Closet Monster was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal N ...

Biography

Closet Monster was formed at Pickering High School in 1997 primarily by

Mark Spicoluk Mark Spicoluk is a Canadian content creator, yoga instructor, musician, podcaster, and entrepreneur. He is best known as co-creator and yoga teacher for the lifestyle brand Boho Beautiful, his time as bass player with Avril Lavigne, and as the v ...

, the sole founder of

Underground Operations Underground Operations was an independent punk rock record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1995, the label was originally based in Ajax, Ontario. Operated by Mark Spicoluk, former Closet Monster member and former bass pl ...

record label along with

Jesse Colburn Jesse Colburn (born May 5, 1981) is a Canadian guitarist. He played guitar for Closet Monster, until their final show on December 8, 2005, and previously played in Avril Lavigne's band from 2002 to 2004. Personal life Jesse Adam Timothy Colbu ...

, noted for having performed in

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

's band from 2002-2004 with Spicoluk first performing in ''Public Display'', from 1995-1997 (originally; ''Special Ed'') then with

Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...

briefly in 1997. The band's lyrics are noted for having an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

theme, primarily meant to be

tongue in cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...

, albeit it can be perceived to be glamorizing and promoting it. Closet Monster has achieved much publicity from touring Canada, the United States and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, playing dates on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

, and starting a very successful Canadian record label,

. Closet Monster have shared the stage with the likes of

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

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Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike. "", Canadian Online Explorer, CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are Georg ...

Propagandhi Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock and metal band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski ...

Hot Water Music Hot Water Music is an American punk rock band formed in October 1994 and based in Gainesville, Florida. Since their formation, the group has consisted of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on shared lead vocals and guitars, bass guitarist Jason B ...

SNFU SNFU was a Canadian hardcore punk band from Edmonton, formed in 1981 as Society's No Fucking Use. They relocated to Vancouver in 1992 and went on hiatus in 2018 due to illness. They released eight albums, two live records, and one compilation ami ...

Madball Madball is an American New York hardcore band. Originated in the late 1980s as a side project of Agnostic Front, the band developed after Agnostic Front's vocalist Roger Miret would let his younger half-brother Freddy Cricien take the micro ...

Atom And His Package Adam Goren (born January 14, 1975), known by his stage name Atom and His Package, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and teacher. He has released more than 18 albums under various aliases. His music is identifiable by its heavy use of ...

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, KNUT,

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

, Silverstein, 25tolife,

The Suicide Machines The Suicide Machines are an American ska punk band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan. During the course of their career, the band has released seven full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records, Side One Dummy Records and Fat Wr ...

Buck-O-Nine Buck-O-Nine is an American ska punk band which was formed in San Diego in 1991. The band has toured internationally and released several albums and EPs, as well as appearing on compilations and film soundtracks. During the mid-to-late 1990s, t ...

The Casualties The Casualties are an American punk rock band from New York City, founded by vocalist Jorge Herrera, Hank Fischer (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums) in 1990. In July 2017, it was announced on the band ...

Choke Choke may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Choke'' (album), a 1990 album by the Beautiful South * "Choke" (I Dont Know How But They Found Me song), a 2017 song from the album ''1981 Extended Play'' * ''Choke'' (Kiss It Goodbye ...

Mad Caddies The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) is an American ska punk band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. The Mad Caddies sound has influences from broad ranging g ...

D.b.s. D.B.S. (Dirty Black Summer, stylized as d.b.s.) were a punk rock band from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From their beginnings in 1992 to their eventual breakup in 2001, they gained popularity in the Canadian punk rock scene, and ...

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

Atreyu Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band's current line-up consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKn ...

Ten Foot Pole Ten Foot Pole (formerly Scared Straight) is an American punk rock band. History Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 under the name Scared Straight. Scared Straight was a punk band from Simi Valley, California. The band was formed in 1983 by a ...

Moneen Moneen (sometimes stylised as .moneen.) is a Canadian indie rock band from Brampton, Ontario. History Moneen formed in 1999 after the dissolution of another band, called Perfectly Normal. The founding members were singer/guitarist Kenny Bridges ...

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Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

Warped Tour 2004 & 2005 and many other bands. The most recent lineup played their final show on December 8, 2005 at the Phoenix in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

with ''Underground Operations'' label mates

Dead Letter Dept Dead Letter Dept. may refer to: * Dead Letter Dept. (band) Dead Letter Dept. were a Canadian punk band from Toronto, Canada. The band consisted of Rob Moir (guitar/vocals), Mike Leblanc (drums), Andrew Sparks (bass), Danny Complex (guitars). The ...

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and

Protest The Hero Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band changed their name to Protest the Hero, then released their debut EP, '' Search for the Truth'', in 2002. In 2005, the band re ...

. The band reunited in 2009 for one show at Wakestock Festival. Before shutting down,

released ''Suicide Note'', an anthological compilation album of Closet Monster's work, as their last release.

Final line up

* Mark "London" Spicoluk –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Adam Cyncora –

* Aaron Verdonk –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Past members

* Brandon Hilbiorn "b-unit" –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Christopher McCartney –

* Kyle Gordon Stanley –

* Mark McAdam "MC" –

* Jon Marshall "Rudy" –

* Matt 'The Ween' Murphy –

Discography

Studio albums

*''So Be It'' -

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

*''Pure Unfiltered Anarchy'' -

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

*'' A Fight For What Is Right'' -

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

*'' Where The Fuck Is Revolution?'' -

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

*'' Killed The Radio Star'' -

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

*'' We Rebuilt This City'' -

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Singles

Compilation albums

*''Suicide Note'' -

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Music videos

* "Mr. Holland Vs. Acceptable Behaviour" (2002) * "Corporate Media Death Squad" (2003) * "Mamma Anti-Fascisto: Never Surrender" (2004) * "Punk Rock Ruined Our Lives" (2005)

References

External links

Closet Monster Myspace Page Closet Monster @ BandoftheDay.com Underground Operations Official Website
{{Authority control Canadian punk rock groups Anarcho-punk groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from the Regional Municipality of Durham