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The Boy Detective is an American ska punk band from Ypsilanti, Michigan, formed in 2016. The band consists of Benny Capaul (vocals), Nic Good (guitar, vocals), Ricky Held (bass), Zach Marshall (drums), Geridan St Peter (trombone), Seth Urban (Saxophone), and Rhiannon Smith (baritone saxophone).

The group released its debut EP, Dorkus Malorkus, in 2017. The independently released cover album, Sklarity, was released in 2021. In 2022, the band released "Banned From the Bathtub", leading to increased exposure. Following the release of several singles, the band released "ART THEFT" in early 2024. This release was the band's most commercially successful to date, featuring the singles "Date Night!" and "A Dreadful Collection of Memoranda" and led to the band signing to Punkerton Records. Punkerton Records re-released the band's earlier EP's "Banned From the Bathtub" and "ART THEFT" as a 12" record entitled "EXHIBITION" (2024).

Formation and Dorkus Malorkus (2016-2019)
Before the formation of The Boy Detective, vocalist and guitarist Nic Good and vocalist and bassist Benny Capaul played in the band Come On!. Come On! dissolved as the band members were starting families and careers and no longer had the time to devote to the band. After remaining friends for a few years, Benny and Nic decided to start a casual recording project. Initially called "Roughoused" the band was little more than an excuse for the members to hang out and get out of their houses a bit. The pair worked together on a group of songs and in 2017, they decided to record "Dorkus Malorkus". Nic recorded all the drums, guitar, keys and Benny recorded the bass. The duo split vocal duties evenly.

During the recording process, the duo changed the band name to "The Boy Detective", named after their shared love of the novel The Boy Detective Fails, by Joe Meno. The group self-released Dorkus Malorkus in 2019.

Pandemic, Sklarity and Banned From the Bathtub (2020-2021)
Following the release of Dorkus Malorkus, Nic and Ben decided to put an actual band together in order to play shows. They tapped Bret Pollington, a friend of theirs that they knew from other bands they had played with, to play drums. Mainly a guitarist, Bret had recently purchased a drum kit and agreed to join The Boy Detective on drums. The trio started rehearsing songs from Dorkus Malorkus in addition to new songs that Nic had been writing.

During this process, the global Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down. While unable to get together in person, Nic started recording covers of punk and emo songs that he loved. Starting with "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" by The Mountain Goats, Nic released a video online. After receiving a positive reception, Nic and Ben decided to turn the concept into a The Boy Detective album. "Sklarity" features ten covers of 1990's punk and emo songs, including songs by The Ataris, Jawbreaker, The Get Up Kids, Hey Mercedes, Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, The Mountain Goats, The Promise Ring, Saves The Day, and Dashboard Confessional. The band self-released the album in May of 2021.

The group, despite being unable to get together in person, started collaborating online. They sent demos and ideas back and forth on the internet and decided to record an album in isolation. Bret recorded his drum parts and sent them to Nic and Ben to record their parts, but as vaccines were developed and restrictions lightened, the band could get together again. Guitar, bass, and vocal tracks were recorded in the summer of 2021 and the band sent the album off to be mixed by Adam Mandarino. "Banned From the Bathtub" was released on cassette online in December of 2021.

Due to the new songs being much more "ska", the band needed to re-structure the lineup. The bass parts were much more complex and hard to sing and play simultaneously so Ben moved to lead vocals. Alex Kossman, a friend of Nic and Ben, joined on bass. With this new lineup, the band felt very good about starting to play as soon as Covid restrictions fully lifted and shows could happen again, but this left a big gap in the live show. The album featured horns on almost every track but the band did not have or really even know, any horn players. Lauren Webber, the wife of a friend, mentioned that she played trumpet and agreed to come to a rehearsal. The band posted an ad on Craigslist looking for horn players and Geridan St Peter responded. He played trombone and he and his best friend Seth Urban (saxophone) had played together for years and both were looking to join a ska-punk band. After a few practices, this lineup was solidified and the band booked its first show.

"ART THEFT" (2022-2024)
The band spent the next year playing shows and building a following. Near the end of 2022, Alex had to leave the band due to family issues. Ricky Held, who had filled in on bass early on in the band's history, agreed to come aboard. Rhiannon Smith (baritone sax) also joined the band after playing a show with The Insyderz.

The band sold out its first run of Banned From the Bathtub tapes and reissued the album with new, alternate artwork in early 2023. During this time, the band started writing and arranging the songs that would later become "ART THEFT". Having road tested the songs over 2022 and 2023, "ART THEFT" would be the first record recorded as a full band. The band hunkered down together, refined the songs and hit the studio in summer of 2023.

Recorded with Steven Warstler at X studios in Toledo, Ohio, "ART THEFT" was not a concept album, but has an overarching theme that all art is stolen from somewhere. The album features numerous references, samples, "stolen" pieces that build up the whole. The cover art features "The White Duck" by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a notoriously unsolved art theft.

"ART THEFT" was released digitally and on tape via Top-Floor Tapes on Jan 1st, 2024. "ART THEFT" was the bands most commercially successful release to date, selling out multiple tape runs and streaming over 20,000 times.

In the run-up to the release, tensions in the band led to the departure of drummer Bret Pollington. Gabe Lewis a friend of the band, filled in for the bands scheduled run of shows with Escape From the Zoo. Zach Marshall, who the band knew from playing with his other band, B-Plot joined on drums shortly thereafter.

Signing with Punkerton Records and "EXHIBITION" (2024-Present)
In early 2024, shortly after the release of "ART THEFT", the band signed to Punkerton Records. The band combined the EP's (Banned From The Bathtub and "ART THEFT") into a single 12" record entitled "EXHIBITION". "ART THEFT" appears on Side A and Banned From The Bathtub appears on Side B. The album will be released in summer of 2024.

Band Members
Current members
 * Benny Capaul – vocals (2016–present)
 * Nic Good – guitar, vocals (2016–present)
 * Ricky Held - bass (2022–present)
 * Geridan St Peter – trombone (2021–present)
 * Seth Urban – saxophone (2021–present)
 * Rhiannon Smith - baritone sax (2022-present)
 * Zach Marshall – drums (2023–present)

Former members
 * Bret Pollington – drums (2019-2023)
 * Alex Kossman – bass (2021-2022)
 * Lauren Webber – trumpet (2021–2023)

Timeline