When Former Unbroken Vocalist

When former Unbroken vocalist Dave Claiburn left San Diego for the Midwest, he had no idea how much he'd miss the city he called home from 1991--1994, or three of the greatest years of his life.

"The great Midwestern magnet pulled me back to the St. Louis area," Claiburn says. "I had no choice. All kidding aside, I had a state grant that allowed me to go to any college in the state of Illinois for free. That was the reason at the time, but in retrospect I wish I would have stayed in San Diego."

He also fondly remembers seeing Heroin and Drive Like Jehu at the Ché, Comic Con, and hanging out at Scripps Beach. However, not every single memory of San Diego was pleasant for Claiburn: one time when strolling by the City College trolley stop he had to duck bullets.

"I wasn't able to see who was shooting at each other," Claiburn says. "I just saw people scatter and I knew that I was hearing gunfire, so I ducked behind a concrete garbage receptacle. It was more surreal than frightening. Five minutes later helicopters were flying overhead, and dozens of cop cars were rounding up possible suspects. An older gentleman told me not to run off because anyone seen fleeing the area is considered a possible suspect. From the looks of what happened I would say he was correct."

Unbroken stayed together at first after Claiburn left the area but eventually broke up after five years together.

"We started out just wanting to play some shows and record a single. So after a couple of full-length LPs were released and touring Europe, we essentially felt we accomplished more than what was expected of us," Claiburn says. "After completing two more singles and completing a final West Coast tour, both Eric [Allen] and Steve [Miller] said they didn't really have it in them to write any more material for Unbroken. So we played our last show at the Ché Café, where we all met five years earlier. I think it was the fact that our sound evolved and that we really didn't want to have Unbroken as a career that led to us breaking up."

Claiburn has since founded a new band called Stabbed by Words, which released its self-titled debut album in March. Guitarist Rob Moran now plays in Some Girls.