In Memoriam: Jason Sears of RKL (-2006)

Word has come in that Jason Sears, vocalist of RKL has passed away. A friend had this to say:

Santa Barbara local, father, skater, and punk died today battling his
illness. It has been a hard year for 805 crew. 3 RKL members in less than a year is a huge loss. I knew each and everyone one of them... each had touched my life in many ways over the last 20 years. Back from when I was arrested at an RKL show at the Rock On Broadway in SF in 1986 and Bomber tried to put me in their tour van while I was in hand cuffs, to the time Jason ran off with my friend Natasha for a week and was MIA in the East Bay... When I moved to Santa Barbara in August 1987 Jason made me feel right at home. To watch all three of these people rise and fall over the last 20 years has been a beautiful and tragic expericence.

RKL, or Rich Kids on LSD was a fixture of the 90s Santa Barbara punk scene. Two members of the band, guitarist Chris Rest and drummer Dave Raun, went on to join Lagwagon,

Sears was the vocalist of the band from 1983-1989 and 1994-1996 and was responsible for the vocals on the band's Epitaph full length, Riches to Rags. The band split up around 1996 but had reunited in various configurations 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005. A posthumous collection, Keep Laughing - The Best Of RKL appeared in 2001.

After his time in RKL, Jason recorded Jason Sears And Mercury Legion which was released last year.

Our deepest condolences go out to Jason's family, bandmates, fans and friends.