Deadbolt is an American rock band from San Diego, California, U.S. They describe themselves as "The Scariest Band in the World." The band often features two or more bass players, who are called "The Wall of Thunder."
The band originally formed in 1988 as a trio, featuring guitarist and vocalist Harley Davidson, bassist and vocalist Robert "RA" MacLean and drummer Les Vegas. Both Vegas and MacLean have since left the band. Vegas' departure is chronicled in the song "Po' Boy" on the album Hobo Babylon. The other current members of the band are bassist Gary "3rd Degree" Burns (part of the band's "Wall Of Thunder") and drummer Tank Johnson. Tank Johnson died on January 11, 2015. Former members of the band include The PhanTom (bass and guitar), Claymore Mines (bass), The Coroner (bass), Coffin Boy (bass), Moose Cutter (bass), and Mark Davidson (Harley's brother) aka Lord Von Crappo who still occasionally plays with the band. Vocalist/guitarist Diana Death occasionally contributes.
Deadbolt's music combines surf rock, goth, psychobilly and blues sound with unusual and offbeat lyrics, a style the band dubbed "voodoobilly." Besides the release of several CDs, the band has toured both North America and Europe extensively.
The band is known for its use of power tools during their live sets, and it is customary to be showered with sparks of red-hot metal during their live shows.
Three members of the band were also in a short-lived offshoot group called The Strangers 1800, which performed music from Spaghetti Western films and TV westerns and released one EP, When Men Were Men and the Sheep Were Scared and one split record with Deadbolt on Goldenrod Records.'