Caleb Scofield
Birth nameCaleb Mark Scofield
Also known as"Secret C"[1]
Born(1978-10-06)October 6, 1978
Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died (aged 39)
Bedford, New Hampshire, U.S.
GenresAlternative rock, metalcore, sludge metal, post-metal, hardcore punk
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, vocals, guitar
Years active1996–2018
LabelsHydra Head, Profound Lore

Caleb Mark Scofield (October 6, 1978[2] – March 28, 2018) was an American musician who was a bassist and singer mostly known for the alternative metal band Cave In, and his own sludge metal band Zozobra. Caleb was also a part of the sludge band Old Man Gloom.[3]

Music career

See also: Cave In, Old Man Gloom, and Zozobra (band)

Caleb Scofield gained an interest in heavy music through seeing local New Hampshire punk bands like Inline and The Rat, and as soon as he was able to drive, took a trip to Boston to see bigger East Coast hardcore bands like Sheer Terror and Sick of It All.[4] He performed vocals for his first band, local New Hampshire hardcore act Strike 3.[2]

He joined what would become his primary band Cave In in 1998 as a bassist shortly before they released their debut album Until Your Heart Stops.[5] From the band's bio on their website: "Shortly after coming home from the Cave In/Piebald tour, Caleb Scofield gave us a ring. Strike 3 – the band he sang for and the same band we shared a van with during our first east coast tour – had just disbanded. He was offering to play bass for Cave In. It was a surprise to learn that he even played bass – we really had no idea. The real surprise came at our first try-out rehearsal together – he was a closet bass phenom!"[6] After a revolving door of bassists and vocalists in the band's early years, Scofield became a permanent member of the band until his death in 2018.

Zozobra is a rock band that was first conceived by Caleb Scofield during 2006. He was joined by Santos Montano for the band's first release, Harmonic Tremors in 2007. Their second album, Bird of Prey, was released July 28, 2008, once again on Hydra Head Records. It featured Aaron Harris of Isis on drums.

After Scofield's death in 2018, his bands continued to released music that he contributed to as posthumous releases. Hydra Head records released two unreleased Zozobra songs as Unreleased Tracks in 2018, and Cave In released its sixth studio album Final Transmission in 2019 with contributions from Scofield on all tracks.[7]

Personal life and death

Caleb Scofield was born in Concord, New Hampshire, and raised in Pembroke. He graduated from Pembroke Academy in 1997.[2] He moved to Los Angeles and in 2004 married his wife, Jennifer. The couple had two children, Desmond in 2007 and Sydney in 2010.[2] Outside of his music career, Scofield worked as a carpenter and enjoyed camping and CrossFit.[2]

He died on March 28, 2018, of "smoke and heat inhalation, thermal injuries and multiple blunt impact injuries," after his pickup truck crashed into a concrete barrier at a toll booth in Bedford, New Hampshire.[8] The severity of the accident and burns on the body made it difficult for first responders to determine identity, or even sex.[9] Scofield was 39 years old.[10][11][12][13] As a result of the accident, local officials began considering a US$20 million Everett Turnpike project to upgrade its toll booths to electronic tolls for safety reasons.[8] Scofield's memorial service was held on April 4, 2018.[2]

Following news of his death, prominent figures in the metal community showed their support, including members of Converge, Jesu, Every Time I Die, The Red Chord and Isis, among others.[5][10][13][14] A YouCaring crowdfunding page was established to collect donations for Scofield's memorial service.[12] The initial goal of $1,000 was quickly surpassed and reached about $72,000 in 24 hours,[15] while continuing to raise funds in the following weeks. Hydra Head Records released a fundraising package deal with all proceeds going to his family, which included a special reissue set of Zozobra's Harmonic Tremors and Bird of Prey, a two-song cassette EP of unreleased Zozobra tracks and an Old Man Gloom tribute shirt.[16] Cave In and Old Man Gloom hosted two fundraising shows with 100% of the proceeds going to Scofield's family—a Boston show on June 13, 2018, with Converge, Young Widows and a reunited The Cancer Conspiracy;[17] and a Los Angeles show on October 13, 2018, with Pelican, 27 and Celestial (a one-off reunion of the band Isis under a different name).[18][19] Filling in on bass for Cave In, Old Man Gloom and Zozobra songs at the Boston benefit show was Nate Newton of Converge, Stephen Brodsky, and Scofield's brother Kyle.[20][21] Half the proceeds of Cave In's 2019 album Final Transmission was donated to Scofield's family.[7]

Discography

Cave In

For a more comprehensive list, see Cave In discography.

Old Man Gloom

For a more comprehensive list, see Old Man Gloom § Discography.

Zozobra

Guest musician

Year Artist Album Track
2001 Converge Jane Doe "The Broken Vow"[1]
2006 Isis In the Absence of Truth "1,000 Shards"[22]
2007 The Ocean Precambrian "Orosirian: For the Great Blue Cold Now Reigns"[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Bennett, J. (2009). "Chapter 25: Who's That Girl?". In Mudrian, Albert (ed.). Precious Metal. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81806-6. Tre McCarthy, Kevin Baker from the Hope Conspiracy and "Secret C" have backing vocal credits. I'm assuming the last one is Caleb Scofield from Cave In.
    Ballou: Yeah. He was under contract with RCA at the time. He didn't think there would be any problem, but we thought it would be better not to take any chances. Isn't his publishing company called Secret C? I think it might be. All those guys were on "The Broken Vow"—I think that was the only song they were on. On the last line, "I'll take my love to the grave," with each repetition of the riff, we'd add another person. So it's Jake, me, Nate and then those guys, one at a time.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Dwyer, Dialynn (April 2, 2018). "Read the obituary for local musician Caleb Scofield". Boston.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  3. ^ Camp, Zoe (29 March 2018). "Cave In, Old Man Gloom Bassist/Vocalist Caleb Scofield Dead at 39". Revolver. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  4. ^ Pessaro, Fred (April 4, 2013). "Interview: Caleb Scofield of Zozobra/Cave In". Invisible Oranges. Invisible Oranges. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Wedge, Dave (April 3, 2018). "The Boston Hardcore Scene Remembers Cave In's Caleb Scofield, Its Beloved Pioneer". Noisey. Vice. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  6. ^ Brodsky, Stephen. "Official Cave In Website – Biography". cavein.net. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Sacher, Andrew (April 8, 2019). "Cave In announce final album with the late Caleb Scofield, share 'All Illusion'". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Buja, Melissa; Fortier, Marc; Rosenfield, Michael (March 29, 2018). "'Celebrity of the Family': Musician and Father Identified as Man Killed in Fiery Tollbooth Crash". New England Cable News. NBCUniversal. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  9. ^ Houghton, Kimberly (March 29, 2018). "Driver who died in fiery crash at Bedford tolls identified as Bow man". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Eisigner, Dave (March 30, 2018). "Cave In Bassist Caleb Scofield Dead at 39". Spin. SpinMedia. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  11. ^ Yoo, Noah (March 29, 2018). "Caleb Scofield (Cave In, Old Man Gloom) Dead at 39". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  12. ^ a b Legaspi, Althea (March 29, 2018). "Cave In, Old Man Gloom's Caleb Scofield Dead at 39". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  13. ^ a b Camp, Zoe (March 28, 2018). "Cave In, Old Man Gloom Bassist/Vocalist Caleb Scofield Dead at 39". Revolver. Project M Group. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  14. ^ "The Metal Community Reacts to the Death of Caleb Scofield". MetalSucks. March 30, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  15. ^ Neilstein, Vince (March 31, 2018). "Some Unorganized Thoughts on the Death of Cave In's Caleb Scofield". MetalSucks. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  16. ^ Kennelty, Greg (April 3, 2018). "Zozobra & Old Man Gloom Plan Special Releases For Caleb Scofield's Family". Metal Injection. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  17. ^ Bellino, Vince (April 27, 2018). "Converge, Cave In, Old Man Gloom and More to Play Caleb Scofield Memorial Show". Decibel. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  18. ^ Yoo, Noah (June 12, 2018). "Isis Reuniting Under New Name for Caleb Scofield Tribute Show". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  19. ^ Hughes, Josiah (June 12, 2018). "Isis Reunite as Celestial for Caleb Scofield Benefit Show". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  20. ^ Kayla (June 14, 2018). "Cave in Joined on Stage by Caleb Scofield's Brother, Kyle Scofield". MetalSucks. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  21. ^ "Cave In perform with Kyle Scofield, Nate Newton on bass". LambGoat. June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  22. ^ In the Absence of Truth (Media notes). Isis. Ipecac Recordings. 2006. IPC-081.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ Precambrian (Media notes). The Ocean. Metal Blade Records. 2007. 3984-14643-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

External links

Cave In
Old Man Gloom
Authority control databases: Artists
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