Defiance, Rotten UK

A DECADE OF DEFIANCE.......1993-2003

DEFIANCE BEGAN IN THE WINTER OF 1993 OUT OF THE ASHES OF DEPRIVED, RESIST AND UNAMUSED ..PORTLANDS THREE MOST NOTORIOUS ANARCHO PUNK BANDS OF THE LATE 80'S AND EARLY 90'S.

THE FIRST LINE-UP OF DEFIANCE CONSISTED OF MIKE (GUITAR/VOX) FROM DEPRIVED , TONY (VOX) AND KELLY (BASS) ALSO FROM DEPRIVED AND RESIST , ALARIC (VOX) FROM UNAMUSED , AND ERIC (DRUMS) . AFTER A FEW SHORT MONTHS AND A COUPLE LOCAL GIGS, STUDIO TIME WAS BOOKED AND THE FIRST TWO SINGLES WERE RECORDED IN ONE SESSION. THESE SESSIONS PRODUCED WHAT WERE TO BECOME THE FIRST DEFIANCE/S/T E.P 1994 AND THE SECOND "BURN" 1995 E.P. ON CONSENSUS REALITY ONE OF THE MEMBERS NEWLY FORMED LABEL.

AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE FIRST SINGLE.. A TWO MONTH TOUR OF THE U.S WAS BOOKED OVER THE SUMMER OF 1994. SHORTLY AFTER THE U.S TOUR TONY LEFT THE BAND. AS A FOUR PIECE THE GROUP RELEASED THE SECOND SINGLE THE BURN E.P IN 1995 AND LEFT FOR A SHORT TOUR OF CANADA AND THE U.S. UPON RETURNING THEY QUICKLY WENT BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND BEGAN WORK ON THEIR FIRST FULL LENGTH LP. IN THE FALL OF 1995 THEY SET OUT ON AN EAST COAST TOUR WITH THE FINAL WARNING, THE CASUALTIES AND THE VARUKERS...AND THEN IT WAS OFF TO EUROPE. A TOUR SINGLE WAS RUSH RELEASED IN MILAN, ITALY TO COINCIDE WITH THE EUROPEAN TOUR TITLED DEFIANCE -"EUROPEAN TOUR E.P 1995 " THIS WAS THE THIRD SINGLE. IT CONTAINED A FEW UNRELEASED TRACKS AND THE TITLE TRACK FROM THE FORTHCOMING LP. TWO AND A HALF MONTHS AND 19 COUNTRIES LATER THEY RETURNED AND TOOK A MUCH NEEDED HIATUS. IT WAS NOT UNTIL THEIR RETURN THAT THE DEBUT LP "NO FUTURE NO HOPE" WAS RELEASED IN EARLY 1996. THE DOMESTIC RELEASE ON THE U.S LABEL MIND CONTROL AND THE EUROPEAN PRESSING ON THE GERMAN LABEL SKULD RELEASES )...THE DEBUT LP WAS LATER HAILED AS ..." ONE OF THE BEST PUNK RELEASES OF THE 1990'S."

AFTER THE EUROPEAN TOUR KELLY LEFT THE BAND AND WAS REPLACED BY LONG TIME FRIEND CHRIS ON BASS. THE FOURTH SINGLE THE "NO TIME E.P" WAS RELEASED ON PROFANE EXISTENCE RECORDS AND FOLLOWED UP BY AN EAST COAST TOUR IN 1997. THE FIRST GIG OF THE TOUR WAS IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN. THIS WAS TO BE THE SETTING FOR THE INFAMOUS "BOMB SHELTER RIOT".

SHORTLY AFTER DEFIANCE ERUPTED INTO THEIR SET THE SHOW WAS INTERUPTED BY THE MINNEAPOLIS POLICE. SQUAD CARS NUMBERING IN THE FORTIES ARRIVED AND PUNKS AND POLICE CLASHED OUTSIDE OF THE CLUB RESULTING IN SEVERAL ARRESTS AND SEVERAL INJURED POLICE.

UPON RETURNING TO PORTLAND DEFIANCE BEGAN LOOKING FOR A SECOND GUITARIST THIS WAS TO BE MATTY FROM THE PORTLAND PUNK BAND THE OBLITERATED (... WHO ODDLY ENOUGH HAD BEEN INVITED TO JOIN AT THE ORIGINAL FORMATION OF THE BAND BACK IN 1993). THE ADDITION OF MATT ON SECOND GUITAR PROVED TO BE ESSENTIAL TO A FULLER SOUND LIVE AND OVERALL. AFTER A SHORT WEST COAST TOUR IN 1998 WITH THE RIFFS CAME THE LONG AWAITED SECOND FULL LENGTH LP (AGAIN ON MIND CONTROL RECORDS) TITLED "NOTHING LASTS FOREVER".

AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE LP AND A PERIOD OF SILENCE TENTATIVE EUROPEAN/JAPANESE TOUR PLANS WERE MADE. ALARIC (GIBBY), AND ERIC (NIFF) DECIDED TO PACK IT IN...SHORTLY FOLLOWED BY CHRIS. IT LOOKED AS IF MAYBE THE TITLE OF THE SECOND LP MAY PROVE THE FINAL IRONY FOR THE BAND....BUT AFTER A LOT OF THOUGHT, FOUNDING MEMBER MIKE AND LONG TIME MEMBER MATT BEGAN WRITING NEW MATERIAL AND RECRUITED TWO NEW MEMBERS ALAN ON BASS AND BRIAN ON DRUMS AND QUICKLY RUSHED OFF FOR A SHORT TOUR OF MEXICO IN THE SPRING OF 2001.

THE NEW BLOOD WITH THE COMBINATION OF MIKE AND MATT ON VOCALS AND GUITARS PROVED TO BE THE BEST LINE-UP THUS FAR. THE THIRD FULL LENGTH LP "OUT OF THE ASHES" IS RELEASED IN AUGUST OF 2002 , ON THE NEW YORK STREET PUNK LABEL PUNKCORE , FOLLOWED BY THE FIRST FULL 6 WEEK TOUR U.S TOUR SINCE 1994.

AN APPEARANCE THE 2002 HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN FESTIVAL IN NEW JERSEY COMPLETETED THE HUGELY SUCESSFUL TOUR. UPON THE ARRIVAL BACK TO PORTLAND IT WAS BACK INTO THE STUDIO TO RECORD FOUR NEW SONGS FOR THE 5 TH SINGLE.

UPON COMPLETION OF THE NEW SINGLE DEFIANCE JOIN FORCES WITH LONG TIME ANARCHO PUNK LEGENDS ICONS OF FILTH FOR A US WEST COASTTOUR.JUST AS THE IRAQI INVASION BEGINS THE GIGS ARE SUPRISINGLY PACKED AS THE COUNRTY IS AT WAR.

IN JUNE OF 2003 DEFIANCE RETURN TO THE U.K FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 8 YEARS. ALAN IS DENIED A PASSPORT AND LONGTIME FRIEND KYLE/SAIGON SHAKES FROM THE RIFFS) FILLS IN ON BASS FOR THE TOUR AND AN APPEARANCE AT THE FINAL HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN FESTIVAL. A SHORT 12 DAY UK TOUR WITH THE DRONGOS FOR EUROPE (BIRMINGHAM) FOLLOWS.

THE "AGAINST THE LAW" EP IS RELEASED IN THE FALL OF 2003 IN FRANCE ON DIRTY PUNK RECORDS . AND THE DOMESTIC VERSION IS INCLUDED ON THE CD AND AS A BONUS SINGLE IN THE LP VERSION OF THE "DECADE OF DEFIANCE" THE COMPLETE SINGLES COLLECTION WHICH IS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER 2003 (CELEBRATING THE TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE BAND) ON PUNK CORE RECORDS.

THE NEXT FEW MONTHS SEE THE RE-RELEASE OF THE CLASSIC FIRST TWO LPS " NO FUTURE NO HOPE" AND "NOTHING LASTS FOREVER" (ON PUNKCORE RECORDS ) AND THE DEPARTURE OF BASSIST ALAN . KYLE/SAIGON SHAKES (THE RIFFS) TAKES OVER ON BASS FULL-TIME FOR THE "OUR CLASS.. AGAINST THE LAW" WEST COAST TOUR WHICH FOLLOWS IN DECEMBER WITH LABELMATES THE LOWER CLASS BRATS. NEARLY ALL OF THE SHOWS ARE PLAYED TO SOLD OUT VENUES AND THE TOUR ENDS WITH BANG IN PORTLAND FOR NEW YEARS EVE.

THE NEXT FEW MONTHS ARE SPENT WRITING NEW MATERIAL FOR THE FOURTH

LP, DUE OUT ON PUNKCORE IN FALL OF 2004. TOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE INCLUDE A WEST COAST (US) TOUR IN JUNE WITH THE DRONGOS FOR EUROPE AND AN EAST COAST TOUR IN JULY IN SUPPORT OF THE UPCOMING RELEASE OF THE 4 TH FULL LENGTH LP.