Birthright (band)

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

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 evolved into a vegan straight edge band. The band was outspoken in support of living a [...] 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 constant problems with keeping a stable line-up, and personal differences between current band members.

Members

At the time of their last show Birthright was:

• Kurt Austin - vocals
• Ian Phillips - guitar
• Brett Bunting - drums
• Neal Tafflinger - 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

At the time of their last show Birthright was:

• 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 (2007, Catalyst Records) - upcoming 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
• Anthem Boy
• Arma Angelus - Pete Wentz
• The Gates of Slumber - Jason McCash
• Burn It Down - Jason McCash
• The Dream is Dead - Jason McCash
• Earth Crisis - Kurt Austin
• Extinction - Pete Wentz
• Fall Out Boy - Pete Wentz
• Jackhammer - Kurt Austin
• Majhas - Tony Reitz
• Morning Again - Matt Thomas
• Risen - Kurt Austin
• Salvation
• [...] Note - Bob Peele
• Svetlana - Tony Reitz
• Upheaval
• Wasteland DC

External links

• Birthright on MySpace
• Catalyst Records
• Catalyst Records on MySpace
• Vegan bands