Suicidal Tendencies


Suicidal Tendencies is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1980 in Venice, California by vocalist Mike Muir, who is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stormtroopers of Death, they are often credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash". Their current lineup includes Muir, guitarists Dean Pleasants and Ben Weinman, bassist Ra Díaz and drummer Dave Lombardo. Notable musicians who have contributed to the band's studio or live activities include guitarists Rocky George and Mike Clark, bassists Louiche Mayorga, Robert Trujillo, Josh Paul and Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner, and drummers Amery Smith, Jimmy DeGrasso, Brooks Wackerman, David Hidalgo Jr., Thomas Pridgen and session musician Josh Freese.
Suicidal Tendencies have released thirteen studio albums, two EPs, four split albums, four compilation albums, and two long-form videos. The band achieved their first success with their 1983 self-titled debut album; it spawned the single "Institutionalized", which was one of the first hardcore punk videos to receive substantial airplay on MTV. After releasing one new song on the split release Welcome to Venice and their second studio album Join the Army, Suicidal Tendencies were signed to Epic Records in 1988, and continued their commercial success with its next three albums, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu and Lights...Camera...Revolution! ; the latter two were certified Gold by the RIAA. Their 1992 follow-up album The Art of Rebellion was another success, and included three of their biggest hits "Asleep at the Wheel", "Nobody Hears" and "I'll Hate You Better".
After releasing two more studio albums, the band broke up and severed ties from Sony and Epic in 1995. However, they reunited a year later and have continued to perform and record since then. After over a decade of work and many lineup changes, Suicidal Tendencies released their eleventh studio album with all-new material, 13, in 2013, followed three years later by World Gone Mad ; both albums were well-received by critics, and considered comebacks for Suicidal Tendencies. Their most recent releases are the EP Get Your Fight On! and an album featuring unreleased and re-recorded material Still Cyco Punk After All These Years, both released in 2018. The band is currently working on new material for the follow-up to World Gone Mad.

Band history

Early career, controversy, and first hiatus (1980–1986)

Suicidal Tendencies formed in 1980 as a punk band in Venice, California. The original lineup of the band consisted of Mike Muir on vocals, Mike Ball on guitar, Carlos "Egie" Egert on drums, and Mike Dunnigan on bass. After the recording of their first demo, Carlos Egert left the band and was replaced by Dunnigan's brother, Sean. Muir, at the time a student at Santa Monica College, originally only intended Suicidal Tendencies as a "party band", but as they grew in notoriety he soon found the band at the center of his life. Suicidal Tendencies had a rough start including being voted "Worst Band/Biggest Assholes" in Flipside in 1982 but the following year were voted "Best New Band". There were many rumors of the band members as well as their friends and followers being involved with gangs, with Muir's trademark blue bandanna and violence at the band's performances as evidence.
In their original lineup photo, which can be seen inside their self-titled debut album, drummer Amery Smith is wearing a flipped up hat and under the bill are the markings "V13", thought to be initials for Venice 13. Smith was not a member of V13 and the hat worn in the photo was borrowed from V13 member Steve Mayorga, brother of Suicidal Tendencies bassist Louiche Mayorga. Eventually another gang sprang up possibly named after the band, the Suicidal Cycos with chapters in Venice, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Orange County, Oceanside, San Diego, and in San Antonio, Texas. Other punk gangs in L.A founded at that time included B.P.O & KAOS 13 formed in 1983 by Brent Alden, bassist for the well known punk band False Alarm and founder of the punk crew DDT.
formed Suicidal Tendencies in 1980, and is their only remaining original member.
Suicidal Tendencies quickly gained a following and began performing at larger gigs. They recorded a demo in 1982 and were featured on the Slamulation compilation LP on Mystic Records. The song featured was "I Saw Your Mommy", which was later featured on their self-titled debut album. The Dunnigan brothers quit after these recordings, with Mike Dunnigan later joining Tony Alva's band the Skoundrelz to be back with Mike Ball on guitar and Bela Horvath on drums. Ball stayed in the band for 2½ years before joining the Skoundrelz and was replaced by Dunnigan. Guitarist Rick Battson recorded the demo before the first album. Grant Estes learned that demo replacing him on guitar and playing on Suicidal Tendencies's first record.
This controversy helped the band gain label attention, and in 1983 Suicidal Tendencies signed with the independent label Frontier Records and released their self-titled debut. It was described by critic Steve Huey as "Fast, furious, and funny... Mike Muir proves himself an articulate lyricist and commentator, delving into subjects like alienation, depression, and nonconformist politics with intelligence and humor." It contained the song "Institutionalized", which featured a music video that became one of the first hardcore punk videos to receive substantial MTV airplay, and greatly expanded the band's fan base. The song was featured in the 1984 film Repo Man, as well as in a 1986 episode of the TV show Miami Vice and in the 2008 film Iron Man, where the song plays in the background as Tony Stark works on his car. Soon after the release of their debut album in 1983, Estes left the band and was replaced by Jon Nelson, former manager of the Venice-based band Neighborhood Watch. Nelson played with Suicidal Tendencies on all the early punk shows from 1983 to 1984 contributing the music for future songs like: "War Inside My Head", “You Got, I Want", "Human Guinea Pig", "You Are Forgiven" and "Look Up... ", the latter ending up on the bands compilation record Welcome to Venice. Though Nelson did not appear on any of the Suicidal Tendencies releases, there are some live recordings of the song "War Inside My Head" as well as others. All the music written by Jon Nelson was purchased by Muir upon his departure from the band for a small amount of money and a Flying V guitar. He is credited on the albums only as written by and in 1987 was erroneously listed as guitarist on the reissue of their debut album Suicidal Tendencies which was soon corrected to appropriately credit Grant Estes.
That same year was the beginning of Suicidal Tendencies's four-year recording hiatus and Mike Muir and bassist Louiche Mayorga formed the label Suicidal Records as well as the band Los Cycos. Jon Nelson left the group and Suicidal Tendencies were banned from playing L.A. shows from an incident at Perkins Palace Muir was also about to try his hand at producing as well as starting the new label. Los Cycos was originally Mike Muir, Bob Heathcote, Anthony Gallo and Amery Smith. After a few rehearsals Amery Smith left the line up to join Jon Nelson in starting their own band. Los Cycos eventually included Grant Estes on lead guitar and original choices Bob Heathcote and Amery Smith were replaced by Louiche Mayorga and Sal Troy. They recorded the song "It's Not Easy" written by Muir. "Welcome to Venice" was the first record to be released on Suicidal Records, the original masters were destroyed in a fire. In 1989, Suicidal Tendencies re-recorded "It's Not Easy" for their release Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit... DejaVu album. The other Los Cycos track "A Little Each Day" which never made it to the album, was re-recorded for the 1987 Suicidal Tendencies release Join the Army and again on Still Cyco After All These Years released in 1993. In 2000 it resurfaced on the FNG compilation and a fourth time on 2008s album Lights...Camera...Revolution!/Still Cyco After All These Years. Suicidal Tendencies played on the track "Look Up... " which was the introduction of guitarist Rocky George and drummer RJ Herrera. The band found a new label in Caroline Records in 1986.

First comeback (1987–1988)

With the line-up of Muir, Louiche Mayorga, George, and Herrera, the band released their second album, Join the Army, in 1987. The album was met with a mixed reaction from long-time fans due to its considerably more metal-oriented sound, as they were expecting another punk album. Nonetheless, Join the Army featured classic tracks such as the title track, "War Inside My Head" and "Possessed to Skate".
Shortly afterwards, the band made some major changes. Rocky George's metal influences began in turn influencing Muir, who replaced Keven Guercio as singer for Mike Clark's speed metal band No Mercy prior to this. Muir hired No Mercy's Clark as a rhythm guitarist for Suicidal. Clark helped handle much of the band's songwriting, which progressed into a more thrash oriented musical direction. He fired Mayorga, who had been trying to keep the band in punk territory, and was replaced briefly by No Mercy bassist Ric Clayton, who was replaced by Bob Heathcote. Shortly after the band was picked up by Anthrax producer Mark Dodson and signed to the Columbia subsidiary Epic Records. The stylistic changes and signing to a major label outraged a few long-time fans, but Suicidal Tendencies began to pick up more fans from the heavy metal community as well.
The band's first release with Epic was How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, released in 1988. The album was mostly stripped of the band's punk and hardcore roots, instead featuring a thrash-oriented sound with more complex song structures and a greater emphasis on instrumental skill than the band had ever shown previously. However, the album was considerably more melodic than most thrash metal albums, perhaps a lasting influence of the band's punk past. Singles and music videos were released for "Trip at the Brain" and the title track, which were successful and helped expand the bands audience. That same year the band was thanked by country musician Hank Williams Jr. at the 1988 CMA Awards. Williams' son was apparently a big fan of Suicidal Tendencies.

Robert Trujillo-era and second hiatus (1989–1996)

With their popularity and media attention increasing, Suicidal Tendencies released a compilation of two EPs, Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu, in 1989. A new member appeared in the videos that promoted the album, however he was not a band member yet at the time the album was being recorded. The album featured two versions of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow": the video version and the "heavy emotion" version. The rest of the songs on the album came from previously released EPs, except "Just Another Love Song" and "Feel Like Shit...Deja Vu", with the remaining songs being No Mercy and Los Cycos covers. The album featured the hit "Waking the Dead", which at seven minutes was one of the most progressive tracks the band had released to date.
Controlled By Hatred... eventually went gold, the first of three Suicidal albums to do so.
In 1990 Suicidal Tendencies released the album that many fans consider to be their masterpiece, and the album that almost broke them into the rock mainstream, Lights...Camera...Revolution!. This album featured the same line-up as Controlled By Hatred..., with Trujillo on bass guitar. The songs were much more complex than on any other Suicidal album, some songs bordering on progressive metal, but also showed a new influence courtesy of Trujillo, funk. To accompany the album, Suicidal Tendencies released the home video Lights...Camera...Suicidal. The album was a hit. It featured "You Can't Bring Me Down" as well as "Send Me Your Money", and the melodic thrash song "Alone" – all released as singles and music videos. All three singles were successful, and helped Lights...Camera...Revolution! also reach gold status, and the band gained a heavy audience in the thrash metal community despite being commonly accused of "selling out" in the hardcore circle. The band's 1991 tour with Queensrÿche, their first show in Los Angeles in years, and their appearance on the Clash of the Titans tour helped expand their popularity. They also did a U.S. tour with Los Angeles heavy metal band Armored Saint, whose singer John Bush would join Anthrax shortly after the tour.
Muir eventually became interested in the funk music that Trujillo had brought to the table of Suicidal Tendencies's influences. As a result, the two formed a funk metal side project in the vein of early Red Hot Chili Peppers called Infectious Grooves. Also recruiting ex-Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and Excel guitarist Adam Siegel, Infectious Grooves released their debut, The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves, which featured Ozzy Osbourne singing the line "therapy" in the song "Therapy" in 1991. This helped expand Suicidal Tendencies's fan base into a wider audience that included members of the alternative rock community.
Herrera left Suicidal Tendencies in 1991 due to personal differences. The rest of the band continued as an incomplete four-piece for about a year, drafting now-famous drummer Josh Freese to record their new album which would become Art of Rebellion, released in 1992. The album was very different from anything Suicidal Tendencies had done before, but it was actually their most melodic, accessible album to date. It lessened the bands thrash influences, instead focusing on a unique, almost alternative metal sound, with more emphasis on funk and progressive rock, as well as traditional metal guitars. Although different, the album was greeted warmly by most fans and many critics.
The album was also the band's most commercially successful album. The first single, "Asleep at the Wheel", did moderately well, but was followed by two smash hits. The metal ballad "Nobody Hears" and the crossover hit "I'll Hate You Better", both of which managed to chart on the modern rock radio Billboards. The album debuted on number 52 on the Billboard Top 100 charts and has gone gold. The band began performing large stadium shows, touring with such mainstream rock staples as Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Queensrÿche, Danzig and Kiss, where they earned a wide reputation as an excellent live act. By the end of the year Suicidal Tendencies had found a permanent replacement for Herrera, former White Lion and Y&T drummer Jimmy DeGrasso.
Now at their commercial peak, Suicidal Tendencies released Still Cyco After All These Years in 1993. The album was a re-recording of Suicidal Tendencies's then out-of-print self-titled debut album with three additional songs. It featured singles for the new versions of "Institutionalized" and "I Saw Your Mommy", which managed to do well, as did the album. That same year also saw the release of another Infectious Grooves album, Sarsippius' Ark, which included new tracks as well as demo recordings of old songs, and live tracks.
However, disturbed by their recent commercial success and fame, and fear that the band was no longer relevant in the underground, Suicidal Tendencies released Suicidal for Life in 1994. The album was intended by the band to be the least accessible album they had released, starting out by having four consecutive songs with the word "fuck" in the title, and switching to a more aggressive style than on their previous studio album. Suicidal for Life was widely considered to be a disappointing album by critics, many of which claimed Muir had "dumbed down" his lyrical approach from previous albums. Fans also had a generally mixed reaction, although their reaction was more favorable than critics'.
Muir's strategy worked, however. The album did not sell nearly as well as the past four Suicidal Tendencies records and the only major single, "Love Vs. Loneliness", featured a gloomy music video that hurt the song's airplay.
It was also around this time the band, whose contract with Epic Records had expired, began to fall apart, and folded after a tour in 1995. Muir and Trujillo continued Infectious Grooves, releasing Groove Family Cyco later that year, but they eventually folded as well, with Trujillo joining Ozzy Osbourne's band and Muir performing as Cyco Miko, releasing Lost My Brain! . Rocky George formed the group Samsara and played in 40 Cycle Hum and Cro-Mags after Suicidal Tendencies's breakup, eventually joining Fishbone. Mike Clark joined a band called Creeper, while Jimmy DeGrasso joined Dave Mustaine's side project MD.45, and eventually replaced Nick Menza in Megadeth, who recruited guitarist Anthony Gallo for his solo record entitled Life After Deth.
A greatest hits compilation, Prime Cuts, was released in 1997, apparently against the band's will.

Second comeback (1996–2001)

Suicidal Tendencies returned in 1996. However, Rocky George, Robert Trujillo, and Jimmy DeGrasso were unable to rejoin as they were busy with other projects. Muir and Clark brought in new lead guitarist Dean Pleasants, new bassist Josh Paul and new drummer Brooks Wackerman to replace them.
The band released their first new material in almost half a decade, the Six the Hard Way EP in 1998, which also included two live tracks. Released on Suicidal Records, this EP saw the band switching back to their original punk metal and skatepunk style. This, along with the absence of George and Trujillo, upset many of the bands metal-era fans, but fans of the older punk Suicidal Tendencies warmly welcomed the new style.
The band stuck to a similar formula for Freedumb, released in 1999. Despite generally bad reviews from critics it was considered by fans of the band as their "comeback album", with the title track, "Cyco Vision" and "We Are A Family" becoming fan favorites.
The following year Suicidal Tendencies released Free Your Soul and Save My Mind. Unlike its predecessor, which was more straightforward hardcore, this album saw the band covering most of the styles they had dabbled with in the past. Some songs were punk, but many of them were also thrash-oriented, and this was by far Suicidal Tendencies's funkiest album yet. Fans and critics greeted the album warmly, and a new single, "Pop Song", was released.
Infectious Grooves released their fourth and comeback album Mas Borracho in 2000, followed by Muir's second solo album as Cyco Miko, Schizophrenic Born Again Problem Child, in 2001.
Suicidal Tendencies featured a new song on the Friends & Family, Vol. 2 compilation in 2001, but after then the band fell silent again.

Third hiatus, ''Year of the Cycos'' and ''No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family'' (2002–2012)

Wackerman had left Suicidal Tendencies by 2001 while the band was on tour. Greg Saenz joined the band before Ron Bruner took over drum duties and Paul also left by the following year but was replaced by his brother Steve. The band toured during 2003 but were forced take another hiatus in 2004 due to Mike Muir requiring surgery for a back injury.
While the band failed to release an album with material, independently or otherwise, Suicidal Tendencies have continued to tour consistently since 2005. On October 29 of that year their live performance at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed. Suicidal Tendencies secured a spot in the metal/punk-rock Soundwave Festival in Australia in February and March 2007, taking in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth. They performed at the Artefact Festival in France on April 29, 2007, and performed in Istanbul, Turkey on May 29. They also headlined the Tuborg Stage at the Download Festival, held at Donington Park, UK on Friday June 8, 2007, and closed select shows for the Sounds of the Underground tour in San Jose, California on August 3, Irvine, California on August 4, and Mesa, Arizona on August 5. On August 1, 2008, Suicidal Tendencies headlined the Porão do Rock Festival in Brasília in front of 15,000 people. By this stage Eric Moore had replaced Dave Hidalgo on drums. During the fall of 2008, the band toured with Whole Wheat Bread, Madball, Terror, and Death by Stereo, opening select dates. During this tour Year of the Cycos – a compilation album featuring Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Cyco Miko and No Mercy – was available for the first time for purchase at the concerts or from their official website. From the album, the original track "Come Alive" was released as a video clip, and is still their latest video clip to date. The band replaced As I Lay Dying on the first five shows of the No Fear Energy Music Tour with Lamb of God. Suicidal Tendencies toured Europe from June through July 2009.
The first Suicidal Tendencies DVD Live at the Olympic Auditorium, featuring the full show recorded in Los Angeles back in 2005, was released on January 26, 2010 by Fontana Distribution via the band's own imprint, Suicidal Records. On the same day, a was released as part of the Playlist music album series issued by Sony BMG.
In September 2010, Suicidal Tendencies released the album No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family which consists of re-recordings of tracks from the Join the Army album and of old No Mercy songs, plus the previously released "Come Alive". In support of the album the band toured the US in October and November, including performing at Tucson, Arizona KFMA radio station's Fall Ball 2010 on October 24 at Pima County Fairgrounds.

''13'' (2013–2014)

Suicidal Tendencies released 13, their first album with new material in 13 years, on March 26, 2013. The band spent the next few years touring in support of the album, with such bands as D.R.I., Sick of It All, Slayer, Exodus, Slipknot, Beartooth, Megadeth, Children of Bodom and Havok. They also headlined the 2014 Persistence Tour, and appeared at many festivals such as Riot Fest in 2013, Amnesia Rockfest in 2014 and Motörhead's Motörboat cruise and Knotfest in both 2015.
On March 11, 2014, Thomas Pridgen confirmed on his Instagram and Facebook page that he had joined Suicidal Tendencies. By the fall of 2014, Pridgen was no longer playing in Suicidal Tendencies, and Eric Moore rejoined the band.
On August 27, 2014, Suicidal Tendencies announced that bassist Tim Williams had died. Rawbiz was replaced by Michael Morgan, and two years later by Ra Díaz.

''World Gone Mad'' (2014–2017)

In a December 2014 interview with Loudwire, vocalist Mike Muir was asked if Suicidal Tendencies would release a follow-up to 13. He replied, "Right now I have no answer to that as far as the previous one. There were a lot of things that went on and I think for us now, if everyone said they wanted to get into the studio and there was something they really wanted to do, I'd take it into consideration. But we're in the studio all the time, we're always recording." In an April 2015 interview with Metalhead Blog, guitarist Dean Pleasants revealed that Suicidal Tendencies had been working on new material for a possible compilation album.
In a February 2016 interview, Muir hinted at a new EP, followed by a new full-length studio album, inspired by then-current political climate and upcoming election. He also stated that the album and EP could be the band's final recordings, although he added, "I thought the first one would probably be the last we would do, too."
drummer Dave Lombardo, a longtime friend and supporter of Suicidal Tendencies, has been a member of the band since 2016.
On February 20, 2016, Suicidal Tendencies announced that former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, a longtime friend and supporter of the band, would be playing drums on their February–March 2016 tour with Megadeth, and again on their May–June 2016 European tour. On May 6, 2016, guitarist Nico Santora announced on his Facebook page that he had left Suicidal Tendencies to focus on his new project Lillake. He was replaced by Oneironaut guitarist Jeff Pogan.
On May 15, 2016, Suicidal Tendencies posted a video of Lombardo laying down tracks for the band's follow-up to 13, which was expected to be released in September. This video implied that Lombardo had become a permanent member of Suicidal Tendencies. On June 17, 2016, Suicidal Tendencies announced in a newsletter that they were in the final stages of mixing the new album, which was expected to be released on September 30, 2016. Mike Muir revealed in June 2016 interviews that the album would be called The World Gone Mad, and that the band planned to release a new EP in January 2017. However, the title of the album was later shortened to World Gone Mad. It was supported by the band's first single in 22 years "Clap Like Ozzy". To promote World Gone Mad, Suicidal Tendencies supported Megadeth, Amon Amarth and Metal Church on the Dystopia tour in the United States in September–October 2016, and headlined two tours in 2017: the Persistence Tour with Agnostic Front in Europe in January, and a U.S. tour in February–March with Crowbar and Havok. Muir had stated in interviews that World Gone Mad may be Suicidal Tendencies' final studio album, though he later retracted this statement, saying, "You can't believe what anybody says nowadays — everybody's effin' lyin'."

''Get Your Fight On!'', ''Still Cyco Punk After All These Years'' and next album (2018–present)

On December 1, 2017, Suicidal Tendencies announced that they had completed work on a new EP with producer Paul Northfield for an early 2018 release. Muir has described the EP as "a little more specifically a statement of the time" and an effort that "could be interpreted as political." The EP, Get Your Fight On!, was released on March 9, 2018, and was the first of two releases the band had planned for release that year; the second being a new full-length, Still Cyco Punk After All These Years, released on September 7, 2018. The latter is a near re-recording of Cyco Miko's first album Lost My Brain! .
On July 2, 2018, it was announced that guitarist Jeff Pogan had left Suicidal Tendencies for personal reasons. Former The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman filled in for him on the band's summer and fall 2018 shows.
In March 2019, Weinman announced on his Twitter page that he was in the studio tracking down new material for the next Suicidal Tendencies album. In a July 2020 interview with Ultimate Guitar, however, Weinman stated that "there hasn't been any music made", but also stated that "maybe when all this comes back, when things go back to normal, we can think about that."
On March 18, 2020, Muir announced on Suicidal Tendencies' Facebook page that they are working on an "old-school vinyl release" featuring instrumental "songs from ST members and people related to ST."

Style and influence

Suicidal Tendencies have been influenced by a variety of genres, including punk rock, speed metal, hardcore punk, surf music, heavy metal and reggae, such as Jimi Hendrix, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, Black Flag, the Germs, Dick Dale, Black Sabbath, the Circle Jerks, T.S.O.L., the Who, the Middle Class, the Simpletones, China White, the Hated, Motörhead, the Plugz, the Big Boys, War, Bob Marley and Frank Zappa. While their early material, including their first album, is considered hardcore punk, the band is well known for combining elements of thrash metal with funk, punk rock and alternative rock. Critics have also described Suicidal Tendencies as "the godfathers" of the genre crossover thrash, which they have been credited for creating along with Texas-based band D.R.I. and New York-based band Stormtroopers of Death.
Various artists have expressed their admiration for Suicidal Tendencies or have cited them as an influence, including Anthrax, Biohazard, Body Count, Children of Bodom, Death By Stereo, Dub War, Green Day, Jane's Addiction, Incubus, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Megadeth, Metallica, MxPx, NOFX, The Offspring, P.O.D., Pantera, Papa Roach, Pennywise, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Sevendust, Slayer, Slipknot, Soulfly, Staind, System of a Down, Terror and Hank Williams III.

Band members

;Current members