| Son of Sam | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, USA |
| Genres | Horror punk, heavy metal, hardcore, deathrock |
| Years active | 2000–2001, 2007–present |
| Labels | Horror High, Nitro |
| Associated acts | Samhain Danzig AFI Blaqk Audio Tiger Army The Chelsea Smiles |
| Members | |
| Ian Thorne Todd Youth Steve Zing Karl Rosqvist |
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| Past members | |
| Davey Havok London May |
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Son of Sam is an American horror punk band that is a side project created by Todd Youth in 2000, during his tenure as the guitarist for Danzig. The band's initial line up featured members of Samhain, Danzig, and AFI. Much like its members' other work, Son of Sam plays in the horror punk style, and also infuses metal and deathrock elements into their music. The name of the band was inspired by serial killer David Berkowitz for whom he named himself the Son Of Sam.
In 1999, Youth was invited by Glenn Danzig to fill in the guitar position for the Samhain reunion tour, replacing Samhain's original guitarist, Pete "Damien" Marshall, who had opted out in order to tour with Iggy Pop. Playing guitar for the Samhain reunion inspired Youth to write an album worth of Samhain influenced music. Youth then contacted Steve Zing and London May (both ex-Samhain members), who were impressed with what Todd had written, and agreed to help him record an album. The project was dubbed "Son of Sam," a nod to the fact that the band was spawned out of the Samhain reunion. Davey Havok, whose band, AFI, had opened for the Samhain reunion tour, was invited to write lyrics and record vocals for the album, since it was well known that Havok was a huge Samhain fan.
In a very short amount of time, they recorded an album of 10 tracks called Songs from the Earth and released it on Nitro Records in 2001 . "To me, doing this record was sort of a tribute to Samhain. Playing guitar for Samhain on the reunion tour was such an honor. I had forgotten how much I love and respect the band," Youth stated. The album featured guest appearances from Glenn Danzig on two tracks.
In December 2007, messages on the Horror High website indicate that a follow up record is being made. It has been stated that Davey Havok will not return on vocals as although he has said numerous times that he would love to make a new Son of Sam album, he is unable to as he is constantly busy with commitments to AFI's record label, Interscope. Todd Youth released a statement saying while Havok would not be doing vocals, he gave the rest of the band his full blessing in seeking a replacement vocalist.
Youth enlisted the talents of Chelsea Smiles bandmate Sky Vaughan-Jayne (real name Jonathan Ian Skye Jayne, and in this incarnation, Ian Thorne) to take up Havok's former mantle, and the band signed to Horror High records. Second album "Into The Night" was recorded and released in 2008.
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