Coilback

Coilback is a heavy metal / hard rock band from Dallas, Texas. Their sound has been likened to a combination of old style Metallica and Rob Zombie with new metal sounds blended in.
Biography
Coilback formed in 2000 after the split up of the band Liquor Goat (also from Dallas). Lead singer Lew Morris and guitarist Vlad Cadillac (aka Steve Chapman) decided to form a band that had a more modern sound and focused more on songwriting. The initial lineup of Coilback featured Andy Moore on the drums, Rick M on the bass, Vlad Cadillac on the guitar, and Lew Morris on lead vocals as well as guitar. After only a few shows, Andy Moore and Rick M left the band to form the band Secret Silo as they felt it was closer to the direction of sound they preferred. Coilback then brought on Steven Green on drums and Vlad Cadillac moved to bass.
2000-2001 - Beginning and Self Titled EP
Only weeks after bringing Steven Green into the band, Coilback went into Pineapple Studios in Arlington, Texas to record their debut EP. The EP featured the songs, Hate Me, Your Misery, Take It From Me, Throw Away and Won't Follow. There are notable differences on these songs versus the versions that later appeared on their full-length album (with the exception of Won't Follow which was not re-recorded for the full-length release). Deciding to keep control of the music to themselves, Lew Morris formed the Shadowmorph Music label to distribute the EP under as well as Shadowmorph Music ASCAP as the publishing company for their songs. The cover art featured a "pop art" style picture of the band with their icon, the skull "CB" logo in the middle. The cover art was done by Lew Morris. The band performed locally around the DFW area in support of the EP, but heavily promoted themselves on the internet, especially to internet radio and independent radio stations. The band continued to write songs in anticipation for their full-length.
2002-2003 - Love is Dead album
The middle of 2002 had Coilback slowing down on their live performances in order to prepare for the recording of their full-length album. Coilback played a special New Year's Eve performance in 2003 at Monte Carlos in Arlington, TX and had made arrangements to record their performance in order to possibly include some of the live tracks on their album. The engineer had power issues with some of the equipment and the only usable recording was of the song Hate Me which was later posted for free download on the band's website (which has since been moved to the band's YouTube channel). After the show, the band went directly into the studio to begin work on their full-length album. Two months later, the band announced they had finished recording their full-length album (this time done at Sonic Research Lab in Arlington, TX, Produced by Mike T) and was preparing for its release. In April 2003, the full-length album, entitled, Love Is Dead was released. The cover featured Dallas model Tammy Winters on the front.
While 2003 featured more of the same constant performing for the band, the band also recorded some special tracks for cover model Tammy Winters for her "Gelatin Wrestling" video (later entitled The 2003 Texas Nude Grudge Gelatin Wrestling Smackdown). The recordings were very tongue-in-cheek and only featured Steven Green and Lew Morris (Lew played the bass parts as well for these recordings). The band wrote and performed the theme song as well as three special tracks for the "bad girls" of the video (one of which was an early instrumental recording of "Let Me Go" from their full-length album). The band is also featured in one of the "commercial breaks" on the DVD. Tammy Winters became somewhat of the band's mascot at this time and was featured in the band's posters and promotional material for the album.
2004-2005 - Lineup Changes
Around the beginning of 2004, bass player Vlad Cadillac was forced to quit the band due to relocation. Vlad was replaced by bass player Eddie Johnson. The band, deciding to return to its original four piece set up auditioned several guitar players and performed with a few of them at some live shows. They finally settled on guitarist John Navarro as the permanent lead guitar player. During the summer of 2004, drummer Steven Green was fired from the band due to issues between himself and lead singer, Lew Morris. Some pages originally stated that Steven left the band, but Lew Morris later came forward on his personal blog to say that Steven was fired from the band due to "backstabbing" the band and that he had no interest in working with him. Steven was replaced by drummer John McCauley. This left Lew Morris as the only founding member of the band still in the lineup. The band began to write new songs and performed some of their live shows. The band stated that a second full-length album was in the works.
Around the end of 2005, guitarist John Navarro was noticeably absent from many of the live performances and the band was performing again as a three piece. It was later learned that John was dealing with some medical issues that prevented him from performing and was on a temporary hiatus.
2006-2007 - Slowing Down
The band slowed down many of their local live performances due to the decline of the music scene in the Dallas area at this time. Many of the clubs that played rock and metal were closing down in Dallas and the band found more success with promoting on the internet instead. The band discussed a possible tour. In early 2006, it was announced that bass player Eddie Johnson was leaving the band due relocating out of state. There was no immediate replacement for Eddie. Lew stated in an interview that the band would continue to work on new tracks for their second album and would end up playing the bass parts himself if necessary.
In April 2007, the band played what Lew Morris had said was, "the last show Coilback would play for a while." The band featured Ray Deauman on bass from the band Peterbilt and also featured the return of John Navarro on guitar. Coilback played at TomCats in Dallas, TX (located in the Deep Ellum district). The band played several encores and finished bringing a random fan onstage to sing what became a "spontaneous death metal" song. Lew stated, "its fitting we finished with something weird and random, since that is pretty much us." No further information was given on the status of the album or the band.
2008-2012 - Band Hiatus
In January 2008, Lew Morris relocated to Florida. In an interview posted on the band's website, Lew stated that Coilback was "not dead" and that there is still a chance the second album would be made. At this time, Lew began work on a side project electronic band named, Neutral Density. The Coilback website remained unchanged the entire time with no new updates on the band.
Lew announced his return to Texas in January 2009 and stated on Coilback's MySpace page that Coilback was indeed returning and that the intention to record the new songs was still there. The plans to reform stalled when a solid lineup could not be put together (some rehearsals took place with drummer John McCauley and some other members and could be found on YouTube at the time) and the project was scrapped.
Around 2010, Coilback released a limited edition EP entitled, "Exhumation" which featured the five tracks from their original Self Titled EP (which at that point were unavailable anywhere else) along with their counterparts from the "Love is Dead" album with the exception of "Won't Follow," which was never pre-recorded for the album. It also included the three tracks the band had recorded for the Tammy Winters model DVD. It was made available on their Reverbnation page thru the Reverbnation CD-on-demand service. When the service was discontinued on the website, the band made no announcement on any further availability.
2013-present - New Members and Unmasked Intention
In 2013, the Coilback Facebook page stated that the band was indeed reforming again and that rehearsals are already under way with a new lineup. Lew Morris mentioned on his Facebook page that he was in rehearsals and preparing for a return to live shows with the band.
In August 2014, Coilback announced via their Facebook and Reverbnation pages that a new lineup was solidified and the band was preparing to start performing live again. The new lineup was announced as Lew Morris on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, Fernando Salas on lead guitar, Andrew Jensen on bass and Chris Carnage on drums.
January 2015, Coilback announced a "Return" show at Diamond Jims in Arlington, TX. The show was cancelled due to inclement weather and was rescheduled for the following February at the RBC Club in Deep Ellum (Dallas, TX). The band played another show the following month at The Boiler Room (also in Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX) and then did not announce any further shows. Lew then stated on his personal Facebook page that the members all had full personal schedules, so the band is taking a hiatus to regroup once everything "smooths out."
In March 2017, the band returned with the same lineup to start playing a variety of shows in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area. It was announced on their Facebook page that they were currently working on new tracks and preparing for the recording studio.
September 2018 brought an announcement on the Coilback page that they were going to enter into the studio at Sessionworks Studios in Hurst, Texas to record the first half of the new album. They said that Jeff Mount would be producing the album and it would be released by their own label, Shadowmorph Music, like their first album was. Lew posted some video and status updates on his personal Facebook page documenting the recording process but not revealing the new recordings. A few weeks later, a music video for the song, "Vengeance Served" was posted on the Coilback YouTube page. In October, the band posted that due to demand, that they would go ahead and release the tracks they have recorded as an EP and more information would be coming soon.
October 5, 2018 Coilback announced on their Facebook page their new EP entitled, "Unmasked Intention," would be made available. It was released on digital media and then on physical CD shortly after. The EP featured five new songs and two bonus tracks which are updated songs ("Twisted Vision" and "Let Me Go") from the "Love is Dead" album.
On an appearance on a local internet music show, Lew stated that while, "the initial plan was to use the recordings from these sessions and then record the rest of the album and release it, but instead we will just go in and record them all fresh again like we did with our first EP and the Love is Dead album." He mentioned that once the full-length album was released, they would stop printing any more physical copies of the "Unmasked Intention" EP. He also stated that the two bonus tracks would not be carried over to the album. In the interview, regarding the bonus tracks, he said, "I felt that those two songs have been changed for the better with the new lineup and they are fan favorites at the live shows. I wanted to add some extra value to the EP release so we decided to add them on as a bonus."
Current members related bands and projects
Lew Morris has also been a member in the following bands previous to Coilback: Golem, Darkheart, and FF9 (a cover band). Lew also played with the band Ghoultown as part of their 2003 tour as Lewis Lazario. He played acoustic guitar and backing vocals in place of Lizard Lazario while Lizard was on hiatus. Lew also has an electronic music side project named Neutral Density.
Lew stated on his personal Facebook page and Instagram in April 2019 that he would be playing with the band JUNK as a fill on for their bass player on an upcoming tour.
Lew and John McCauley also had a small side project under the name, 6Gun7 that was a "southern industrial electronic" group. They only recorded one song entitled Tear (as in ripping something versus crying) for the soundtrack for the horror film Long Pig. Due to production delays, the song did not make it into the final cut, but can be found on the Coilback YouTube channel. Lew also later released another song entitled "Lucid Screaming," that was recorded as a demo and was also uploaded to the Coilback YouTube channel. Lew has stated several times that he may revisit the project by himself and make a few more songs.
Band members
Current lineup
*Lew Morris - Lead vocals / Rhythm Guitar
*Fernando Salas - Lead Guitar
*Chris Carnage - Drums
*Andrew Jensen - Bass
Former members
*Andy Moore - drums
*Rick M - bass
*Vlad Cadillac - guitar / bass
*Eddie Johnson - bass
*John Navarro - lead guitar
*Steven Green - drums
*John McCauley - drums
Discography
*2003 - Coilback (Self-Titled EP)
*2004 - Love is Dead (Full Length album)
*2010 - Exhumation EP
*2018 - Unmasked Intention EP
All released under the band's own label, Shadowmorph Music.

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