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The Cog is Dead

The Cog Is Dead is a Steampunk band from DeLand, Florida that plays story-driven steampunk songs in a variety of musical styles from various eras.

Band /Team Members[]

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Daytona Beach, FL June 13, 2014 - Performing "The Death of the Cog"

  • Captain John Sprocket (John Mondelli) - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard, Ukulele, Banjo, Accordion and Kazoo
  • Bradley Harington III (Bradley Whalen) - Bass, Backing Vocals and Dialogue
  • Renate Goodwin (Renate Eights) - Drums

History[]

The Cog is Dead was formed in late 2006 by John Mondelli. They decided on the name "The Cog is Dead" after randomly reading those words from a page of the Tom Stoppard play, "The Real Thing." Around the same time they decided on the name, the band members became immensely fond of the aesthetic of steampunk. John had seen a steampunk guitar online and fell in love with it, and decided he had to make one of his own. It was shortly thereafter that they decided to apply the steampunk element to the entire band.

At the time of formation, the only other steampunk band they knew of was Abney Park. However, very shortly after forming the band, there was an immense explosion of steampunk culture in the mainstream and the birth of several other steampunk bands.  It was during the first four years of the bands formation that they wrote and finally released their first album "Steam Powered Stories" in 2010.  This album included the original lineup of studio musicians John Sprocket, Tony Seville, Christofer Wolfe and Joel the Navigator.

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The 2010 Band /Team lineup from left to right: Sir Christofer Wolfe, Mr. Tony Seville, Captain John Sprocket, Joel the Navigator

Initially intending to be solely a studio band the recorded and released music online, The Cog is Dead gained all of their early exposure solely through social media sites such as MySpace.  This allowed them to gain an audience and fan base despite the fact that their schedules never allowed for them to perform or tour.  In fact, their first concert wasn't until six years after the initial formation of the band.

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Denver, Colorado July 25 2013 - John and Tony touring as a duo in 2013.

Although they had a few offers to play gigs once their album was released, they turned them down since they were unable to perform with the full band.  Finally in 2012 they were invited to open for legendary steampunk band Abney Park, and they decided to go for it as an acoustic duo with John on guitar and vocals and Tony on drums.  The band continued to perform as a duo from April 2012 until January 2014, during which time they released their second album "Full Steam Ahead!" still featuring Chris on bass for the album.  During this time guitarist Joel had moved on to pursue other musical projects.

In January of 2014 they were joined by bassist Bradley Harrington III.  As the band began to book shows more regularly and traveling more Renate Goodwin came in as the band's new drummer after Tony's retirement.  Renate made her debut at the 2014 Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, New Jersey.  The band has continued as a trio with this lineup since May 2014 began recording a third album "Carnival of Clockwork" and released it in late 2015.

In 2017, The Cog Is Dead released a live album from their touring in 2015 when they visited the Athens Theatre in Deland, Florida, appropriately titled "Live at the Athens Theatre". Around this time, the newly banded trio began recording their fourth studio album "Songs of the People" and released it in 2019.

In 2020, the first album "Steam Powered Stories" turned 10 years old and to celebrate, The Cog Is Dead released a special edition of the album with remastered tracks, demos, instrumentals, and commentaries all culminating to a 2 hour long listening experience. On top of that, this wasn't the only release of the year, as their first cover album "Incognito: Cog Covers, Vol. 1" released in the early weeks of December to a positive response from fans, prompting them to produce a second volume in 2023, "Incognito: Cog Covers, Vol. 2".

Fictional Backstory[]

The members of The Cog is Dead are time travelers from the year 1893. John Sprocket, a clockmaker in Grimsby, England was shocked and disgusted when a rival clockmaker invented an electric digital clock, thus marking the death of the cog. Mr. Sprocket called on his mechanic friend to build a time machine.

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The Cog is Dead at Dragon Con 2014

With the help of airship mechanic Renate Goodwin they built a flying timeship. Along during the voyage they heard a noise coming from a barrel and discovered a stowaway, Bradley Harrington III, had hitched a ride on board. Rather than throw him overboard, they decided that if he was coming along for the ride that he should be put to work.  He became their temporal navigator and helped them to travel one hundred years into the future.

When they saw that not only were digital clocks extremely prevalent in the world but electricity had become the main source of power, they decided to make it their mission to travel all around the world to various points of time to try to encourage people to stop using digital clocks and switch over the the most beautiful source of energy that has ever existed, steam power. They now travel the world spreading their message for all to hear and performing mechanical melodies and steam powered songs to the masses.


Musical Genres[]

The Cog is Dead classify their music as "steampunk" mainly based on the fact that the lyrics of many of their songs have steampunk themes. However, as time-travelers they have been inspired by several kinds of music from many different eras. They primarily consider themselves a rock band, with eclectic styles ranging from Russian Folk Music, Rock n' Roll, Ragtime, Punk Rock, Reggae, Showtunes and Movie Scores to name a few. Though the musical styles may vary, they strive to keep a unified feeling of energy, beauty, and fun throughout all of their songs.

The Music[]

Steam Powered Stories (Released: April 27, 2010)[]

  1. Steam Powered Stories (Intro)
  2. Blood, Sweat and Tears
  3. Loverboy
  4. The Copper War
  5. Aimee
  6. Let Me Be Your Man
  7. Mechanical Menagerie
  8. The Depths Below
  9. Time Machine
  10. The Inventor's Daughter
  11. The Death of the Cog
  12. I Want Only You
  13. A Letter to Michelle
  14. Steam Powered Stories

Full Steam Ahead! (Released: May 24, 2013)[]

  1. Prepare for Adventure
  2. The Iron Horseman
  3. The Toy Soldier
  4. Burn it Down
  5. Darla Dawn the Automaton
  6. Danger on the Dance Floor
  7. Saviour of the Skies
  8. The Ballad of Steward the Sailor
  9. The Metal Boy
  10. Sorrow on the Rails
  11. Dr. Franklyn
  12. The Voyage Home
  13. Prepare for Adventure Reprise

Carnival of Clockwork (Released: December 1, 2015)[]

  1. Carnival of Clockwork
  2. Freak Show
  3. Repairman
  4. Another Cog in the Machine
  5. The Incredible Jelly Donut Juicer
  6. We All Have Fears
  7. Tin Man
  8. The Space Cowboy
  9. Farewell My Old Friend
  10. The Gumbo Song
  11. Running Out of Steam
  12. Life's a Carnival!

Songs of the People (October 22, 2019)[]

  1. The Legendary Jack Hunter
  2. Mirte Against the Big City
  3. Sail with Me
  4. Live to Fight Another Day
  5. The Greatest Team That Never Was
  6. The Boy Beneath
  7. Cunning Casanova
  8. Michael Byrd the Flying Man
  9. Never Gonna Get Away
  10. Oil on the Floor
  11. The Girl and the Clockwork Dragon
  12. Never Go into the Woods
  13. The Story of Steaklas
  14. A Humble Servant Horrified
  15. Captain Gustave Foster vs. the Metal Underground Army
  16. Sunset Val the Pirate Queen
  17. The Marvelous Mr. Lowe

Sprocketman: The Patreon Collection (Released May 28th, 2020)[]

  1. Flying Free
  2. The Weather Was Changing
  3. The Lobster Quadrille (from "Alice in Wonderland")
  4. She's the Only One
  5. Weeds in the Garden of My Heart
  6. If You Can't Wait for Me
  7. Dance (Like You're in a Stock Video)
  8. In the Pines (Traditional)
  9. Maria
  10. No Bananas
  11. The Birth of Electro-Man
  12. Never Meant to Be
  13. In My Head

Steam Powered Stories (10 Year Anniversary Edition) [Released: September 25, 2020][]

  1. Steam Powered Stories (Intro) [Remastered 2020]
  2. Steam Powered Stories (Intro) [Remastered 2020]
  3. Loverboy (Remastered 2020)
  4. The Copper War (Remastered 2020)
  5. Aimee (Remastered 2020)
  6. Let Me Be Your Man (Remastered 2020)
  7. Mechanical Menagerie (Remastered 2020)
  8. The Depths Below (Remastered 2020)
  9. Time Machine (Remastered 2020)
  10. The Inventor's Daughter (Remastered 2020)
  11. The Death of the Cog (Remastered 2020)
  12. I Want Only You (Remastered 2020)
  13. A Letter to Michelle (Remastered 2020)
  14. Steam Powered Stories (Reprise) [Remastered 2020]
  15. Steam Powered Stories (Intro) [Commentary]
  16. Blood, Sweat and Tears (Commentary)
  17. Loverboy (Commentary)
  18. The Copper War (Commentary)
  19. Aimee (Commentary)
  20. Let Me Be Your Man (Commentary)
  21. Mechanical Menagerie (Commentary)
  22. The Depths Below (Commentary)
  23. Time Machine (Commentary)
  24. The Inventor's Daughter (Commentary)
  25. The Death of the Cog (Commentary)
  26. I Want Only You (Commentary)
  27. A Letter to Michelle (Commentary)
  28. Steam Powered Stories (Reprise) [Commentary]
  29. Steam Powered Stories (Intro) [Instrumental]
  30. Blood, Sweat and Tears (Instrumental)
  31. Loverboy (Instrumental)
  32. The Copper War (Instrumental)
  33. Aimee (Instrumental)
  34. Let Me Be Your Man (Instrumental)
  35. Mechanical Menagerie (Instrumental)
  36. The Depths Below (Instrumental)
  37. Time Machine (Instrumental)
  38. The Inventor's Daughter (Instrumental)
  39. The Death of the Cog (Instrumental)
  40. I Want Only You (Instrumental)
  41. A Letter to Michelle (Instrumental)
  42. Steam Powered Stories (Finale) [Instrumental]
  43. Introduction (Demo Track)
  44. Blood, Sweat and Tears (Rough Early Demo)
  45. Loverboy (Rough Demo)
  46. The Depths Below (Rough Phone Hum Demo)
  47. The Inventor's Daughter (Nonsense Piano Improv Demo)
  48. The Death of the Cog (Early Unfinished Demo)
  49. I Want Only You (Early Nonsense Demo)
  50. A Letter to Michelle (Early Unfinished Demo)

Incognito: Cog Covers, Vol. 1 (Released December 4, 2020)[]

  1. Bad Guy (Cover)
  2. Believer (Cover)
  3. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Cover)
  4. Come Together (Cover)
  5. We Are Number One (Cover)
  6. Old Town Road (Symphonic Rock Version) [Cover]
  7. Breakfast in America (Cover)
  8. Paninirvana (Cover)
  9. Bang! (Cover)
  10. Trouble Is a Friend (Cover)
  11. I Think I Love You (Disney Villain Style) [Cover]
  12. Hallelujah (Cover)

Incognito: Cog Covers, Vol. 2 (Released February 17, 2023)[]

  1. Villain (Cover)
  2. Inspector Gadget Theme (Cover)
  3. Pink Elephants on Parade (from "Dumbo") [Cover]
  4. I Don't Wanna Grow Up (Cover)
  5. Potato Song (Cuz I Want To) [Cover]
  6. Choke (Cover)
  7. Dos Oruguitas (from "Encanto") [Cover]
  8. We Don't Talk about Bruno (Cover)
  9. Elvira (Cover)
  10. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night (Cover)
  11. Be Prepared (from "The Lion King") [Cover]
  12. One Tin Soldier (Cover)
  13. Radio/Video (Cover)
  14. Don't Worry Be Happy (Cover)
  15. The Sky Is a Neighborhood (Cover)

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Recent Twitter Updates[]

The Band's official twitter stream: <twitteruser username="thecogisdead" limit="3"></twitteruser>

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