Introduction
The Story of DeathByBobcat is a short and straight path. But to understand what
is now Death By Bobcat, one must understand what happened at the beginning.
This history will take you from the very roots to where Death by Bobcat is at today.
From the first bands, through the ruff, but promising, times of Third World
Powers, to the rise of Death By Bobcat, to the Change to OverRated, and
the change back to Death By Bobcat. Many facts can be verified along with
those in Behind The Music: "The Death By Bobcat Story". Thank you for your
interest and your time.
The Early Years
The origins of Death By Bobcat mostly start from various backgrounds. There are
3 particular starting points that will be unified, and broken apart several
times. The first of these can be know to us as the "Mike Zafiroff" side.
The second being the "Russell Sanborn" side, and likewise, the third being
the "Mike Batey/Derek Stogner" side. Now for Zafiroff, he had a vision to start a band,
and because of this, his best friend, Will Garcia, wished to help him.
This happened somewhere in 1997 and the first thing they decided was for
Zafiroff to play drums, who had recently bought some, but had no idea of
playing them. Next they choose Garcia to play Guitar, who also had recently
purchased a guitar, but had some previous knowledge already.
Not knowing who they were going to have play bass, they looked to close
friend(by close i mean a little ways down the street) Andrew Rutland.
Rutland did not have a bass guitar, but thought that since his father
played guitar, that he could play bass as well. The sad thing was that
nothing had ever happened concerning Rutland, and he never purchased a
bass guitar. Garcia and Zafiroff were now having trouble, and could only
make the name "Screaming Silent" and a rew remarkable riffs.
At the same time Russell Sanborn, was starting his musical career as well.
At his church he was learning to play drums, and thats about all that
stems from his part of the early years.
The final addition consisted of Mike Batey, and his two friends Derek Stogner,
and Dustin Johnston. Excluding Johnston, who started playing guitar, none of
these 3 played instuments, let alone touched them. All that is known about
this faction of the story of Death By Bobcat was that they would write
parodys or Wierd Al parodys, and of other songs.
Although, these separations would not last too long.
Zafiroff began to attend the same church as Sanborn, and they found that
each other had musical interests. One day Sanborn went to Zafiroff's
house, along with Garcia, and they played music and to everybodys
astonishment, they found that Sanborn was a decent drummer.
Although, already wanting Zafiroff to play drums, him and Garcia began
to persuade Sanborn into buying a bass guitar. Fortunately, they won,
and not only did he buy a bass, but he also bought a decent size amp,
which will remain the most expensive, and largest peice of Death By
Bobcats equipment, for a long time.
After Sanborn purchased a bass, there were many openings for them to get
started. The line-up consisted of Garcia-Guitar/Vocals, Sanborn-Bass(and
everybody prayed that he would not sing), and Zafiroff-Drums. However,
there wasn't much they could do, and they maybe had one or two little practices.
The problem arose for more members to join, and for somebody else to
sing. Little did they know, this singing choice would cause a problem forever.
Trying to keep the excitement of what was currently known as "Screaming
Silent" in the close friendships that were created through school, The
three looked no further than to Stogner. Although, when Stogner came to
his first band practice, along with him came Johnston and Batey, who had
recently made lyrics to a song, with only a chorus, called "We Got a
Nuke." With this new member, Stogner wouldn't join unless Johnston was
part of the team as well. Then Garcia, Sanborn, and Zafiroff, all agreed
to bring them in, and for Batey to be considered a rodie for the time.
Now back at school, the greatest problem arose, what was the band going
to be called, because only Zafiroff and Garica were keen to the name of
"Screaming Silent". Now this was a major problem, and it started 1st hour
one day, and didn't end for about a week later. It started out with a
name of "Pyro Metal Urgy", from the scientific term pyrometalurgy(as you
can guess, 1st hour was chemisrty). From there the name was transformed
into "Pyro Metal Urges", and then later to "Pyro Metal Underground". That
was all for that day, later on members started to hate the name, and
wouldn't settle on one. Many of the names trown out consisted of
"Mike Zafiroff But Five", "Herman and the Yukelaly Boys", "No Outlet",
"Band-Aid" and "Mike Batey's Super Mega Ultra-Ton Band." All names were
however not used.
With days before their next practice, the Unnamed band, needed a name.
Then Sanborn stepped in and gave a shot. He came up with the Name "The Big
Red Army." However, that too was thrown out, but definitly considered for
an album cover with a picture of Batey only on the front wearing all red.
Then he said the name of "Third World Powers" and this is what changed
much of their history as all knew it.
Third World Powers
Now, the start of "Third World Powers" was ready to begin around the
time of 1998. They already had a name, now they needed some songs. As
practices came, and practices went, this new found band had
it's problems and its days of glory. They then rallied togeather for their
first official practice as "Third World Powers." Along with their name,
they found it was easy to make a little shortened symbol of their name to 3WP.
The Rise
At the first practice, they started to redifine thier sound, which was
never defined. There were two songs that quickly became Third World
Powers originals. These were "Mr. Cow", an insanely vicious song about
a cow who eats children(there was a moral, but the moral was lost), and
a song called "We Got A Nuke", which at that time had only a chorus that
basically repeated the title many times.
Now "Mr. Cow" was layed out to be a complete song and it featured some
wierd intro that was created by Garcia. At this time the song contained
only Zafiroff on drums, Sanborn on bass, Garcia on guitar, and Stogner
on Vocals. There was no parts for either Johnston, or the rodie Batey.
"We Got A Nuke" however, was a vital part of their new line-up. Since
Batey wrote the lyrics to this song, he demanded that he was to play
drums. So after playing drums, they found that he was learning faster
that Zafiroff. So after a few changes, the final line-up became Johnston
and Garcia on guitars, Sanborn on bass, Stogner on Vocals, and both
Zafiroff and Batey to switch off playing drums.
What was there for a 6 piece band to do now, well acording to 3 members,
it was time to learn some cover songs. They then choose to play Brainstew(Greenday)
and Paranoid(Black Sabbath). Starting then, the whole cover issue
would be very important, and would in turn start many wars.
The next part in their history, was to write some more songs. They then
produced a few riffs, and then trouble struck them. Johnston then saw that
he wasn't getting anything to play, and so he persuaded Stogner to leave
the band with him, and Stogner did so. And like everybody thought it would
be, Batey tagged along with his two bandmates, and Third World Powers was
thought to be in shambles. However the two factions started to do their
own thing. Behind the scenes however was the ongoing toubles between
Sanborn and Stogner over power, and thus creating the great wars of '99.
Once again, the group of Stogner, Johnston, and Batey attempted something,
but little was known about them, and not much happened. Although what is
known, is that Batey was becomming a decent drummer, Johnston was learning
how to play guitar and taking lessons, and Stogner in turn bought his own
bass. Things may have seemed to go well.
Back on the Zafiroff, Sanborn, and Garcia end, they continued to learn
some songs. Starting to master such songs as "Derek Stogner Workin'
Man"(then known as the micheal myers song, an instrumental) and "Memory
Blvd." they were breaking new grounds for 3WP. Then they too felt it was
necessary to play their own cover, since they didn't care for the other 2,
and could play them well frankly. The choose JCHC(Officer Negative) and
took action. During this time, it seemed to be the greatest moment in all
Death By Bobcat, or Third World Powers history. None of the band members
were fighting. However, that would all change.
The greatest problem with the Garcia, Sanborn, and Zafiroff combination
of 3WP was that Garica somehow left. He was then hard to get ahold of
and continued to miss practice. This is when Sanborn and Zafiroff took
action to try and keep the band alive. With no guitarist they looked back
to Johnston and asked if he would come back to help. Johnston agreed along
came Stogner and Batey once again. Now the band was complete and all seemed well.
The line-up now consisted of Batey on drums, Zafiroff and Johnston on guitars,
Sanborn on bass, and Stogner on vocals. Although there was two exceptions
to this rule. Sanborn took over on drums for JCHC and Mr. Cow because
nobody could play drums fast enough for them. Also, Batey took over
vocals while Stogner would play bass. Now the moment they all were waiting
for, new songs.
After many more practices the band had created more songs, one called
tribulation and many more of those riffs. Then the time had come, their
first gig. It was for a charity event at school titled "Empty Bowls 2000"(which
Death By Bobcat played the next year and it was still called the same thing.)
Another great problem arose, were they going to play Mr. Cow, and Derek
didn't have the lyrics memorized. All in all they played the show, and
messed up quite a bit, but got an overwhelming applause from the audience(eiher
they liked it or were happy it was over.)
After this first gig, Third World Powers was on the way to stardom. They
then wrote many new songs such as "Derek Stogner Working Man", "Memory Blvd.",
"C.S.S.", and "It's Too Late." Third World Powers was now ready to take
on the local Flint city, especially when they found out that there was
going to be a local talent show held at their school. Eager to show of
their ability, Third World Powers joined the competion. The problem they
ran across however was, what song are they going to play. Not having all
their songs down, they tried out with their favorite, "Tribulation." The
judges liked the group and allowed 3WP to enter the contest.
Now with the insurance that they were in the talent show, Third World
Powers had to decide what they were going to do on stage. They all agreed
that if they practiced enough, that they could play "It's Too Late", but
they needed more than that. Sanborn remembered what he heard about his
favorite band, Crashdog, used to do on stage. James Harper, friend to Death
By Bobcat, told Sanborn that Spike Nard, singer for Crashdog, used to walk
on stage singing while he ate a loaf of bread. This information hit Sanborn
as he presented the option for Stogner to make a sandwhich on stage and eat
it in between verses. The idea was embraced.
After practice, the time had come for the talent show. With the sandwhich
joke in hand, and a song, Third World Powers participated as the only act
doing totally their own thing. When the curtain was about to be raised,
trouble struck. Johnston amp wasn't working. With this heart stopping terror,
they couldn't decide what to do. Then after a few kicks, luckily everything
was alright. They played their song and Stogner made his sandwhich. In the
middle of making his sandwhich, Stogner grabbed the can of mustard and
started drinking it. This act got a lot of applause and made Third World
Powers known. After the talent show, people would always come up and say,
"you are the guys who made a sandwhich and drank mustard." Not a wonderful
thing to be known by, but definitely it was something to be known by at least.
Thinking that Third World Powers did well, the results would soon come in.
The first 3 prizes went out to a band covering a Santana song, then an old
Karate thing, and finally they were jobbed out by a group of crossdressers.
However, it was later found out that 3WP recieved 4th place, but they
received nothing from that. After the show Third World Powers heard some
important information told to them, and it was that Stogner was too vicious
of a singer.
The Fall
What was Third World Powers going to do now that they found that Stogner
was a vicious singer. Well Sanborn talked to Stogner, and this just ignited
the power stuggle between the 2 of them. Not wanting to sing any other way,
Third World Powers started to experience some difficulties. They then had
to get ready for thier next show, at Sanborn and Zafiroff's church, a
lock-in show. Not much practice was taken for this show, but a new song
was written called "Against the Wall."
The time came for the show, and they played to about 20 of their friends,
and that was it. They just goofed off afterwards, and still had problems
with the viciousness of Stogner. Feeling like they were slowing down,
Sanborn made the suggestion that they needed to record the songs that
they already had. So for the next 3 or 4 practices, they recorded all
their songs in Zafiroff's basement, excluding the 3 covers that they
played. Not too satisfied, they continued on anyways.
Summer came, and Third World Powers started to slow down, with less and
less practices. Zafiroff and Sanborn, then left at the end of June to go
to a music festival called Cornerstone. While they were there, they got
many ideas for Third World Powers, and decided that if that didn't work
out, they were going to start a new band. Also while they were there, the
first time the name "Death By Bobcat" was heard took place. When a hardcore
band was playing, a friend to Death By Bobcat, Jason, said that is sounded
like they had a microphone up to a bobcats mouth. Playing along with the
confusion, Zafiroff said that it was a game called "Death By Bobcat",
where all the band members went into a cage and were chased around by a
bobcat, thus the surviving members went on to the next show. Everytime a
hardcore band was once again heard, Sanborn and Zafiroff would say that
Death By Bobcat was playing again.
With inspiration, Sanborn and Zafiroff returned from Cornerstone and got
a practice togeather. This practice went nowhere and Stogner and Johnston
decided to leave because they wanted to go swimming. Well this is where
Sanborn and Zafiroff took their initiative. They asked Batey if he wanted
to be in another band with them, and gladly he said yes. They quickly
decided that they would call this band "Death By Bobcat."
Death By Bobcat
During that fateful first practice, at the end of July 2000, nothing
really happened with the exception that they decided that Batey would play
bass instead of drums now, Sanborn would play guitar instead of bass now,
and Zafiroff would play drums instead of guitar now. The problem once again
was a singer, and above that, the problem was that Batey had no idea how to
play the bass, Sanborn could barely play a power chord(and couldn't sometimes)
and Zafiroff was very rusty on drums(and wasn't too good anyways). So
once again, they were starting over and were no good, and still needed a
singer.
Not having anything done with the band, Sanborn had a show to play with
friend James Stephen at the Flint Local 432. While there Sanborn and
Zafiroff wondered how they could play there. They then talked to a wonderful
man named Joel, who told them what to do and was delighted to hear of
another local Flint Band. With the show scheduled for a month later, and
no songs yet, Death By Bobcat went to serious practices. For a singer they
picked up Carrie Sweeney and started to write songs and lyrics. Before the
show they had around a total of 5-6 practices and they learned about 10 of
their own songs. Although they didn't play some and quickly retired them.
With Batey, Sanborn, Sweeney, and Zafiroff ready to go on Septmeber 8, 2000,
they played thier first Death By Bobcat show.
The Singer Complex
The first show was now over and the reviews were in. The friends of the band
were not too pleased with Sweeney's vocals. Mike Batey played them the demo
that the band recorded after their first show. They didn't like Carrie's
singing and through persausion, Mike Batey agreed. So with much diliberation,
Sweeney, who was Zafiroff's girlfriend, was out and Batey was to sing. This also brought in the rule
"seperation of life and band." Well with Sweeney gone DBB re-recorded the
demo. This time it turned out better quality but the band realized that
Batey could not sing. Once again things changed and Sanborn became the
frontman. Death By Bobcat hosted their own Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway at
the Flint Local 432, giving away free demo tapes. Seemingly all problems
were solved and Death By Bobcat started their climb.
Kiss My Bass
Well the band strived on. It all seemed so perfect and suddenly everything
went wrong. It all started over Thanksgiving break. Batey decided to like
Zafiroff's girlfriend. This inevitably lead to awkwardness between the two.
Zafiroff followed the seperation of life and band rule but for Batey is was
too much. On Dec. 15 Batey quit the band leaving Sanborn and Zafiroff to play
a show on their own. The week after, former band member and roadie, Derek
Stogner, Joined the ranks of DBB. This change of bassists turned the band
into something new.
OverRated
With a new bass player and a new beginning for the Bobcat Kids, they decided
they needed a new name. After fumbling through some old names such as No
Outlet the trio decided on a new name: OverRated (which they though decribed
their music wonderfully). More shows were scheduled with the new name of
"OverRated," but the workers at the Local 432 were a little dissapointed
because they so loved the old name. Trying to start fresh, Sanborn and
Zafiroff decided they needed to record a CD of all the new songs. For several
hours over a period of 2 days, the do it yourself punk band recorded 10
songs for their first cd as OverRated, using the same equipment as before
only this time with post production computer editing. The result was a 9 song, 1
bouns track, album. Since there was more production costs involved in
making this album they decided to sell the Album, now titled "Just Like You"
for $3 per cd, later giving many away.
After a while Sanborn, Stogner, and Zafiroff were sick of playing with one
another, so practices started becoming few and far between. The one hope
that kept them together was the decision to use the band fund to record at
a studio, before Sanborn left for college. The band set up a day to record
with Adam Stilson and UnderTone Recordings and saddly booked what was
supposed to be their last shows.
With only a few shows left Sanborn and Zafiroff headed off to the all
inspiring "Cornerstone" where the roots of OverRated were planted in the
ground. On the way, Sanborn and Zafiroff met the person who revived the
hopes of OverRated. Tyler Walker was a 16 year old ball of energy. To him
everything was the best thing ever. Zafiroff and Sanborn decided to let
him sing for the band. Walker practiced with OverRated and put some desire
to play back into Derek as well. AfterWalker joined the band they recored
their second full length album called "Little Jimmy's Yellow Pants," which
served as a tool to eventually get OverRated into the lime-light. After
Sanborn left, the band found new hope for a guitar player in both former
member of 3WP, Will Garcia, and emo-kid, Jon Buke.
After Sanborn left, neither Buke nor Garcia came through regarding the
empty OverRated guitarist positions. With a show at Flint Fest and a show
in Rockford, Illinois with Squad Five-0 and the Blamed, OverRated needed a
guitarist. Looking to old band friend, James Harper, to fill in the shows.
OverRated played Flint Fest and enjoyed it but the came the Rockford show.
OverRated Was Overrated
Arriving in Rockford, Stogner, Walker, and Zafiroff met up with Harper. During
their stay, many problems arose with the music and equipment, which drastically
lowered the OverRated moral. not having a good show, and not being to excited
about the band, OverRated was comming to an end.
Death By Bobcat Too
With Sanborn coming home for Christmas, Stogner and Zafiroff met with him
and they all decided to reunite Death By Bobcat and play a Christmas show.
They ended up playing one of their best show at the 2nd Annual Death By Bobcat
Christmas giveaway, and from then on, the Bobcat kids were back and continued
to play as Death By Bobcat whenever Sanborn was home from College. Now with
Death By Bobcat back, they could finally show Flint what punk rock really is.
Death By Controversy
When Death By Bobcat reformed as the Bobcat kids, they adopted a new place
to practice, in a barn at the back of a churches property, which would serve
as their home for awhile since they were allowed to practice any time of the
day or night. Before the 2nd Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway took
place Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff met together to discuss what was going to
happen regarding a singer. They came to the conclusion that they would go back
to their roots as a three piece. Unfortunately, after the decision was made,
Walker was not informed about his dismissal from the band. Hours before the
Christmas Giveaway took place a sudden dicision was made to replace the name
"Micheal Batey" in the hit song Why We Hate to "Tyler Walker" since he was no
longer in the band. Where this may have seemed to be fun and games for the Bobcat
Kids, the impact caused more contraversy (controversy has always been an important
part of Death By Bobcat history) then was neccessary.
Walker understood that he was not going to sing for Overrated/Death By Bobcat,
but he came to the Christmas Giveaway to show his support for his former bandmates.
When "Why We Hate" was played, confusion and anger entered Walker's mind since
his previous knowledge of the song was about a former band member who the existing
band members were very angry with, and he now feared this was the case with him.
The Bobcat Kids and Walker left each other that night on horrible terms, which
would last for a long time later. During the rest of the night good things
did come about however. In keeping with the original Christmas Giveaway tradition,
Death By Bobcat gave away free Little Jimmy's Yellow Pants CDs, patches and
hand-drawn shirts. Dispite the recent controversy things were seeming to move
in the right direction for Death By Bobcat.
With the 2nd Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway behind the band, Sanborn
left to go back to college, but Death By Bobcat was not left to die, but to only
become stronger. The band decided to now schedule shows for any breaks that Sanborn
was home from college, realizing after the most recent show that they only needed
a practice or two to become prepared and to write a new song for the upcoming shows.
What pleased Death By Bobcat the most was the willingness and generosity of those
in charge of booking shows in the flint area to allow the band to play shows with
sometimes such a short notice. Another first happened for Death By Bobcat during
the next break; they now had a show scheduled at the Metropolis. Playing at the
Metropolis was a long awaited opportunity the band was looking for and were
never able to achieve because Stogner was never of age while the band was still
all living in Flint. With thier new found excitement, a few new songs were
written and Death By Bobcat rocked out. A Very displeasing incident happened
however after the Metropolis show. About a month later the long running club
closed it's doors for good. This upset Death By Bobcat and puzzled the members,
but they would later, in the summer, understand their role in these and many
other similar events (which would later be known as the curse of Death By Bobcat).
The Curse Of The Bobcat
What helped the Bobcat Kids get back on their feet more than anything was the
introduction of the summer of 2002. With Sanborn back from school, the Bobcat
Kids could now practice whenever they pleased, write songs together, and most
importantly, play shows. The first show of the summer took place at the home
of Death By Bobcat, the Flint Local 432. At this show, Death By Bobcat began
to realize the curse they possesed. Takeout, who was supposed to play with
Death By Bobcat on three previous occasions, finally made it to a show. Sanborn,
Stogner and Zafiroff started to believe that Takeout was a ficticious band
and only played shows with Lost in Poland. Getting over the fact that Takeout
never made it to a show, The Bobcat Kids never thought why this happened. After
that fateful day at the Flint Local 432 on May 5, 2002, Death By Bobcat finally
realized why Takeout never play a show. During the night, Takeout had several
problems with their equipment and even though they played well, the problems
still existed.
Finally the Bobcat Kids realized their own curse they brought with them. After
talking to Eric, Skoots, and Benis, Takeout never made it to the three shows
they were supposed to play with Death By Bobcat because of problems that arose
on the day of the shows. Death By Bobcat was shocked at this curse. Before
this information, The Bobcat Kids felt the curse was unleashed on other bands
to try and make them seem worse in hopes of making Death By Bobcat sound better
comparatively. Also, the Bobcat Kids found that the curse went beyond being
inflicted on Takeout's equipment and ability to make it to shows. Reflecting
on their past, Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff remembered an old Flint band Carson
So Sorry. At one time, drummer for Carson So Sorry, Jeremy Walker, invited Death
By Bobcat to play their CD release show with them. Unfortunately, the original
show was canceled and another show was set up. This time however, Death By Bobcat
was not invited to perform. Within a few months, Carson So Sorry was no longer
a band, hence the curse.
The Bobcat Kids were shocked at this point in time and felt they were a danger
to everyband in existence, whether bands played with them or not. Then the reality
of the curse grew to its strongest form. After being able to play at the Metropolis,
the Metropolis had to shut its doors. This made the Bobcat Kids realize they
also killed Beans And Leaves, scheduled to play the last few shows at the coffee
shop/venue as the watched it die. Even though Death By Bobcat had fear they
may end or harm other bands or even thier beloved Flint Local 432, they still
pressed on to rise above this curse. Fortunately, not much was heard from the
curse since then, but it did reappear a few times.
The End Of A Legend
With the rest of summer ahead of the Death By Bobcat, they felt it was time
to record their songs and play a multitude of shows. Already, Death By Bobcat
had a few new songs they were playing at shows such as "Whoa oh oh"(later to
be named "Why We Hate Too"), "Balls"(Later to be named "Sweeps Week") and
"Warts"(Later to be named "Stickerman"). "Whoa oh oh" donned this title because
the only original lyrics for the song were in fact "Whoa oh oh...yeah". At shows,
the lyrics from "Why We Hate" were used to fill the verses. "Balls" recieved
this title because in the middle of the song the Bobcat Kids screamed, "Get
ready and smack your balls", with an obvious reference to the glorified sport
of table tennis. The song "Warts" asked the audience a wonderful question during
the chorus which was, "who wants genital warts?" Luckily for the Bobcat Kids,
these lyrics(with the exception of "Whoa oh oh") were scraped.
With new songs ready to be recorded, and new songs on the way, the Bobcat Kids
had only one problem; they never practiced thier songs in a long time. However,
this did not stop the Sanborn, Stogner, and Zafiroff from attempting to record
again. Heading toward thier DIY roots, Death By Bobcat decided to use the equipment
with recorded the infamous Thir World Powers "Corner Pocket" and Death By Bobcat's
"Christmas Giveaway" and "Just Like You" albums. This decision came about due
to the lack of monetary funds in either Sanborn, Stogner or Zafiroff. However,
the decision was made to record the songs onto a computer directly as opposed
to recording it to an outdated tape recorder.
In order to record, the Bobcat Kids moved back into Zafiroff's basement so they
could have easy access to a computer. At first things seemed promising for Death
By Bobcat; the microphones were much higher quality this time and the pre-recordings
were sounding better then ever. Unfortunately, the disaster of the day of recording
finally set in. Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff realized they needed much more
practice and that niether Sanborn or Stogner were sounding well singing. Sanborn
sounded like he was kicked out of a "Choir for the Tone Deaf" class and Derek
sounded very similar to every member of the ever popular boy bands. The vocals
were the least of their worries though. The music was sloppier than ever, the
band could not keep the same time as each other, and multiple takes had to be
used, where somebody was always messing up. Because of the frustration the most
of the day and night was rushed and a finished product was finally completed,
however, nobody as satisfied.
The event that attempted to spark the fire in Death By Bobcat once again was
a disaster. What hit harder was the schduleing of what appeared to be thier
last few shows. Stogner decided that he was no longer going to play with the
Bobcat Kids, but he decided to play the last few shows with the band. Not wanting
to keep Death By Bobcat around without Stogner, the band decided to schedule
what was their "Second Annual Final Show", also known as "The Semi-Annual Derek
is Quitting the Band Show", at the Flint Local 432. The Bobcat Kids decided to
take a break for a majority of the summer until their last two shows were near.
Death By Bobcat was finally calling it quits and the fire that once burned in
each member was no longer there.
Walker And The Texas Rangers
During Sanborn's break, he decided to attend Conerstone one more time. While
Sanborn was there, a familiar face in the History of Death By Bobcat arose. Walker
was staying near Sanborn and both of them wanted no hard complications to be
brought up regarding the confusing controversy that is Death By Bobcat. Walker
and Sanborn decided to talk with one another and shared information from both
sides to clear up the confusion. Finally, there were no complications present
and Walker's ties with the Bobcat Kids were now mended. Furthermore, Walker was
invited to sing a song or two at upcoming shows if he so desired. With the Walker
controversy ended, Sanborn started to get hope that other problems could be fixed
with the band; Death By Bobcat could live on.
DBB Can Never Die
After returning to home, Sanborn met with Stogner and Zafiroff trying to spark
their interest in the band. What started to rekindle the fire in Zafiroff was
the addition of a new place to play. A show was scheduled with Ripped Heart to
play in Saginaw, a place where the Bobcat Kids had never performed. Zafiroff
was excited, as was Sanborn, but unfortunately Stogner still wanted to play his
last few shows for the summer. Sanborn and Zafiroff were stuck trying to make
a decision to either find a new bass player for after Stogner left or to try
and persuade Stogner to stay. The option that was first chose was persuading
Stogner to Play. This opeion, however, was not working the way Sanborn and Zafiroff
wished it to work. Finally the Bobcat Kids decided to worry about the bass player
situation later.
Before their first Saginaw show, Death By Bobcat made it onto the upcoming Ripped
Heart Compilation. This excited Sanborn and Zafiroff, yet Stogner still felt the
same way about playing for the band. Knowing if this did not spark the Bobcat fire
inside of Stogner, the remaining Bobcat kids gave up on getting Stogner to play
for them anymore. Death By Bobcat finally played their first, and what seemed to
be their last, Saginaw show in August of 2002.
A few days later the Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff decided to play their last
show with Derek(and possibly their last show ever) at their home, the Flint
Local 432. Each of the Bobcat kids decided to not let the possible ending of
the band make them not enjoy playing a show. Luckily for Death By Bobcat the
show was fun and the band was well received. Walker even came to the Local to
show his support, and he was invited to sing a few songs. Sanborn and Zafiroff
were thinking this was a good end to Death By Bobcat, although Stogner had other
thoughts. Stogner approached Sanborn and Zafiroff and told them that he couldn't
stop playing; he loved playing to much. Death By Bobcat now knew they would then
live to play another show. Sanborn left for college soon after, but this time
with the intent to keep playing shows and continuing the Death By Bobcat tradition.
Stogner and Zafiroff would remain in Flint always ready to play another show.
Delta Beta Beta
After Sanborn reached college in Houghton, Michigan, he decided to start a
fraternity that made fun of other fraternities. The name was Delta Beta Beta
(similar to DBB) and it's non official introduction caused some controversy.
Many people tried to deface the Bobcat, although none were succesful. Following
the success of the Michigan Tech chapter of Delta Beta Beta, Bobcat Kid Zafiroff
decided to start his own chapter at Mott, and then at U of M Flint. The Delta
Beta Beta chapters lived on in the hearts of the Bobcat Kids who started them
and nothing more, other then jokes, came of them.
Christmas Giveaway Tradition
The end of 2002 was coming soon for Death By Bobcat with only a Thanksgiving
show to play and finally the 3rd Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway.
Since the Christmas Giveaway was a tradition that Death By Bobcat wanted to
keep alive, the Bobcat Kids had to think of something new to give to the people
attending the show. The idea that came to mind was to offer a free compilation
of Flint bands to anybody who came to the show. Sanborn quickly sent out e-mails
asking bands to be on the Flint compilation to be titled "Christmas Giveaway".
A good collection of Flint bands at that time were added to the "Chirstmas Giveaway"
release, many of which Death By Bobcat had known and played shows with for a
long time.
After Collecting all the songs and getting the CDs finished for the Christmas
Giveaway, more great things came about for Death By Bobcat (It was Christmas
for the Bobcat Kids as well). Not only would the band give away their own 3WP
Productions release of "Christmas Giveaway", but the Ripped Heart Compilation,
"Mourning Dump: Ripped Heart Compilation Vol. 6" arrived and Death By Bobcat
now had two compilations to offer free to anybody playing the show. Two releases
seemed to be great for the Bobcat Kids, but they were then given much more.
After talking to the Flint Local 432's management, Death By Bobcat was given
the opportunity to choose which bands were to play the 3rd Annual Christmas
Giveaway, which was a first for the band. Death By Bobcat then looked to their
friends and asked them to play the show. Takeout was the first choice for the
band and after Takeout agreed to play the show, they asked if the Ron Jeremy
Sex Explosion could also play the show. The Bobcat Kids agreed and both bands
were gladly added to the Giveaway. After Takeout was scheduled to play the show,
they refered to it as "Death By Bobcat's Cursed Christmas Giveaway" because of
the harshness that the Curse of the Bobcat brought to them. One more band was
asked to play the show, which was Two Chances Short, a younger band that Death
By Bobcat was getting to know their frontman, Dennis(on a separate note, Dennis
later left the band). A final band was added, which was added by the local, Too
Far From The City.
At the 3rd Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway 200 copies of "Christmas
Giveaway" were passed out for free, many Ripped Heart Compilations were given
out and good times were shared by all. To the suprise of the Bobcat Kids, the
flyers had the titled,"3rd Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway" on them,
pleasing the band. Not only did the flyers advertise the event, but a newspaper
article was written about the Bobcat Kids giving away a compilation they put
together. After the evening was over, the Bobcat Kids realized it was a good
end to the year 2002, one that had trouble, but also one that they rose above
and were ready to take on greater challenges.
Year Of The Bobcat
After defeating the complications of the year 2002, the Bobcat Kids
decided to try harder and to enjoy themselves even more. Because of Death
By Bobcat's many accomplishments and thier increasingly positive attitude
in the year of 2003, it has been commonly referred to by people everywhere
as "The Year of the Bobcat."
In order to start The Year of the Bobcat off right, Sanborn, Stogner and
Zafiroff decided they should play ath their beloved Flint Local 432. A
show was set up for the band to play when Sanborn once again came home
from college on a week long vacation in March. Before the next Bobcat show
took place, bad news was brought to the attention of Zafiroff. Joe
Strummer, of the famed The Clash, had recently passed away and Zafiroff
felt something needed to be done on behalf of Death By Bobcat. Since
Sanborn never paid attention to television, the newspaper, or even
internet news, he never was informed of critical current events. Stogner
on the other hand was just plain lazy and even if he was informed of
current events, it was not in his character to use energy to inform
others. It was up to Zafiroff to share the bad news with the rest of the
Bobcat Kids.
After everybody heard of Strummers death, the decided to play a song in
tribute to him at their March show. After deciding to do this, the Bobcat
Kids thought of which Clash song they could play. After thinking long and
hard, they realized they didn't know any, except for part of Clash City
Rockers. Having a short time to prepare and not having the specific talent
to play a Clash song the Bobcat Kids made a quick decision. Before the
Year of the Bobcat, Death By Bobcat used to play Blitzkrieg Bop, a Ramones
Cover. Still remembering how to play that song and having the required
talent to play it, Death By Bobcat practiced the song and was ready for
their first show in the Year of the Bobcat.
At the Flint Local 432 on the night of March 7, 2003, Death By Bobcat
played Blitzkrieg Bop. Before doing so, the band introduced the song as a
tribute to Strummer and the Clash, and said they were not good enough to
play a Clash song, so the next best thing would be to play a Ramones song
for Strummer. The rest of the show went well and Death By Bobcat was
already pleased with the Year of the Bobcat.
Back Home To Rock Out
With Sanborn coming home for the summer once again, the Bobcat Kids were
ready to play a ton of summer shows. However, there was a small piece of
bad news to hit the band. No longer could the band practice in their
current practice space, in a barn on the outskirts of a church's property.
Not letting anything get in their way, Death By Bobcat decided to go back
to their original home, in the basement of Zafiroff's house(actually, in
his room in the basement). The Bobcat Kids were once again at home being
in the practice space that originally sparked the creation of 3rd World
Powers and kept Death By Bobcat going, making them OverRated, and now
keeping them alive once again.
For a change, the first show of the summer in the Year of the Bobcat took
place in Saginaw instead of at the Flint Local 432. However, a Flint show
followed soon after, and there was quite a touch of Flint at the Ripper
Heart show at Olde Jamestowne Hall. At the Saginaw show, the Bobcat kids
played with the intensity they were always looking for. During their set,
Brian's(from Ripped Heart) young son (only a few years old) danced around
to Death By Bobcat and threw his fist up in the air, loving every minute
of it. This made the Bobcat Kids happy to see that they were appealing to
all ages.
The touch of Flint came, not only because Death By Bobcat was playing the
show, but because South Bay Bessie was also there to make the show even
better. The Bobcat Kids felt at home watching South Bay Bessie and talking
with them after the show. After the show, Death By Bobcat was ready to
take on Flint once again, which the did with style.
Hanson Likes Blink 182
Soon after their first few summer shows, Brian from Ripper Heart helped
get Death By Bobcat another show. The Bobcat Kids were excited, but it
started to show how tough it is to place Death By Bobcat with other bands.
This particular show took place in Bay City.
As the first band finished setting up to start the show, they started to
play a Blink 182 cover. Quite soon afterwards, a member from the second
band, who looked like the long lost member of the popular music act,
Hanson, had the largest smile on his face and he ran in to listen to the
Blink 182 song. The Bobcat Kids never had a problem with this type of
music, but they soon realized, this was what the majority of the audience
really cared for. Not letting the first two bands keep Death By Bobcat
down, they got up to play their own set.
The Bobcat Kids knew they would be playing to many people who didn't care
for their sound, and many who already left after their friend's bands had
performed. However, Death By Bobcat still played the show, and those
remaining still enjoyed them. Once agian, Brian and his son were there,
and his son was loving every minute of dancing and pumping his fist in the
air for Death By Bobcat. After Death By Bobcat played, Atonement, which is
a metal band, played, bringing another style for the show and a different
crowd of people. Even though the crowd may have been not the kind the
Bobcat Kids were used too, they still played the show and gladly met a few
people because of it.
Children Of The Lynx Rufus
Since Death By Bobcat had a few new songs, they decided it would be in
their best interest to record an EP. After scheduling recording session
with Mark at, which was then Sprout Recording Studio, the Bobcat Kids
decided to count how many songs they had. With a few practices to go
before recording, they realized they had about six songs. Death By Bobcat
knew they could do better than this. The Bobcat Kids pressed on in the
next few practices to have enough songs for another full(if you can call
it that with how short the songs are) length and a few more songs for a
free Chistmas release for the 4th Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas
Giveaway.
After practicing just a few times, the band was now going to record 16
songs, up for the original five or six. Many of the songs have thier own
stories regarding thier origination. The most memorable, however, is the
creation of Old Scars Still Bleed. During one of the last practices before
recording, Stogner started playing something the rest of the band liked.
Sanborn and Zafiroff decided to play along with Stogner, but after a short
time, Zafiroff stopped and didn't seem that happy with the outcome.
Zafiroff told Sanborn that he should play something different than what
derek is playing, upset that Death By Bobcat songs were simple.
The next time while derek was playing, Sanborn decided to annoy mike and
he played a solo, very similar to the wonderful solo in I Wanna Be
Sedated, by the Ramones(for those unfamiliar with I Wanna Be Sedated, the
solo is just a single not played multiple times). Zafiroff at first seemed
annoyed, while Stogner and Sanborn started laughing and kept doing the
same thing. Then, Zafiroff's face started to change. It went from an
annoyed face to an intrigued face. Zafiroff liked the simplicity of the
solo and a few moments later, Sanborn and Stogner started to like it. Not
wanting to make the solo too complicated, because simple is good (and
Sanborn could barely play anything), the solo was stretch the three notes,
and the band was happy with the outcome.
After multiple songs were written in a short time, the Bobcat Kids
realized a great error. They never wrote any lyrics to the songs and they
were searching for a title and theme for thier release. Nearly overnight
and in between the two recording sessions, the band produced lyrics for
thier new set. The greatest of these lyrical writtings happened not much
more than an hour before recording vocals; the remaining lines to the ever
popular ANRA were finally finished. Excited about the direction of the new
CD, the Bobcat Kids decided to visit the local Flint Public Library and
check out books about Bobcats and read snippets during the CD. Because of
the large Theme of the Bobcat, in the Year of the Bobcat, Death By Bobcat
decided to name the CD, "the lynx rufus lp" since lynx rufus was the
technical name for a bobcat.
The Lynx Rufus Kids were ready to record and joined Mark in the basement
of the Carlton's version of the Flint local 432. During their first
session with Mark, Death By Bobcat enjoyed every minute of it and wished
once a year they could relive these moments. Good times were had by all
despite the increidibly hot and humid weather that day, which was very
prevalent in a small room with three sweaty Bobcat Kids. There were many
times the band made fun of each other, criticized each other, so much to
the point where Mark decided to join in. Eventually the Bobcat kids
accomplished their task and recorded their complete list of songs in
roughly six hours. Death By Bobcat was pleased with the music and were
ready to do vocals the following day.
However, following the recording the band had a show to play at the Flint
Local 432. The scheduling of the show was a near last minute decision when
the Flint Local 432 could not find a band to play the slot that another
band recently dropped from. Death By Bobcat, always wishing to help their
home at the Flint Local 432, decided to play the show. The problem was the
time slot. Death By Bobcat was scheduled to play the opening spot even
though they were playing for six hours right before that in an extremely
hot room. The Bobcat Kids played the show anyway, but played one of their
sloppiest shows since the days of Mike Batey.
The next day, the band recorded thier vocals and finally mixed the cd. The
second session took another six hours, making the total recording time to
be 12 hours. The band was pleased with the time they used and were pleased
with the outcome. The only problem that faced them was they needed to play
shows now to get the CDs out to people.
Burning Cities In Bay City
Once again Death By Bobcat was out to release thier CD to the masses, and
give great discounts to all. Thier first show was at an outdoor festival
in Bay City, put on by good friends at Ripped Heart Productions. Death By
Bobcat was added to the show late, so the only space open was for the
second day of the small festival. The only problem was, the second day
comprised of all hardcore/metal bands. Again, the Bobcat Kids were out of
their element.
However, Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff still wanted to play and have a
good time, and they did just that.
Making the Bobcat Kids feel at home in Bay City, was Burning Cities, also
from Flint. It seemed everytime the Bobcat Kids were away from thier
hometown, their hometown sent a diplomat to accompany them. Two people in
the crowd stuck out the most that day. After the show two guys approached
the Bobcat Kids to speak to them. They loved the set and conversed for a
long time. With Burning Cities present and a few new fans, Death By Bobcat
enjoyed themselves greatly.
Death And Life Of The Local
Finishing up their summer in the Year of the Bobcat, Death By Bobcat
returned for thier final summer show at the Flint Local 432. Little did
the Bobcat Kids know at the time, this would be thier last show in the
famed Carltons building. If the Bobcat Kids knew to this day that they
would never again play in the building that nursed them through thier
tough times, tears may have been shed that night. Alas, they were not shed
and the band moved on. And so did the Flint Local 432.
After Sanborn left for college, the Bobcat Kids heard rumors, and then
actual news that the Flint Local 432 ould no longer occupy the Carton's
building. At first this seemed devastating. Then the news came that the
Local would temporarily reside in the old Metropolis building until a new
place could be found. This brought the doomed Flint Local 432 back from
the temporary dead, and made it ready for Death By Bobcat to invade.
Dubbed as the Metropolis 432 or the Localopolis by the band and many
others, it was still the Flint Local 432 in the hearts of Sanborn, Stogner
and Zafiroff.
Wondering what the New Local would be like, Death By Bobcat scheduled a
show to play during Thanksgiving break. When they arrived, it seemed quite
different then the Carltons location, but it felt like home at the same
time. The Bobcat Kids played their show, and it was one of their best
played and one that recieved the best response of all. The Bobcat Kids
played their own version of Fight For Your Right, by the Beasie Boys, at
this show, replacing "Beastie Boys" with "Bobcat Boys". The Bobcat Kids
were pleased with the new location and happy to see the Flint Local 432
was still going stong, strong enough to put on a show with local bands
that sells out.
The Flint Local 432 had a recently acquired a new insurance policy and
along with this came new rules. Nobody was allowed to mosh at the show,
because it could cost the Flint Local 432 a great deal of money. This
didn't bother Death By Bobcat at all, they didn't care about moshing.
However, some of the people in the crowd did care and enjoyed moving
around a great deal during Death By Bobcat. After this, Wade, the Club
Manager, spoke with Death By Bobcay and Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff told
the crowd to not mosh because the crowd didn't want anything bad to happen
to the Flint Local 432, and niether did the Bobcat Kids. Already Sanborn,
Stogner and Zafiroff saw thier beloved Beans n' Leaves shut down, and the
Metropolis shut down. Flint was currently lacking in venues and it could
not afford to lose the Flint Local 432.
The crowd calmed down that night and only had to be spoken to a few times,
but the whole show went well, from the first band to the last band. The
end of the Year of the Bobcat was coming along nicely and the times they
shared throughout the year were making the name, "The Year of the Bobcat"
seem appropriate.
Best Gift Of All
The Bobcat Kids were ready to play their final show in the Year of the Bobcat.
This would be the infamous 4th Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway, one
in which the Bobcat Kids would always remember. Good friends of Death By Bobcat,
Kid Brother Collective, were scheduled to play yet another Christmas Giveaway
Show(the first being the 2nd). However, laced in this excitement was incredible
sadness. This show was to be Kid Brother Collectives final show.
KBC stated that they were playing their last show with their closest friends.
Sanborn, Stogner and Zafiroff felt it an honor to play the last show with the
legendary Kid Brother Collective and be among that list. Along with the Bobcat
Kids, Ettison Clio, Lingua Franca and Mike and Charlie performed this monumentous
occasion.
Having this show on the 4th Annual Death By Bobcat Christmas Giveaway was the
best gift that could be given to a bobcat. Because of this, the Bobcat Kids
wanted to give something back to the boys in Kid Brother Collective. The day
before the show, Death By Bobcat wrote a song consisting of a chorus with simple
lyrics for KBC. The lyrics were as follows:
Kid Brother Collective
This songs for you
We wrote it yesterday, but
Today we play it for you
The lyrics were incredibly simple, but that was the nature of the Bobcat Kids.
They wrote and finished last minute in hopes to have something prepared for Kid
Brother Collective. The worst part of the night for the Bobcat Kids was they
were not practiced enough to play the show. The last time they played together
was a month ago, and they only had one practice together the day before the
show. Because of this, the Bobcat Kids were extremely rusty. After playing
thier set and their song for Kid Brother Collective, they noticed they played
one of their sloppiest and unorganized sets ever. Death By Bobcat may have failed
in the quality of thier sound, but their hearts were with Kid Brother Collective
the whole night.
That night for the Christmas Giveaway. Death By Bobcat gave away a split CD
titled, "The Pisst-Off Bobcat Split", with new songs from Death By Bobcat and
a few songs from Houghton's Ska Band, The Pisst-Off Androids. Many copies of
the CD were passed out at the show, and to the suprise of Death By Bobcat. Two
other bands were enjoying and partaking in the Christmas Giveaway tradition.
Lingua Franca had a demo available that night with 2 newly recorded songs, which
they gave away. Also, the mother of all Giveaways happened with Kid Brother
Collective. All of thier merchandise that they had remaining was given away.
Many CDs, stickers, pictures, and shirts were passed out to those who had not
already recieved one.
The night warmed the hearts of the Bobcat Kids, with the honor of playing the
show and the other bands deciding to join in the Christmas Giveaway spirit. Near
the end of the night, Sanborn and Zafiroff told Chris, for KBC, they were honored
to play the show and Chris returned and said the honor was all his. Following
the show, everybody enjoyed multiple brands of root beer and other specialty
flavors and then said their goodbyes. It was a night to be remembered and the
Bobcat Kids always will. It was a night to finish off the Year Of The Bobcat,
wrapping it up as a success and giving the Bobcat Kids new hopes to strive for
in the rest of their musical career.