2002–2005: Early years, After Dark and The City Sleeps In Flames The band – which originally was composed of Tyson Stevens on bass guitar and lead vocals (later to be strictly the vocalist/songwriter), guitarists Chad Crawford, DJ Wilson (later to switch to bass) and Steve Kirby, Pouyan Afkary on keyboards, and drummer Peter Costa – recorded their self-financed debut EP,
After Dark, while they were still in
Highland High School. The band graduated from Highland in 2003. In 2007, Scary Kids Scaring Kids was awarded Best Noise/Screamo Band at the 2007 Arizona Ska Punk Awards Ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona. They took home the Best Noise/Screamo Band Award again in 2010, and won the Best Independent Band Award in 2009. In January 2008, the band was awarded a Libby Award by
PETA for Best Newcomers. Scary Kids Scaring Kids received the award for their work in speaking up against Chicken Express for the PETA's 'I Am Not A Nugget' campaign.outdated link
2008–2019: Label change, break-up, Tyson Stevens death and "Loved Forever" The band left
Immortal Records and signed their major label deal with
RCA Records. During their fall tour with
Anberlin,
Straylight Run, and
There for Tomorrow, the band announced they would be working on their third studio album at the end of the tour, but decided to part ways before tracking new material. Lead singer Tyson took some personal time off in the last four days of the 2009
Warped Tour and the band had tour members
Craig Mabbitt of
Escape the Fate,
Brandon Bolmer formerly of
Chiodos,
Vic Fuentes of
Pierce the Veil and
Cove Reber, formerly of
Saosin, filling in on vocals for the rest of the tour. On November 30, 2009, Afkary posted an official statement declaring that by mutual agreement the group decided to disband following a farewell tour in 2010. Derek Smith served as the band's drummer for their farewell tour and opened shows with his new
hip hop act,
Mod Sun. The album that the band was recording in 2009 was never finished as the band did not record vocals for it. On October 20, 2014, vocalist Tyson Stevens died at the age of 29. On September 29, 2019, Scary Kids Scaring Kids released a song titled "Loved Forever" to honor what would have been a wish of Stevens's 34th birthday. The song was written and sang by rhythm guitarist Chad Crawford and produced by Hiram Hernandez.
2019–present: Return, rotating touring lineup Out of Light and Maps Written in Water On November 18, 2019, members Crawford, Afkary and Costa announced that Scary Kids Scaring Kids would be reuniting for
The City Sleeps in Flames 15-year anniversary tour alongside touring members featuring
Saosin and Dead American frontman
Cove Reber on vocals, Don Vedda on lead guitar and Jordan Flower on bass. The tour lasted from January 13 to 24, 2020, in partnership with
To Write Love On Her Arms. Additional East Coast dates were announced to take place between June 27, and July 12, with support from
The Classic Crime, Picturesque, and
Eidola, but were postponed due to
COVID-19 pandemic. On February 4, 2021, Scary Kids Scaring Kids announced signing to
Velocity Records and teased recording some new material in studio via Instagram. The rescheduled East Coast dates were played from September 17 to October 1, 2021, with
Eidola being switched out with The Villa. During this tour Scary Kids Scaring Kids occasionally performed a new song titled "Knock It All Down" live. On October 5, 2021, the band announced they would be releasing "The Lost Album Demos" (2010) composed of scratch tracks, demos and raw ideas that were intended to develop into their 4th studio release back in 2010, exclusively via their
Discord channel. On December 18, 2021, Velocity Records Tour 2022 consisting of SKSK,
D.R.U.G.S.,
Dead American and
Secrets was announced to take place from February 16 to March 20, 2022. This tour was eventually played with
Kurt Travis (
Royal Coda, ex-
Dance Gavin Dance) filling in on lead vocals. On December 19 and 23, 2021, the band played two shows with
Donovan Melero (of
Hail the Sun and
Sianvar) on lead vocals. On February 22, 2022, the band released "Knock It All Down (feat.
Lil Lotus)", the first single off the third album titled
Out of Light. A second single titled "Nightmare" was released with Spencer Charnas from
Ice Nine Kills a month later.
Out of Light was released on May 27, 2022, to mixed reviews. Each track on the album features a different guest vocalist. In January 2023, the band played a mini-tour (including performance at Kill Iconic Records 23) with
Craig Mabbitt on vocals. In May-June 2023, SKSK played a tour featuring vocalists Albert Schweizer (ex-Violent New Breed) and Paul Rose (ex-
Cover Your Tracks, ex-Curses).
Maps Written in Water, the band's fourth studio album, preceded by singles "Blackout" (feat. Rat Park), "State of Disrepair" (feat. Paul Rose), "Oblivion" (feat. Kat Leon), "Suspended in Air" (feat. Albert Schweizer) is set to be released independently on July 11, 2025. Like
Out of Light, it's going to feature a guest lead vocalist on every song, including
Tilian,
Andy Cizek,
Toby Morrell,
Lacey Sturm,
Craig Mabbitt and
Myke Terry among others. In February 2026, the band was announced as part of the lineup for the
Louder Than Life music festival in
Louisville, scheduled to take place in September. == Band members ==