John, James, Matt (Benny), Tyler, and Eddie met as a band for the first time in a garage on the South Side of Chicago in the Summer of 2018. They didn't quite have a set name for the band, reliable equipment, or any kind of fan base at the time, but they managed to land a gig at a bar in their neighborhood. They decided to go by "The Dead Bolts," derived from the name of a band that John and James were in as kids called "The Bolts." That gig went well enough for them to book another one, so they stuck with the name, and the shows kept rolling. They spent that Summer playing gigs every single weekend, capping it off by recording their first project, an EP of five original songs titled 'Part Time,' released later that fall after they had all returned to their respective colleges across the Midwest.
A few years later, post college and pandemic, the band had put a couple hundred hours of stage and studio time under their belt, establishing their name in the Chicago and Midwestern scene. They released their debut LP Pretty And Burnt Out, co-produced, mixed, and mastered by engineer Mike Hagler (engineer behind Wilco's Summerteeth and Mermaid Avenue) in the Fall of 2021, and set out on their first tour across the United States. Since then, they've stayed on stage, on the road, and in the studio.
With influences from Chicago's Blues, Rock, and Alternative scene, and every other genre they happen to listen to, the band never put a label on their sound.
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