True Liberty

True Liberty makes no attempts to hide who they are. Featuring 12 tracks that clock in at just over 28 minutes, City of the One is as straight-up punk rock as you can get. The album has the speed and grit you expect from any real punk album and maintains a quality production that keeps the guitars grungy while the bass bleeds through and the drums pop. The biggest downfall of City of the One is its rich circle pit riffs blend together so much that it makes identifying individual songs difficult. - Nathan Doyle

- HM Magazine

With cranked-up guitar, primitive drums and full-throated bass, True Liberty serves up a slab of old-school punk.
Mike "Liberty" Collawn, Aaron "Liberty" Wells and Tom "Liberty" Schoppe have followed the Motörhead school of rock ~ make it mind-numbingly basic, deafeningly loud and chock-full of anthems. These punk-rock outlaws from Richmond, Virginia started back in 2005. They have released ‘This is War’ (2007), ‘Brotherhood’ (2008) and ‘City of The One’ (2010).

Their sound takes the raw fury of early Motörhead and adds in some NOFX and Rancid. With savage simplicity they rip into ‘Revolution’ with its chorus "So I'll never surrender / never back down / You can’t shut me up / about the joy that I’ve found / Cause in my life there was a / Revolution, a revolution". As Aaron and Mike state "We’re not prefect. We’ve made mistakes but we have a responsibility to share our faith, our love, our passion for our Savior, Jesus Christ with those around us. We press on despite struggles and attacks. We don’t get any fame, or money, or awards for what we do. But to us it’s about playing the music we love and using it to share Jesus with others."

Having got that off their chests (and considering that the first song was fast) they up the tempo so that the riffs seem to be tumbling over themselves in ‘Here To Stay’ about defeating demons "We won’t go away / you try to tear us down / But we will win / for my Lord’s strength is world renown".

One of the most disheartening things I read recently was a questionnaire asking people why they wouldn’t want to go to church. The answer was that they didn’t want to be judged. Now suppose you have some tattoos, ripped clothing, piercing and a strange hair-cut ….. how much more rejected would you feel by respectable church-goers. This challenge is thrown down in ‘Cringe’.

If you thought that went for the jugular, then listen to "I’m the suicide king / Left to myself I do terrible things / Because on my own, I’m the suicide king / Well I can’t do what I should and I do what I hate / So I pray to my God up above / I’m down on my knees and the hour is late / But He still sends me a sign of his love".

In a world full of hurt, we as christians should be there to help anyone. And I mean ANYONE. So let’s get serious about building up the church and start talking to some disreputable characters. After all, that is what Jesus would do.

Rating: 9/10

Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

- The Metal Resourse

From the city that has spawned such rock legends as GWAR and Avail comes True Liberty, a Christian punk rock band who are really making a name for themselves all across the country. Their latest collection of anthems entitled City Of The One has just been released through Wounded Records. They guys have been on multiple tours, including four visits to the much revered Cornerstone Festival. Here is an interview conducted with two of the members to find out more about this inspirational collective…

Introduce yourself, what you do in True Liberty, and how long the band has been together?
Hey, this is Aaron. I play drums. Mike, I play guitar and sing…. I guess you could say I’m the face and voice of the band. (sorry, inside joke) The band formed in Oct 2005

Richmond, Virginia seems to have a thriving music scene. What are your impressions of the local music scene and how does True Liberty fit into the scheme of things?
Aaron: Seems to have a thriving scene. There are periods when it is phenomenal, other times it is dried up. I knew that Richmond was a big music town, Avail and Gwar and a bunch of other great bands have come out of the RVA. When I moved to Richmond in 2002 it was amazing. Tons of clubs, tons of bands, sometimes as many as 4 huge shows in a week. I remember seeing Mad Sin, Oxymoron, The Business, and The Supersuckers all in the same week! Currently there are a bunch of smaller venues really taking off and hosting some great shows, and with newly re-opened venues like The National, and The Hat Factory, we are getting some bigger shows too. I’d say Richmond is on the rise again as a music city. True Liberty has made its mark, we’ve played most of the venues and with a lot of the local bands, but we have better luck out on the road with things.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title City Of The One?
Aaron: I guess I could make something cool sounding up, but not really. But it worked out that way though. I actually was telling a friend of mine about a song I was working on, she asked “which one is it?” I told her that it was a new one, she didn’t quite hear me. She said “ City of The One? “ No , it’s a new one, I said…..but wait…that’s kind of awesome. We get inspiration from the weirdest places. But this record , like our other ones, is about our lives, our experiences, and our faith.

Tell me what inspired you to write the lyrics on the terrific opening track Revolution?
Aaron: I wrote the lyrics to Revolution sitting in church. My pastor was talking giving his testimony. He was talking about his addiction to alcohol and how he was destroying his life, and he became a Christian and started following Jesus, and how his life was never the same again. His story is very similar to mine, and as he poured out his story on stage, I sat there reflecting on my own story and started writing. God has done so much for me and I am amazed at how my life has changed knowing Him; it’s a story that I can not keep to myself.

Please pick two other songs from the new CD and what inspired you to write the lyrics?
Mike: I wrote the song “Home” last year out on tour. My wife and I were going through a tuff time and while we were at Cornerstone I heard someone preach about marriage. I started praying for God to repair the damage in our relationship. I guess the song is less about me being away from her while on tour and more about being away from her in my heart.
Aaron: “Here to stay” is a huge song for me. I wrote it after Mike and I had a pretty intense conflict, and honestly it nearly broke the band up. Of course things worked out and we are still together. But realizing that we should not be fighting each and focusing on our real enemy, its like a song letting the Devil know that we are gonna throw down on him.

Would you consider True Liberty to be a Christian band or ministry? Why or why not?
Aaron & Mike: Yes, True Liberty is a Christian band, this band is our ministry. We have our faults, and we have certainly had our moments when we really messed up, but with all our hearts we want this to be a ministry that is used to share the love and truth of Christ with others.
Aaron: My life is centered on Jesus, I can’t imagine spending time in a band, or on anything for that matter, that doesn’t reflect that.

What was the experience like playing Cornerstone and how many times have you played the event?
Aaron & Mike: Ahh, Cornerstone. We love it. We have played out at the festival in IL 4 times now, and plan to return again next year. It is truly amazing out there. For us it feels like a family reunion. There are dozens of amazing bands that we love that we get to hang out with and play with every year. We love the fact that you can, as a band, basically just show up and play, thanks to the generator stages. That’s what we did our first year. We had one slot on our labels stage, but when we got there we were given several opportunities to play on other stages. The festival has been huge for us. It encourages us, it lets us know that we are not alone in our struggle to be a Christian band in this world. At home there are not many bands that like us because of what we sing about, but Cornerstone feels like home. We don’t know anywhere else where you can leave $15,000 in gear on the side of a stage overnight and know that it will be there in the morning. It’s a family, and even though we are new on the scene, we feel welcome there.

Have you ever played in the Los Angeles area or plan to do so in the future?
Aaron & Mike: We have not been out to LA yet. We are looking at the option for our summer 2011 tour. We have people in Costa Rica, Argentina, London, and all over trying to get us out to there area. We have families and young children and it’s hard to be out on the road as much as we want to be, but we are working to make bigger tours possible soon.

What could one expect from a live True Liberty show?
Aaron: Live we get compared to the Ramones a lot. 20 songs in 30 minuets. Fast, furious, loud and proud. We do a few different types of shows though. We play for churches often where we are allowed to share our testimonies and speak. We do shows for the military at Air Force, Army, and Navy bases that are a thing all on their own and tons of fun. But we love when we get to roll into filthy punk rock dive bars and just tear it up.

How truly punk is it to be Christian? Do you ever have that question asked from secular punk bands?
Aaron: The thing is, we are not trying to be a punk Christian band as some kind of gimmick. We were into punk rock before we really new who God was. It’s who we are. We thrive on the energy and the passion in the scene. I grew up playing in punk bands, going to punk shows. I loved the attitude, the sense of family in the scene, and the sense of being part of something bigger than yourself. I felt like I was part of a movement that was going to change the world. But there was a lot of anger and a lot of hurt in the people all around me. I’ve seen bands get up and preach unity, and talk about fighting the real enemy ( society ), we are doing much of the same now, just with a different perspective. We fight against the things and the ruler of this world. Not buying the lies Satan tells us and fighting against him with everything we’ve got, and with God on our side, we can’t lose. The reason for this band is to use what we know and love to reach out to those that are now where we were. The lost, the broken, the hurting, those rejected by society, rejected by their families, we want to show them that God loves them, we want to show them that we love them and that God offers hope.

What is the first punk rock record you ever bought?
Mike: “Sorry ma, forgot to take out the trash” by The Replacements. That is still one of my favorite albums. Short, fast, hard driving songs
Aaron: “Nevermind the Bullocks “by the Sex Pistols was it for me. I love it. Simple and aggressive. Despite everything that is still one of my favorite all time albums.

What would you like a listener to remember the most after hearing your music for the very first time?
Aaron & Mike: That God loves them. We don’t want to push our faith on others, and we certainly are not pedaling religion. The biggest thing is that we want everyone to know that no matter what, God loves them. No matter who they are, or what they’ve done, God loves them. And we hope that is the start of something life changing for them.

Any final words of wisdom?
Aaron: Support local music, don’t do drugs and be cool, stay in school. But for real, we are always open to talking with anyone that has more questions for us or if anyone wants to talk about anything. Thanks so much Ken and everyone at Highwire Daze for taking time to talk with us.

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

- Highwire Daze

The album I am “reviewing” is “Brotherhood” by True Liberty. A three piece street punk/Oi! band from Richmond, Virginia. The album was actually released in 2008, so I am a little late to review, but I am glad the band reached out to me to introduce themselves. I can tell you that my email conversations with the band have been really positive and that they are all in for Jesus. It shows in their music too. They don’t try to hide the fact that they are Christians, and that they believe in Jesus Christ. The CD starts off really strong, the first two tracks are definitely my favorite tracks. I find myself singing along with “Warriors of God,” and getting pumped up every time I hear the song. They wind down an aggressive street punk/Oi! sound with “Prodigal Son.”
I really like True Liberty because they are true to their punk roots. You can tell that they draw from their influences that include bands like Cocksparrer (great classic Oi! band), The Business (another great classic Oi! band), The Oppressed (yet another classic Oi! band, I guess you could list every band on Captain Oi! Records), and artists such Social Distortion and Johnny Cash. If you like a great street punk/Oi! sound, then these are the guys for you
- hxcchristian.com

Just over 3 years ago the original members of True Liberty quit their secular bands (who had, incidentally, opened for The Ramones, Less Than Jake, The Casualties and The Business among others) in order to rededicate their lives to God. The rededication involved forming True Liberty in order to 'play punk rock music that brings praise and glory to God'. Well, enough of their history, what's the new CD like?

Exactly one year on from the release of their debut full length, 'This Is War' (which I never actually got around to reviewing!), 'Brotherhood' sees True Liberty excelling in their blend of old-school punk rock, rock & roll and sing-along tunes. Aggressive enough for it not to be cheesy, the lyrics are blatantly Christian through-and-through (“Yes we believe in Jesus / He's the one that freed us”) and, if not referring directly to their Saviour, the songs at the very least always have a positive message.

Musically they share some similarity with bands like Bad Religion (their older stuff) as well as adopting some of the quirkiness of Guttermouth in 'Hooah Lord'. For a three-piece band they make a lot of noise with obvious care being put into the recording and just the right amount of lead-guitar parts (ie they've not layered on 12 guitar parts so when they play live it will sound true to the record [unlike Blink 182...!]).

Lyrically 'Take Me Home' could easily be arranged as a methodist hymn yet works brilliantly with the storming guitars and punchy drums; and 'Hooah Lord' is a fun song of praise and worship akin to Matt Redman's 'Undignified'.

I think the stand out tracks for me are 'Let's Go', 'Hooah Lord' and 'Chosen' – the acoustic closing track, 'Prodigal Son', is worthy of a mention too.

All in all this is a great, Christian punk album; the songs are fast and catchy (just over two minutes being the average) and the lyrics send a very clear message. My only criticism, and really it is very minor, is the cymbals don't seem to have much 'high-end' in the recording – it doesn't detract from the record in anyway but personally I think cymbals add a lot to a recording!

Playing with the likes of The Business, Flatfoot 56 and Murphy's Law, True Liberty must be doing something right and, with a blatantly Christian outlook and witness, that can only be a good thing!

- christianpunks.co.uk