MickDeth | |
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MickDeth on Warped Tour 2006 in Washington
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Background information | |
Birth name | Mick Richard Morris |
Also known as | MickDeth, Mr. Deth |
Born |
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
March 9, 1978
Died | June 3, 2013 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
(aged 35)
Genres | Metalcore, hardcore punk, punk rock, hard rock, heavy metal, alternative metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, bassist, guitarist |
Instruments | Bass guitar and guitar |
Years active | 1994–2013 |
Labels | Trustkill Records, Epic Records |
Associated acts | Eighteen Visions, Clear, Die Die My Darling, Elsewhere, Bleeding Through |
Mick Richard Morris (March 9, 1978 – June 3, 2013) better known as MickDeth, was an American bassist and guitarist. He was a part of the bands Eighteen Visions, Clear and Misfits cover band, Die Die My Darling.
He was raised in Utah, along with his three sisters and brother, by his grandparents. At an early age, he adopted the straight edge lifestyle, having grown up in an environment where drugs were very prominent in his life and family. With such things surrounding his world, Morris decided that he did not want a part of it, ever. As Mick made mention, "Living in Salt Lake City, if you wear anything 'satanic'—even Straight edge because in Salt Lake, that is considered a gang—you can be kicked out of school." Morris attended Highland High School. During his time at Highland High School, he was in the band Elsewhere. Morris dropped out of high school to pursue his music career, originally supposed to graduate in 1996. Though he returned to get his diploma, and graduated when he was 20, in 1998.
MickDeth got into music early on in life. Ever since he saw Metallica's video for their 1989 single "One", he knew he wanted to play music. His father was always supportive of him, playing the guitar himself. He picked up the guitar when he was twelve years old. Morris has been listening to classic rock, punk, 1980s metal, thrash and death metal, hardcore, and gangster rap.
He had been getting tattoos since he turned twenty. His first tattoo was "Drug Free" on his forearm in Milwaukee on Clear's second tour. He stated that he has almost 100 skulls and 200 letters on his body. His most notable tattoos were "Lifeless" across his knuckles, paying tribute to a fellow SLC band, and a portrait of Dimebag Darrell on his calf done by Kat Von D (which was briefly shown on the show Miami Ink).
When Morris moved to California, he held a job at Paul Frank from 2000 until 2003 (when Eighteen Visions became a full-time band). He has modeled for To Die For Clothing as well as Shockhound.com.
Morris was also a judge for the seventh annual Independent Music Awards.
More recently on his Twitter profile, he announced that he had not been straight edge for two years.
Clear (originally XclearX) was a straight edge hardcore band from the mid 1990s out of Salt Lake City. MickDeth had always been a fan of the band, going to all of their shows. One day in 1997, Morris received a phone call and was asked to try out for the band when their previous guitarist left. They wrote and recorded a full-length, Deeper Than Blood, which was released in 1999. After Josh left Clear, they added a replacement guitarists and did another tour. After that tour, Mick announced that it was his turn to part ways with the band, mostly for musical differences and stating that they were not really writing songs anymore. Once Mick left the band in 2000, Clear decided not to continue on without him. In February 2007, Clear played a reunion show on February 16, 2007 at the SLUG 18th anniversary show. On the day of the show, Mick stated that he's "never felt the same passion for another band that I felt for Clear."