Ink & Dagger
Encyclopedia
Ink & Dagger was a punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
that was active in the 1990s. The two permanent members throughout the band's career were guitar
ist Don Devore
and vocalist Sean Patrick McCabe. Other members included Ashli State, Terry Yerves, Ryan McLaughlin, Joshua Brown, Jennifer Park and Eric Wareheim
. Band members frequently incorporated references to vampire
s in their music, painted their faces, and played with fake blood. Some members were previously in Crud is a Cult, The Mandela Strike Force and Frail.
s on stage. McCabe was also infamous for egging Hare Krishna
devotees and throwing yogurt at Earth Crisis
.
, or drum and bass
music.
Initially the band had a post-hardcore sound akin to Swiz
and DC-focused rhythms, Ink & Dagger grew to be a popular band in Philadelphia. Additionally, the influences of past emotional hardcore band Frail can still be heard in the yelps and falsettos on Ink & Dagger's 7"s.
room in Indiana
in 2000, at age 27. The final and self-titled album was released on Buddyhead Records
with a picture of a young Sean in a vampire costume featured in the CD booklet.
Don Devore currently plays bass in Amazing Baby
, and also plays in Souls She Said, a band consisting of him and Joe Cardamone from the Icarus Line. Also, during the band Refused's final tour Don played bass during their American shows.
Joshua Brown went on to play in Lenola and Like A Fox. He currently plays bass in The Midnight Sounds.
Terry Yerves put playing music aside for a bit to focus more on sound engineering in both the recording studio as well as live concert sound. He is currently residing in San Francisco, managing the audio dept at The Independent and playing drums in new project called Sporting Life.
Microsoft
Xbox
videogame Amped
uses three songs from The Fine Art of Original Sin. In 2005, former drummer Ryan McLaughlin sued Microsoft, claiming that they were used without the band's knowledge. The suit was settled out of court in 2006.
of Thursday
fame sang for this show. All of Ink & Dagger's profits earned from tickets and merchandise at This Is Hardcore benefited Maks Zielanski, a child diagnosed with cancer. Maks is the son of Ed Zielanski who was a member of Crud Is a Cult and Flagman. Ink & Dagger also played a small number of additional shows in Brooklyn, LA and Philadelphia. Rickly's vocals were generally warmly received as a replacement for McCabe. Jon Reiss of New York Press
commented, "The band seemed pretty tight and the choice of Rickly for a singer worked about eighty percent of the time. It's impossible to replace a front man so dynamic as McCabe." Ink & Dagger also toured the UK with Rickly in January 2011.
The brief reunion lead to the creation of a new band called Cut Throat Tactics featuring members of Ink & Dagger, Thursday, and The Dillinger Escape Plan
. Cut Throat Tactics will begin work on their debut album once all of the members finish work with their primary bands have finished touring.
Compilations
EPs
Splits
Compilation appearances
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
that was active in the 1990s. The two permanent members throughout the band's career were guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Don Devore
Don Devore
Don Devore is an American musician who currently plays in the alternative rock band Amazing Baby. He has also been a member of Ink & Dagger, Frail, The Icarus Line, Historics, Lilys, Mazarin and Souls She Said.-Discography:Historics.2009...
and vocalist Sean Patrick McCabe. Other members included Ashli State, Terry Yerves, Ryan McLaughlin, Joshua Brown, Jennifer Park and Eric Wareheim
Eric Wareheim
Eric Wareheim is an American actor, comedian, writer and director. He is one half of the comedy team of Tim and Eric. Wareheim, along with Tim Heidecker, created the television shows Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Check It Out! with Dr...
. Band members frequently incorporated references to vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s in their music, painted their faces, and played with fake blood. Some members were previously in Crud is a Cult, The Mandela Strike Force and Frail.
On-stage theatrics
On one occasion, the band vomited on Christmas treeChristmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
s on stage. McCabe was also infamous for egging Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
devotees and throwing yogurt at Earth Crisis
Earth Crisis
Earth Crisis is an American metalcore band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Their most recent record, To the Death, was released in May 2009 through Century Media....
.
Influence
An example of their influence can be seen on the record The Fine Art of Original Sin which featured several tracks breaking completely from established norms of post-hardcore, incorporating aspects of technoTechno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, or drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
music.
Initially the band had a post-hardcore sound akin to Swiz
Swiz
Swiz was a hardcore punk band formed in 1987 in Washington, DC. The founding members were Shawn Brown , Jason Farrell , Ramsey Metcalf , Nathan Larson , and Alex Daniels . Prior the formation of Swiz, Brown had been the original vocalist for Dag Nasty...
and DC-focused rhythms, Ink & Dagger grew to be a popular band in Philadelphia. Additionally, the influences of past emotional hardcore band Frail can still be heard in the yelps and falsettos on Ink & Dagger's 7"s.
Known members
- Sean McCabe – vocals, programming
- Don Devore – guitar, programming
- Ashli State – bass
- Terrance Yerves – drums
- Eric Wareheim – bass
- Jorge Gonzalez – guitar
- David Wagenschutz – drums
- Joshua Brown – bass, backing vocals
- Ryan McLaughlin – drums
- Jennifer Park – additional vocals
- Chris Tropea (T-Rope) – lights, roadie
- Geoff Rickly - vocals
After the group's demise
In 1999, Ink & Dagger formally announced that they were disbanding. Shortly after recording what was to be the band's final album, singer Sean Patrick McCabe was found dead in a motelMotel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
room in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
in 2000, at age 27. The final and self-titled album was released on Buddyhead Records
Buddyhead Records
Buddyhead is a music "webzine" and independent record label formed by Travis Keller in the summer of 1997 in Hollywood, California. Keller is notorious for outspoken criticism of popular culture and the music industry...
with a picture of a young Sean in a vampire costume featured in the CD booklet.
Don Devore currently plays bass in Amazing Baby
Amazing Baby
Amazing Baby is an American indie rock band based in Brooklyn, New York in 2008. The band began as an after-work collaboration between Will Roan, Will Berman and Simon O'Connor, who had known one another from the Brooklyn music scene, and who were working at the same ringtone company.The band's...
, and also plays in Souls She Said, a band consisting of him and Joe Cardamone from the Icarus Line. Also, during the band Refused's final tour Don played bass during their American shows.
Joshua Brown went on to play in Lenola and Like A Fox. He currently plays bass in The Midnight Sounds.
Terry Yerves put playing music aside for a bit to focus more on sound engineering in both the recording studio as well as live concert sound. He is currently residing in San Francisco, managing the audio dept at The Independent and playing drums in new project called Sporting Life.
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
videogame Amped
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding is an Xbox exclusive snowboarding video game. It is the first of the Amped video game series....
uses three songs from The Fine Art of Original Sin. In 2005, former drummer Ryan McLaughlin sued Microsoft, claiming that they were used without the band's knowledge. The suit was settled out of court in 2006.
Reunion with Geoff Rickly (2010–2011)
In August 2010, Ink & Dagger headlined the 2010 This Is Hardcore festival. Geoff RicklyGeoff Rickly
Geoffrey William Rickly Geoffrey William Rickly Geoffrey William Rickly (born March 8, 1979 is the lead singer and songwriter of Thursday, an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. They have released six studio albums. Rickly grew up in Dumont, New Jersey...
of Thursday
Thursday (band)
Thursday were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records...
fame sang for this show. All of Ink & Dagger's profits earned from tickets and merchandise at This Is Hardcore benefited Maks Zielanski, a child diagnosed with cancer. Maks is the son of Ed Zielanski who was a member of Crud Is a Cult and Flagman. Ink & Dagger also played a small number of additional shows in Brooklyn, LA and Philadelphia. Rickly's vocals were generally warmly received as a replacement for McCabe. Jon Reiss of New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
commented, "The band seemed pretty tight and the choice of Rickly for a singer worked about eighty percent of the time. It's impossible to replace a front man so dynamic as McCabe." Ink & Dagger also toured the UK with Rickly in January 2011.
The brief reunion lead to the creation of a new band called Cut Throat Tactics featuring members of Ink & Dagger, Thursday, and The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie. The band's current line-up consists of guitarist Ben Weinman,...
. Cut Throat Tactics will begin work on their debut album once all of the members finish work with their primary bands have finished touring.
Discography
Studio albums- The Fine Art of Original Sin (1998)
- Ink & Dagger (2000)
Compilations
- Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart (1997)
EPs
- Love Is Dead (1996)
- Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart (1997)
- Experiments In Nocturnal Sound and Energy (1997)
- Sensation (1999)
Splits
- Split with The Icarus LineThe Icarus LineThe Icarus Line is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California.The Icarus Line was formed out of the ashes of high school punk group Kanker Sores...
(1999) - Split with Le Shok (1999)
Compilation appearances
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Shadowtalker/The History in Ecstasy" | Buddyhead Suicide |
| 2004 | "Catch the Flashback" | Initial Records: Worst Label Ever! |