Death To Indie was formed in early 2011 as a reaction to the sterile, over-produced landscape dominating local underground circuits. Founding members Michael Jax (vocals and guitar) and Mark Rayner (Bass) began writing blistering two-minute anthems, driven by a mutual desire to bring genuine danger and unbridled kinetic energy back to live punk-rock music.
With the addition of power-house drummer Ricci McElwee and Guitarist Ali Graves, the lineup was locked. The band spent their first six months playing local and national venues, building an instantly devoted cult following before ever releasing a studio recording. Drawing heavy inspiration from UK punk and rock (The WildHearts, The Clash), American Pop-Punk (Minor Threat, Offspring), and Post-Melodic Hardcore (Rise Against, Descendants), Death To Indie crafts a sound that is both historically rooted and urgently contemporary.
From their debut self-titled EP, released in 2013, to the 2020 album ‘Better late than clever’, the band's songwriting has evolved to incorporate tighter arrangements, harsher dynamics, and socio-politically charged lyrics that critique psuedo-capitalism, urban decay, and cultural conformity.