This is part two of our special Crawlspace Bio, written from the experiences of those who have been there from the start, through the good and bad. In part two, Drummer Dean “Dino” Herbert tells his accounts of the creation of Crawlspace through his own eyes. You can read part one, written by vocalist, Justin Osbourne by clicking on the link below. I hope you enjoy reading this personal insight into one of ETS’s most popular bands, as much as they’ve enjoyed creating it.

Part One by Justin Osbourne

“It was 1993. College was dragging. Engineering just wasn’t doing it for me.

Myself and Greg Haynes were slowly but surely getting what would become T.H.C together. Although we were both skint and in need of a lead guitarist, bassist and singer, we managed to convert Greg’s folks shed into something loosely relating to a rehearsal space!.

After the coming and going of Grant (lead guitar) and Rob (guitar), we found ourselves at Greg’s Stechford house, hauled up in the loft. The loft itself served as a rehearsal space, living room, bedroom and dining room, and as a base for the band for 2 years! After waiting the best part of 12 months, Neil Slater finally joined T.H.D (as we were called at the time) from the up and coming Bradford thrash/death metal band, Incarcerated!

At this point the band was looking for some stability and we were soon renting a permanent lock up in Birmingham.

After months of rehearsals and loads of songs written, we were in need of a vocalist. Step up Justin Osbourne! Powerful, unnerving and assured in his message, we knew within ten minutes of the first rehearsal that he was our man; making lyrics up on the spot and managing to sing with more conviction than anyone else we’d heard. We got 3 songs together, and through the good word of Napalm Death and the ex Benediction drummer Ian Treacy, we worked at Framework Studios (Birmingham) with Paul Siddens & Danny Sprig to produce the first T.H.C  demo, Ballistic.

It was now 1995; the Birmingham metal scene was still strong. The bands we were constantly listening to included Pantera, Sepultura, Slayer, Meshuggah, Acid Bath and Alice In Chains to name but a few.

Things were starting to look brighter, we’d recorded the demo and  had our first gig booked with Mugwump at the City Tavern (Birmingham.)

With the first 2 gigs done with Asphyxiator and Mugwump, we became even stronger with the introduction of Matt on lead guitar. We sounded powerful and together and the mad instrumental sections we had been working on suddenly had quality solos to compliment them. Matt ran into money trouble and had to split which left the four of us to work out where to go next. After a couple of months and deliberation the band eventually split.

Wondering what to do next and after a couple of years of bumming around from job to job I was given the opportunity to go back to college to study music. After getting through the access course with friends Mark Shilvock and Ian Treacy, a band was needed to complete our University coursework. This in turn provided the opportunity to revisit some industrial/hardcore roots that myself and Mugwump bass player Mark Shilvock wanted to explore. Crawlspace began!”

ETS, E.T.S Records, and etsrecords.co.uk © 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 All pictures, text, music and other content are owned by E.T.S Records 2009. Last Updated By Webmistress on 13/1/09