My Dad Is Dead was a recording project of musician Mark Edwards. The project began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1984. My Dad Is Dead has released twelve full-length albums before it officially ended in 2011. A new group called Secular Joy was formed later that year in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Mark Edwards first played drums during the very early portion of the 1980s, performing in the bands Thermos of Happiness and Riot Architecture before they both dissolved by 1984. In August that same year, Edwards began to learn guitar and started to write music under the name of My Dad Is Dead. Early live shows consisted of him performing guitar and vocals with percussion duties done by a drum machine. The name of the project was taken from the fact that both of Edward's parents were dead by the time he was only 21 years old.
The Shine double seven-inch, Chopping Down the Family Tree, and Out of Sight, Out of Mind were all released via Scat Records in 1990, 1991, and 1993 respectively. In 1990 they recorded a session for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 with songs Without a Doubt, Water's Edge and Nothing Special.