The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from
Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city. The first Million Dead demo was recorded in September 2001. The band's touring career began with support sets for
Cave In,
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster,
The Icarus Line and
Alec Empire. In late 2002, the band signed to
Integrity Records /
Xtra Mile Recordings, and released their first single, "Smiling At Strangers On Trains". The band played their final concert at
Southampton's
Joiners venue on 23 September 2005. Since the band's breakup, vocalist
Frank Turner has made a career as a solo
folk/
punk artist. Tom Fowler and Julia Ruzicka played guitar and bass in another band, Quiet Kill (2005–2006) and then Who Owns Death TV (2007–2009), and The Idle Hearts in 2009. Ben Dawson currently plays drums for Palehorse, Mothlite, Queen of Swords, Armed Response Unit and
Mïngle Härde; a
hardcore punk band he formed with
Frank Turner and
Matt Nasir of Turner's backing band, The Sleeping Souls. Ruzicka also currently plays bass with
Future of the Left, and played bass for
Dream of an Opium Eater and
Tricky on their tour in 2010. In November 2016, Ruzicka released her debut album under the name This Becomes Us. The album features 10 tracks written by Ruzicka and featuring Ian Wilson of
Art Brut on guitar and Jack Egglestone of
Future of the Left on drums. The first nine tracks on the album feature vocals recorded by what Ruzicka describes as "9 very different, and very inspiring vocalists", including
Black Francis. In 2011, Turner commented on the band's break-up. "I'm very proud of all the music we made in that band," he said. "It came to an end. The actual process of that end wasn't very fun. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if I hadn't done Million Dead before. I'm glad it happened. Once the end of Million Dead rolled around, I just didn't want to be in a band anymore. The last year of Million Dead was just murderous. Four people who want to kill each other, sat in a van driving around Europe...it's no fun." Turner has continued to perform "Smiling At Strangers On Trains" live since the split of the band, often including it in solo sets. In 2019, Mïngle Härde also began playing the song. On 17 October 2024 an Instagram account was created, hinting at a 2025 reunion. On 23 October 2024 it was announced that a reunion would be taking place in 2025 consisting of Frank Turner, Julia Ruzicka, Tom Fowler, Ben Dawson and Cameron Dean. Turner stated during the shows that there would be no new album and this would be the last tour for the band. ==Discography==