I Killed the Prom Queen
I Killed the Prom Queen | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Adelaide, SA |
| Genres | Metalcore |
| Years active | 2000 - 2008, 2011 - 2015 |
| Labels | Resist, Metal Blade, Stomp, Final Prayer, Epitaph |
| Associated acts |
|
| Past members |
|
Band Members
- Line-Up
- Kevin Cameron (guitar)
- Ben Coyte (bass)
- Jamie Hope (vocals)
- Shane O'Brien (drums)
- Jona Weinhofen (guitar, vocals)
- Former Members
- Sean Kennedy (bass) 2002 - 2008, 2011 - 2013 (d. 24/2/21)
- JJ Peters (drums) 2000 - 2008, 2011 - 2013
- Michael Crafter (vocals) 2001 - 2006, 2008
- Ed Butcher (vocals) 2006 - 2007
- Lee Stacy (vocals) 2000 - 2003
- Leaton Rose (bass) 2001 - 2002
- Simon O'Gorman (guitar) 2000 - 2002
- Ben Engels (bass) 2000 - 2001
Formed
Adelaide, SA, 2000
Band Information
I Killed the Prom Queen was an Adelaide metalcore band that formed in 2000, the original standard bearers of Australian metalcore. The original line-up featured Jona Weinhofen, JJ Peters, Ben Engel, Simon O'Gorman and Lee Stacey. In 2001, Michael Crafter joined as second vocalist and Engel departed in favour of Leaton Rose.
The band quickly came to the fore of the Adelaide hardcore scene with the demo "Choose to Love, Live or Die" but after this release Stacey, Rose and O'Gorman all left, with Sean Kennedy and Kevin Cameron then joining. Final Prayer later re-released the demo as an EP. IKTPQ signed to Sydney hardcore label Resist and released a split EP with Parkway Drive. When Goodbye Means Forever was released by Resist in January 2003. The album was issued internationally in March 2004 by Eulogy Records. Rose went on to join The Hot Lies. Australian touring with Evergreen Terrace, Give Up the Ghost and Boysetsfire was followed by US touring with a wealth of acts including Evergreen Terrace, Lamb of God, Between the Buried and Me, Caliban, Bleeding Through and more.
The group's next EP "Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You" appeared in January 2005. In August that year they recorded Music For the Recently Deceased in Sweden but before it was released Crafter was fired in January 2006. Ed Butcher from the British band The Hunt For Ida Wave was hired and the songs were reworked with new vocals and some lyrical changes. Released on July 31, 2006, it peaked at #27 on the ARIA chart. The band supported it in Australia with a massive 50 date tour and a headliner at the Come Together festival in Sydney. Following that they were the support on a US tour by Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage. After appearing at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in the US, I Killed the Prom Queen toured Australia with The Haunted and Exodus, drawing a hostile reception from the parochial thrash metal crowds. The band's year ended with a headlining appearance at Metal for the Brain, again, with some mixed reaction, although the band almost missed the date due to a transport problem and walked on stage almost directly after driving straight from a show in Queensland.
Michael Crafter had joined Carpathian but his stay with that band was brief. In January 2007 he joined Bury Your Dead but left the following May.
2007 began for the band with the announcement that Butcher had quit to return to Britain. He later joined Eternal Lord. His place was taken by Tyrone Ross from Gold Coast act Mourning Tide for dates in Japan. Colin Jeffs of Heavenslost stood in on vocals during a short European tour with Bleeding Through, All Shall Perish and Caliban . Then in April 2007, I Killed the Prom Queen announced that they were disbanding due to an inability to locate a replacement for Butcher. Weinhofen's defection to Bleeding Through sealed the deal. Peters began a solo career under the name Deez Nuts, an act performing a cross of hardcore and rap.
I Killed the Prom Queen announced a farewell tour in 2008 with Crafter back in the line-up. In May 2008, Michael Crafter became a contestant on Big Brother, apparently with the intention of causing as much strife on the show as possible but was evicted after only three nights. The band began its final tour on May 22 with national support from Bring Me the Horizon, plus The Red Shore and Ghost Inside. A special edition of Music for the Recently Deceased was released to co-incide with the tour that featured live tracks and the original demo versions featuring Crafter's vocals.
Michael Crafter soon formed Confession, Sean Kennedy went to Voices and Kevin Cameron formed In Trenches. Weinhofen joined Bring Me the Horizon in 2009 and claimed during the year that IKTPQ had not officially disbanded but were on extended hiatus.
The band reformed in early 2011 with Jamie Hope from The Red Shore on vocals. A national tour with The Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts and Of Mice & Men took place in May. In July they went to the UK to perform at Sonisphere but the festival was cancelled and the band did a 17-date European tour instead. In December 2012 they toured nationally with Parkway Drive and Weinhofen announced he had left Bring Me the Horizon. Peters left the band to concentrate on Deez Nuts in March and was replaced by Buried in Verona's Shane O'Brien. For much the year IKTPQ toured overseas with Emmure, Asking Alexandria and Whitechapel, and an Australia tour with Buried in Verona also took place; Sean Kennedy retired from the band in July with Ben Coyte from In Trenches and Day of Contempt replacing him.
A worldwide deal with Epitaph Records was signed for third album Beloved that was released in February 2014; another national tour followed that announcement and the band was added to the 2014 Soundwave Festival tour. Beloved debuted at #6 on the ARIA Albums chart.
In early 2015, Jona Weinhofen caused an internet storm when he appeared in a PETA campaign suggesting that shearing was harmful to sheep. Later in the year the band were detained in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for breaches of visa conditions but went on to appear on all dates of the Vans Warped Tour in the US. Following this the band withdrew from the 2017 Unify Gathering after being booked to play Music for the Recently Deceased in full, the went silent once again until mid-2018 when they announced a one-off reunion of the Weinhofen/Kennedy/Crafter/Cameron/Peters line-up for a 15th anniversary performance of When Goodbye Means Forever at the 2019 Unify Gathering. Two days later, Unify cancelled the band due to historical social media posts by Crafter denigrating the status of women at music festivals. Despite an apology from the singer, the ban stood and I Killed the Prom Queen has not been heard from since.
On February 24, 2021, Sean Kennedy committed suicide at the age of 35.
Discography
Albums:
| 2003 | When Goodbye Means Forever | Resist |
| 2006 | Music for the Recently Deceased | Stomp |
| 2009 | Sleepless Nights and City Lights | Metal Blade |
| 2014 | Beloved | Epitaph |
EP:
| 2004 | Choose to Live, Love or Die | Final Prayer |
| 2005 | Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You | Resist |
Split:
| 2003 | Split with Parkway Drive | Final Prayer |
VHS/DVD:
| 2009 | Sleepless Nights and City Lights | Metal Blade |