Youth Brigade (band)

Youth Brigade
Brothers Shawn (center) and Mark Stern (right) have been the two consistent members of Youth Brigade since the band's formation.
Background information
Also known as	The Brigade
Origin	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1980 (1980)–1987 (1987), 1991–present
Labels	BYO
Associated acts	Royal Crown Revue
Website	myspace.com/youthbrigadebyo
Members	Shawn Stern Mark Stern Mike Hale Brian Hanover
Past members	Adam Stern Greg Louis Gutierrez Bob Gnarly Jonny Wickersham Joey Garibaldi John Carey Mike Carter

Youth Brigade is a punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1980 by brothers Mark, Adam, and Shawn Stern. The band subsequently founded BYO (Better Youth Organization), which served both as their record label and as a statement of their attitude toward the young people involved in the punk subculture, which was generally sympathetic and arguably less sensationalistic than the view usually presented in the media. Many later punk bands cite Youth Brigade as an influence, including The Nation of Ulysses^[1] and The Briefs.^[2]

Youth Brigade has released five studio albums (counting the one released as The Brigade), of which the last was released in 1996. Almost each album was recorded with the original lineup of the Stern brothers (Mark, Adam and Shawn); bassist Bob Gnarly replaced Adam in 1985 during the recording of The Dividing Line, which was released as The Brigade. Adam returned in 1991 (when the band reunited) and contributed to the band's 1992 EP Come Again and their next two albums (Happy Hour and To Sell the Truth) before leaving once again in 2007. Youth Brigade has been reportedly writing new material for their first album in over a decade.

History

Beginning (pre-1980)

The Stern family, consisting of older brothers Shawn (guitar and vocals) and Mark (drums) and younger brother Adam (who would later play bass), moved from Toronto, Canada to Los Angeles in 1970 because their father worked in the film industry.^[3] As teenagers, Shawn and Mark were surfers who would skip school to smoke marijuana and attend rock concerts. At 16 and 17, they played in their first band, called Mess, which would play Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix covers at parties. A year later in 1978, they discovered punk rock, and formed a quirky prog/New Wave band called The Extremes, releasing a four-song EP in which Shawn would sing with a fake English accent.^[3] In late 1979, the elder two Stern brothers moved into a giant punk party house nearby to Hollywood High School, known as "Skinhead Manor".

Early history (1980–1981)

The three brothers were graduates of Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. They formed Youth Brigade in the summer of 1980 in Hollywood, California, amid the explosion of the punk scene in Southern California. The basic philosophy of the band is that "youth" is an attitude, not an age and that every generation has the responsibility to change what they feel is wrong in the world. It is with these ideals in mind that the band was started, and that eldest brothers Shawn and Mark formed the Better Youth Organization in 1982.^[4]

Youth Brigade first year of existence was as a 6 piece but played their first gig as a 3 piece on New Year's Eve 1981 at Godzilla's nightclub. They were part of the big BYO extravaganza "Youth Movement '82" at the Hollywood Palladium, where 3500 people showed up for an all LA bill in early February.^[4]

Sound & Fury (1982–1983)

In the summer of 1982, after recording 3 tracks for the first BYO record release Someone Got Their Head Kicked In, Youth Brigade set out in a big yellow school bus on an ambitious 30-city North American tour with fellow punk band Social Distortion. The 1984 film, Another State of Mind, chronicles the event.

After about 30 shows and several breakdowns they returned home to record their debut LP Sound & Fury with the infamous producer, Thom Wilson. (D.O.A., T.S.O.L., and later The Offspring and Bouncing Souls). A premature version of the LP was rushed together before the tour but pressing was stopped at 800 copies, as the band was not satisfied with the quality of the material or production. In 1983, the band returned home and decided record a second album titled Sound & Fury, keeping only four tracks from the original version. This was followed by a 50 date tour of North America during the summer.

Final years and Adam's departure (1984–1987)

After having secured a licensing deal for Sound & Fury in England, plans were made to tour Europe in the fall of 1984. They released a 3 song EP What Price? in spring 1984 and then played around 50 dates throughout Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, and England and were one of the first independent American bands to tour the "underground" of Europe and eastern countries. After this tour, younger brother & bassist Adam decided to return to art school and finish his degree. The band recorded his last show in June 1985 at Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, California and these tracks have been released on Italian and French releases as well as the Sink With Kalifornija CD collection. Brothers' Shawn and Mark continued on as "The Brigade" for about 2 years after the departure of Adam.

Royal Crown Revue (1989-1991)

Mark, Adam and younger brother Jamie Stern formed half of the original line up of the swing band Royal Crown Revue, which started in 1989. All three Stern brothers left the band in 1991, shortly before the Youth Brigade reunion. Royal Crown Revue continued with new members replacing the departing Stern brothers.

Reunion (1991–present)

In 1991, meeting in a bar in Hamburg, Mark and Adam expressed the desire to reform Youth Brigade for a tour and Shawn agreed. When they returned home in January 1992, they started working on new material and did a show at the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood, late April.

They recorded 6 songs in July at Westbeach Studios for their Come Again EP. In the middle of September that Youth Brigade once again packed their bags to tour Europe. The tour covered Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Czechoslovakia & Poland.

More than ten years after their debut, the band recorded Happy Hour at Westbeach Studios and released it March 1994. Soon after they added former Cadillac Tramps, U.S. Bombs, and current Social Distortion guitarist Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham and recorded the next full length To Sell the Truth in April 1996. Produced by Steve Kravac (Less Than Jake, MXPX) and mixed by long time friend Thom Wilson (Offspring, Bouncing Souls). In 1996, the band also contributed to the AIDS benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin produced by the Red Hot Organization along with Cuca (band).

In 1998 the band went back in the studio to record a 30-second song for the Fat Wreck Chords compilation, Short Music For Short People. The song was recorded in a friend's living room, and brought back all of the raw edged energy that had been missing in previous recordings. The raw sound went over so well, that the band decided to abandon the high production sounds and get back to basics. In mid-1999, they went in to record 6 new tracks for Volume 2 of the BYO Records Split series. The flip side of the album was recorded by Northern Californian punks Swingin Utters. The album received rave reviews, stating that this was Youth Brigade's best recording ever.

Youth Brigade is currently working on a new album, which will be their first since 1996's To Sell the Truth.

In October 2013, Brian Hanover (Hanover Saints, Union Hearts) replaced Mike Carter on guitar.

Members

Discography

Studio albums

• Sound & Fury (1982)
• Sound & Fury (1983)
• The Dividing Line (1986) (as The Brigade)
• Happy Hour (1994)
• To Sell the Truth (1996)

EPs/Singles

• What Price Happiness? (1984)
• Come Together (1986) (as The Brigade)
• Come Again (1992)
• All Style No Substance (1994)

Splits

• Youth Brigade/Screw 32 (1995)
• BYO Split Series Volume II (1999)

Compilation albums

• Sink With Kalifornija (1994)
• Out of Print (1998)
• A Best of Youth Brigade (2002)

Compilation appearances

• Someone Got Their Head Kicked In! (1982)
• Something To Believe In (1984)
• Someone's Gonna Get Their Head To Believe In Something (1994)
• Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin (1996)
• How To Start A Fight (1996)
• The World Still Won't Listen - A Tribute To The Smiths (1996)
• Sample This! (1997)
• Dropping Food on Their Heads Is Not Enough: Benefit for RAWA (2002)
• Sample This, Too (2002)
• Voices in the Wilderness: A Benefit Compilation (2005)
• Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records (2009)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Youth Brigade.

• Full Youth Brigade biography
• BYO Records Homepage
• Youth Brigade Spanish
• December 2009 Interview
• June 2009 Youth Brigade Interview
• KILL FROM THE HEART Youth Brigade - History, Discography, Info