Lovesick.
The Deadlines started 2002 with an album release party, and they were gaining attention and appearing on the covers on local alternative newspapers. At the same time, sales for the second album were not as high as expected; Tooth & Nail was growing more distant, afraid of upsetting the label's Christian market fan-base, and tried to deal the band to several labels both independent and major. Nothing came of the wheeling and dealing and the stress began to wear on Sundholm, who at that point was the only original member left in the band. Tooth & Nail refused to let the Deadlines change their name. In February 2002, Tooth & Nail dropped The Deadlines after they failed to find a new home for the band. The Deadlines continued to tour for several more months but announced in July 2002 that they were disbanding.
View Photos (0) | 
3553 Views | 
0 
