The BeginningDead Poetic was first formed when members Zach Miles, Brandon Rike, and Chad Shellabarger were at the age of 13. Josh Shellabarger was then 15. The band formed in their local Church, and each taught themselves. Their first show was at the three teenagers' Middle School's annual "Talent Show."
1997 - 2002The band first garnered attention in the underground music scene following the release of their first full-length record Four Wall Blackmail, which was released by Tooth & Nail subsidiary Solid State Records, and single "August Winterman." Their second release, 2004's New Medicines, heightened the band's profile considerably, however. Produced by Aaron Sprinkle (Emery, Acceptance), the album's sales were buoyed by the title track, which became a hit on MTV2 and Fuse TV. On these first two albums, music critics had a hard time classifying the band's music: genres from emo to post-hardcore to alternative rock were all tossed around with little consensus. Fans, however, were much quicker to label Dead Poetic as a "screamo" band; the band protested this label vehemently, wishing just to be called a rock-n-roll band.
2002 - Mid 2004After the release of New Medicines, Dead Poetic went on tour in support of Demon Hunter in the fall of 2004 and essentially imploded shortly thereafter. Personal disagreements within the band caused bassist Chad Shellabarger, drummer Josh Shellabarger, and guitarist Todd Osborn to all depart the band, and Dead Poetic appeared to be a thing of the past. But remaining members Brandon Rike (vocals) and Zach Miles (guitar) began playing with accomplished drummer Jesse Sprinkle (formerly of Poor Old Lu and Demon Hunter; also the brother of Aaron Sprinkle) and their passion for music reignited. Beloved alums Dusty Redmon (guitar) and John Brehm (bass) came on board to round out the new, revamped version of Dead Poetic.
2004 - Late 2006For their third album, Vices, the band once again enlisted Aaron Sprinkle to produce the album, but this time, the band eschewed the screaming that had been one of the hallmarks of their earlier style. In an interview with CCM Magazine, Rike said, "There is no way I
Brandon Rike singing at a live concert.
Brandon Rike singing at a live concert.
could get myself to scream on a song anymore. I'm just past it."[1]. Though originally scheduled for a July 18 release, the release date for Vices was pushed back to October 31, with "Narcotic" chosen as the lead single. Dead Poetic was scheduled to tour with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus in fall 2007, but backed out of those dates in mid-October 2006.
Dead Poetic Concert Flyer.
Dead Poetic Concert Flyer.
On November 25, 2006, Absolutepunk.net reported that Brandon Rike had left Dead Poetic and the remaining members had decided not to continue with the band. Though the band initially posted a message on their MySpace page in December 2006 stating they were still active, most fans eventually assumed the band had indeed broken up because of the band's noticeable lack of touring. Guitarist Dusty Redmon confirmed the band's disbanding on absolutepunk.net in September 2007: "When Brandon left the band back in October (before "Vices" came out), a lot of big stuff was going on. We had great tour plans, a batch of new songs we were in to, and just kind of a new sense of freshness about the band. Brandon had been sort of "over it" for a long time, and just sort of picked a bad time to bail. He loves doing design, and being hang-out-at-home-type of husband, which is cool. I kind of called "NOT IT" when it came to making an announcement, but I guess so did everyone else. T&N put a lot of initial money into the record, only to see the band fall apart before the release, causing them to basically drop the entire promotion campaign. Sorry to those who were led on by thinking we were still active. Jesse is recording, Brandon is designing, John is tattooing, Zach just had a new baby, and I'm playing in the Almost."
December 2006 - presentCurrently, Dead Poetic is planning to continue writing music, and to fulfill their existing contract with Tooth & Nail Records. The band plans to create music, without any intentions to tour. On October 30, 2007, Jesse Sprinkle posted a MySpace bulletin reiterating that the band was still indeed together. "Contrary to popular opinion and the mighty Wikipedia, Dead Poetic has not broken up. We are still a band indeed....we figured we'd post it to the public....we assure you that Dead Poetic is alive." He went on to say that the band's label, Tooth and Nail, would be releasing a "Best Of" album for Dead Poetic in the near future, and that the band hopes to start writing songs for a new record very soon.
On November 16, 2007, Brandon Rike posted a blog on MySpace that contained a long description, written by Brandon Rike himself, on why it's been so hard to keep the band together. In the bulletin, Rike focused on issues such as his marriage, Dusty Redmon playing for The Almost, tours that they missed, among other things. He also mentioned that their best-of album, The Finest hits stores on November 20, 2007. In this blog Rike stated, he has announced that Zach, Jesse, and himself plan to record a new record after The Finest. As of November 16th, 2007, this announcement may be viewed at
www.deadpoetic.com underneath the banner which reads "DEAD POETIC IS NOT DEAD."
Trivia
* The song "Glass In The Trees" was written by Brandon in honor of his very close friend who died in a car accident whilst driving drunk. Rike stated "You could literally see the glass in the tree glimmering." The song is focused on him at the wreck at 3 AM.
* Former guitarist Dusty Redmon now plays guitar in The Almost.
* Brandon Rike owns his own graphics designing company "Dark Collar".
* The song "New Medicines" was used in the Xbox version of the video game "Wrestlemania 21."
* The song "Narcotic" is featured in the video game "Flatout:Ultimate Carnage."
* The band's record "Vices" debuted at #7 on the Billboard heatseekers chart.
* Lead guitarist Zach Miles owns a Gibson Les Paul Standard, and a Fender Jaguar HH.
* Before changing its name to "Dead Poetic," the band went by "MINDSET"[citation needed].
* The album "Four Wall Blackmail" was originally entitled "4our Wall BlackMail."
Band members
Current Members
* Brandon Rike - lead vocalist
* Zach Miles - lead guitar/ back up vocals
* John Brehm - bass guitar (former bassist of Beloved)
* Jesse Sprinkle - drums (former drummer of Poor Old Lu, Demon Hunter, Serene UK), many more.
Former members
* Dusty Redmon - guitar (2005 - 2006)
* John Brehm - bass guitar (2005-2006)
* Chad Shellabarger - bass guitar (1997-Fall 2004)
* Josh Shellabarger - drums (1997-Fall 2004)
* Todd Osborn - guitar (2001-Fall 2004)
Discography * Four Wall Blackmail (2002) - Solid State Records
* New Medicines (2004) - Solid State Records
* Vices (2006) - Tooth and Nail Records
* The Finest (2007) - Tooth and Nail Records
