In late 2011, lead vocalist Craig Mabbitt announced an upcoming side-project, along with an upcoming album for Escape the Fate. Mabbitt revealed that a single from the side-project would be released in February 2012, and the album would be produced by Caleb Shomo of Beartooth. Members of the side project would include Kevin "Thrasher" Gruft of LoveHateHero who later went on to join Escape the Fate, TJ Bell of Escape the Fate and formerly of Motionless in White, Alex Torres formerly of Eyes Set to Kill, Greeley Estates, and Alesana. He hinted that the album will be a reminiscent of the music he made while in his previous bands Blessthefall and The Word Alive. Mabbitt announced a tentative April 9 release date for the album, stating "what better day to release your album than on your birthday?", but this was later delayed. In January, he created a Facebook page and posted that he would stream a song from the side-project's upcoming EP if the page got to 50,000 "likes". When the page got to around 49,500 likes, he revealed the title and lyrics for the upcoming song, titled "Edge of Reality". The song "Edge of Reality" was released the moment the page reached 50,000 likes. On March 30, he announced the name of the upcoming EP, Edge of Reality, under the band name "the Dead Rabbitts". On April 9, he released another song from the EP titled "World of Disaster". In mid-2012, the Dead Rabbitts announced that they would be teaming with To Write Love on Her Arms and PledgeMusic with the release of the EP. Through PledgeMusic, fans were able to pre-order the EP along with extra items such as signed CDs, posters, concert tickets, and more. People who pre-ordered the album through the website, or "pledged", would also be able to download the album earlier than others. When the pre-orders hit the target goal, 5% of the money raised would be donated to To Write Love On Her Arms. Pledgers would also receive updates and exclusive videos. Mabbitt released certain songs from the EP when the target percentage of donations reached certain points, such as 55% or 75%. The target was reached on October 4, 2012, and the album was released on October 19. The band set off on the "Pizza Party Tour" with bands Get Scared and Rob the Cartel and As Thick As Thieves The tour started in Tucson, Arizona on September 12, 2012, and ended September 29 in Sacramento, California.
The Dead Rabbitts (2014–present)
In November 2013, Dead Rabbitts signed with Tragic Hero Records and announced that they will be releasing an album sometime in 2014. In December, they began recording songs with Andrew Wade. On May 16, the band released their first single "My Only Regret" from their debut album Shapeshifter, which was released on July 1, 2014. On November 7, the band released a music video from their song "Deer in the Headlights". In 2015, lead guitarist Alex Torres left the band. In January, 2017 Bobby Whitaker joined as the band's new lead guitarist. In February, 2017 Rob Pierce left the band. On January 24, 2017, the band released their first single "Dead Again" from their second studio album This Emptiness which will be released on April 14, 2017. This record was produced by Kevin "Thrasher" Gruft and mixed by Andrew Wade. During their album release party in Mesa, Arizona, Erik Jensen joined the band and played rhythm guitar with Bobby Whitaker. After releasing their new album, on April 16, 2017. Bobby Whitaker left the band for personal reasons. After Rob Pierce and Boby Whitaker left the band, Blake Bailey and Erik Jensen joined the band as touring musicians. On June 13, 2017, the band released a remix version of their single "Dead Again" featuring rapper Whitney Peyton. On October 25, 2019 the band confirmed Erik Jensen and Blake Bailey as permanent members via Facebook page, and released a single titled "Dead By Daylight" with guest vocalist Leila Rose, daughter of Craig Mabbitt. This song is the debut single from the upcoming EP produced by Cameron Mizell at Chango Studios. This song was written by Craig Mabbitt, and is based on the popular horror-survival video game, Dead by Daylight. On November 22, 2019. the band released their second single "Gutter" featuring Whitney Peyton and Courtney LaPlante, and the second EP "Break the Static" was released on December 6, 2019. On June 16, 2020, the band released their debut single, "Echo", with the music video.
