Birthright (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Birthright


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Born =
Died =
Origin = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Instrument =
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Genre = Hardcore punk
Metalcore
Occupation =
Years_active = 1994 – 2000
Label = Catalyst Records
Good Life Recordings
Words of War Records
Associated_acts = Arma Angelus
Burn It Down
The Dream is Dead
Earth Crisis
Extinction
Fall Out Boy
Jackhammer
Morning Again
Risen
Salvation
Suicide Note
Upheaval
Wasteland DC
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/birthright/ Birthright] on MySpace
Current_members =
Past_members = Kurt Austin
Ian Phillips
Brett Bunting
Neal Taflinger
Jeff Dawes
Pete Wentz
Bryan Grimes
Jason McCash
Nathan Stambro
Tony Reitz
Matt Thomas
Bob Peele
Jon Harmon
Beckett Weir
Notable_instruments =

Birthright (1994 – 1999) was a vegan straight-edge band in existence during the mid to late 1990s. It was based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

Band history

Birthright was founded by Kurt Catalyst, after he left his previous band Jackhammer, and his short stint as bass player for Earth Crisis on that band's first US tour. His goal was to start a band with the intentions of promoting the straight edge lifestyle, animal liberation, and D.I.Y. hardcore in general.

Though the band originally had a strong vegetarian slant to their lyrics, after a number of members quit the band in the early stages of development, Birthright eventually transformed into a vegan straight edge band. The band was outspoken in support of living a drug free lifestyle, of earth, human and animal liberation, as well as the practice of direct action to achieve these goals. The lyrics also centered around these issues, though near the end of the band's life songs became more political in their focus, while the music developed a more metal-influenced sound.

During the height of the band's popularity Birthright was a mainstay of the Indianapolis punk hardcore scene, and commonly played shows at the local punk collective space, The Sitcom. Birthright also played numerous shows around the Midwest, toured once to California in 1998 and once in Europe in the winter of 1998/1999.

The band broke up shortly after their European tour, primarily due to personal conflict between members.

Members

At the time of their last show Birthright was:
*Kurt Austin Schroeder - vocals
*Ian Phillips - guitar
*Brett Bunting - drums
*Neal Taflinger - bass
*Jeff Dawes - guitar

Former members

Birthright had a great number of member changes over the course of the bands existence (especially the second guitar player position) many of whom played only a few appearances with the band. An incomplete list of former members includes:

*Jon Harmon - bass (founding member)
*Beckett Weir - drums (founding member)
*Tony Reitz - guitar (founding member)
*Pete Wentz- guitar
*Bryan Grimes - guitar
*Jason McCash - guitar
*Nathan Stambro - guitar
*Drew Grimes - drums
*Bob Peele - bass

Media

* Birthright recently appeared in an AP article concerning the band Coalesce.
* The band also appeared in an earlier AP article featuring former member Pete Wentz's current band, Fall Out Boy.

Releases

*"Ascension" 7" EP/MCD (1996, Catalyst Records)
*"Birthright/Unconquered" split 7" with Unconquered (1997, Words of War Records)
*"Out of Darkness" 7" EP/MCD (1998, Good Life Recordings)
*"These Words Run in My Veins" (2008, Catalyst Records) - just-released discography

Compilation appearances

*"Stones to Mark a Fire" compilation album (1997, Militant Records)
**reissued in 1998 as "Ceremony of Fire" by Uprising Recordings

Related bands

Various long and short-term members of Birthright went on to be in a number of other bands including
*Angelville
*Arma Angelus - Pete Wentz
*The Gates of Slumber - Jason McCash
*Burn It Down - Jason McCash
*The Dream is Dead - Jason McCash
*Extinction - Pete Wentz
*Fall Out Boy - Pete Wentz
* [http://www.majhas.com Majhas] - Tony Reitz
*Morning Again - Matt Thomas
*Risen - Kurt Austin
*Suicide Note - Bob Peele
* [http://www.svetlanamusic.com Svetlana] - Tony Reitz
*Upheaval - Brain Grimes, Drew Grimes, Nathan Stambro

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/birthrightxvx Birthright] on MySpace
* [http://www.xcatalystx.com/ Catalyst Records]
* [http://www.myspace.com/catalystrecords Catalyst Records] on MySpace
* Vegan bands