The Disobedients
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The Disobedients

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"Punkers are pros at tossing out projectiles and a good time"

Few would question that the odds would be stacked against a quartet's consisting of three members coincidentally named Jeremiah.
The identification struggle of rookie punk outfit The Disobedients gives a rare validity to the band's use of stage names, but as the band members profess, such odds are meaningless, as are most other things.
After forming at a shared workplace last summer, the band has been hard at work preparing for shows. Though the group has played less than it had once hoped (four times to date), the band has already released its first EP, "Getta Whiffa Dis," and plans to release its follow-up, "Let's Go Ride Bikes," within the next two months. The Disobedients have the requisite number of tracks recorded but are patiently awaiting suitable artwork.
Shortages of tracks are hardly a problem for the relatively new band, whose songs typically fall around, or below, two minutes in length. The group claims to fit 16 of those songs into a 30-minute set while still allowing ample time for the lobbing of projectiles at the audience.
"There's always a rain of hygiene products," observes guitarist Killjoy.
"I have a large stockpile of stuff to throw at people," says bassist Jeremiah LongBear. "You're either dancing, moshing or ducking the whole time. If you go to our shows, you need to be on time, because if we start and you're not there, you're going to miss most of the show. We play fast."
The Disobedients' motives are simple and blatantly apparent after a live show.
"Our main goal when we started this band was, 'If we're not having fun, we're doing something wrong,'" LongBear says. "Getting serious is what screws up so many of these other bands. They're not having fun. They're trying to get on the radio and become big."
The Disobedients in no way succumb to professionalism, and don't hesitate to offend potential fans. With songs that lyrically revolve around fecal matter and venereal disease, the band targets a very specific audience. One target of the group's lyrical assault is the hippie sect who inspired such songs as "PETA Bread" and "Die Hippie, Die."
"I went to that Earth Fest thing," says LongBear, "and you know how hippies are supposed to be all about the Earth? Well, I found this sandwich on the ground and picked it up and started eating it. It was just in the grass, and it looked really good. It had been sun-baked, you know, the Vegan way, and it definitely sat in the sun for a few hours. So I was eating it, and this dude with these nasty, ratty-looking dreadlocks saw me and was like, 'ew!' Those hippies talk about being into that stuff, but they're so wasteful. They just want to look like hippies."
The band's reputation has become a hindrance in booking a variety of shows. For a group with so many opinions, The Disobedients are not selective about who they share the stage with, to the point of embracing clear mismatches.
"We thought the scene was dead," says vocalist Jurmhole. "We especially thought the punk scene was dead."
"It's not the scene; it's the venue scene that's dead," explains LongBear. "The band scene is not dead. There's a lot of bands here. It's just political with some of these places."
"Some of the music is good, but because you don't have enough places to play out, a lot of bands just don't work at it," Killjoy adds.

By Jer Cole
- Knoxville News Sentinel


"Punk Optimism: The Disobedients bucks genre stereotypes"

Images can be deceptive. Well, sort of. A quick glance at Knoxville’s newest pure-punk hopes, The Disobedients, oftentimes leads to the easy assumption that the band is yet another in the long line of costume-perfect, early 1980s boots-and-bristles anachronists such as the Lower Class Brats, Unseen, Casualties, and umpteen others. Maybe it’s the Mohican hairdo that lead vocalist Jurmhole sports most of the time?
“We’ve played with bands that would be the centerfold stars if punk rock had its own version of GQ,” says Killjoy, the Disobedients’ surprisingly articulate guitarist. “But all that image stuff is really kind of trivial. Unless you’re deaf, I don’t think that our appearance is really that much of a concern for anyone at our shows.”
And then there’s the Disobedients’ subject matter. The band focuses on Beavis & Buttheadesque humor that belies an undercurrent of personal politics. Sure, the band makes points about class and race struggles in their songs. But with titles like “Die Hippie Die Die,” “No Cop No More,” “PETA Bread,” and “Snot Meets Face,” well, sophomoric humor trumps social consciousness every time.
“We didn’t sit down and say, ‘we’re gonna sound like this,’ or ‘we’re gonna act like that,” says Killjoy. “The truth is, Jurmhole and I are really into anarchopunk like Flux of Pink Indians and the [UK] Subhumans. And there was a time in my life where I would read like seven newspapers a day. I’d get all mad and talk politics all day long. But that kind of stuff can easily cross over into being preachy. We’re all kind of cynical and contrary, and we just have more fun singing about yeast infections.”
All in their early 20s, the members of the Disobedients were probably around, um, minus two years of age when their primary influences, bands like GBH, the Dead Kennedys and the Circle Jerks, were cranking out their first proto-hardcore anthems. Yes, the sounds of the band’s two e.p.’s, Getta Whiffa Dis and the subsequent, to be released later this week Lets Go Ride Bikes (Disobedients/Oversat Records) are rooted in firstwave thrash/hardcore, but don’t let this all-too-easy pigeonholing fool you. Like it says on the band’s website (www.Disobedients.com), “we play what we want.”And they play it well. With a firm underpinning provided by bassist Longbear and drummer Jere, the band hammers down each and every track with the kind of stop-on-a-dime accuracy that would make any speedmetal band (and Mama) proud.
But the big surprise delivered by the Disobedients is their unabashed optimism. We’re not talking about the prefab panderings of “positive” punk bands like Youth of Today and the straight-edge crew, but more of an unfocused benevolence that applies to anyone who will give the band a listen, subgenre affiliation be damned.
“I remember being in junior high and going to all-ages shows where it felt like I had a real connection with the bands,” raves Killjoy. “And when we started playing; I don’t think that any of us had any idea that we’d get such a positive reception from so many different people. We just thought that we’d put out a CD, gross a couple of people out, and move on.”
Paying their proverbial dues, the band follows the DIY approach to the letter by handling every aspect of their releases on their own. What’s more, their CDs are free for the asking, postage paid. And, for the July 21 all-ages show at Old City Java, the band will reward its fans with free T-shirts and buttons as well.
“We kind of wanted to give back and do something nice, so we’re gonna have a bunch of free merch available at the show,” says Killjoy. “We’re very good at figuring out cheap ways to do everything, but everything we do is paid for by our own money. It’s insane how much we work on this, but it pays off ’cause we’re all having a great time hanging out and doing the band.”
So the Disobedients are just a bunch of sweethearts, right? Yes and no. With the aggressiveness and sarcasm requisite for great punk rock, the band piles on the vitriol at every possible moment, rankling many members of the surprisingly stiff-shirted PC punk contingent in the process.
“I expected a bit of the backlash because we can definitely go over the line sometimes,” says Killjoy. “I mean, PETA is kind of a sacred cow for a lot of people. Hey, I made a pun! But I think everybody is in on the joke, and at the core of it we’re just having some laughs. Honestly, if somebody takes it the wrong way, I don’t care.”

by John Sewell - The Metro Pulse


"Disobedients have plenty to give fans"

``How many kids does it take to screw in a light bulb?''
``Let's go ride bikes.''
This joke is where the title of the Disobedients new EP comes from. ``Our singer is extremely ADD,'' jokes Longbear, bass player for the Disobedients.
In a way this also describes the hyper-kinetic punk music of the band, containing members with the memorable nicknames Jurmhole, Jere, and Killjoy. Longbear is the only one using his real last name as a moniker.
``Three of the guys are named Jeremiah. We needed some way to differentiate between us,'' Longbear said.
This Knoxville-based band that practices in Oak Ridge met around a year and a half ago when they were working at the same location. ``We had all similar interests,'' Longbear said. ``There's no bands that are doing what we are right now.''
Last year the band played at a birthday party. ``Our response was so good from that we knew we were on to something,'' Longbear said.
They followed up with their self-made first EP ``Getta Whiffa Dis'' last year. ``Everything we do is DIY, but it's not low class. The recording is great, we always go to the best in Knoxville,'' Longbear said. ``Our band is all about being straightforward, being disobedient, not about following everyone else.''
The best comparisons you can make with the Disobedients is the local punk bands that played the Mercury Theater in the mid 1990's, Longbear said. Their music has also been compared with late 70's punk revolution music.
The band will be giving away copies of their new six song EP ``Let's Go Ride Bikes'' at a pre-release party tonight at Java in Knoxville's Old City. The show will be all ages and the band will be giving away merchandise for free.
``The kids are the best audience you could ever have,'' Longbear said. ``The next show we're doing is in appreciation of those kids.''
The items that will be given away include such things as the bands CD's, T-shirts, undergarments, toothbrushes, tampons, "anything you could imagine", said Longbear. ``They're not only going to be able to stock their CD players they'll stock their bathrooms too.''
``Drag Me Down'' is a catchy punk anthem that starts off the new EP. ``It's about people just getting in your way and trying to drag me down,'' Longbear said.
This is followed by the self-explanatory ``Don't Blame Me I Was Drunk'' and ``Die Hippie Die Die.''
``Our songs are not incognito at all. They tell you exactly what they mean,'' Longbear said.
``Gotta Pee'' is about being drunk and features a chorus derived from Rod Stewart's ``Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?''.
``I think a car was driving past playing that song while we were in the studio,'' Longbear said.
``No Cop No More'' is about police in Knoxville, how they act, and questioning whether they want to be police anymore. ``Stab N' Grab'' is a cover of a song by The Hell from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The band has a full two albums worth of material but has been releasing them over time, said Longbear. ``We have plenty, plenty more songs to come.'' A regular cd release party for ``Let's Go Ride Bikes'' will be in late August or September. Until then the Friday show will be the only way to receive the new EP.
``Even if you don't enjoy the music you're still going to love the show,'' Longbear said.

by Brent Tolman

- Maryville Daily Times


"Dis ain't no joke!"

The Disobedients are a punk band from Knoxville, TN. When they say punk band they mean punk (not a metal-punk band, emo-punk band, or indie band claiming to have punk influence.They just released thier 1st "EP", Getta Whiffa Dis and are excited to share it with anyone who will listen. Personally I love the attitude these punks have. They are being bankrolled by anyone and are completely DIY. You might be reading this and be thinking "shit, we do the same thing", but what are you doing about it. Their getting themselves out there giveing away their CD's and fuckin things up. If you're looking to make something of your band, take a tip from the Disobedients and create a difference, not sit and wait for the differnce to happen on it's own.

Comments from Jonny Taint - Their raw, ugly, and angry! A great combination for dirty old school punks.
- Punkrockplanet.org


"Album Review: Getta Whiffa Dis"

Sure, it’s been 25 odd years since The Exploited and their ilk first presented the patented boots’n’bristles approach that has since made every mohican-coiffed kid from here to Kalamazoo start a circle pit in their own bedroom. But hey man, punk’s not dead!

Oak Ridge’s The Disobedients are proof positive that there’s still a streetpunk contingent hereabouts. And when the music’s presented with such skill and fuck-you attitude, well, who wouldn’t love it?

The Disobedients’ debut EP, Getta Whiffa Dis, serves up five sweat-smelling, zit-squeezing punk ditties that are sure to arouse any concerned parent’s inner PMRC. Hey, when the lyrics deal with such contentious issues as yeast infections and snot, there’s plenty of reason to sound the morality alarm.

The Disobedients’ mien and musical approach might be just a little bit cliché, but who cares? Getta Whiffa Dis delivers the requisite hyperspeed powerchord crunch with Belushi-styled obnoxiousness that’s sure to stir up suburban anarchy.

The EP reaches its apex with “Sieg Heil The U.S.A.,” a Dead Kennedysesque paean to flag burning that’ll have your Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith types reaching for their shotguns in no-time flat. In the rich musical tradition of the Circle Jerks, early D.R.I., G.B.H., and Poison Idea (R.I.P. Pig Champion), the sound is crystal clear and the band can stop on a dime. Getta Whiffa Dis is like a WWF pay-per-view event: It’s lowbrow entertainment where you know exactly what you’re gonna get. But hey, these guys deliver the goods with an aura of aggro and excitement that’s sure to keep a room full of skaters and skins skanking all night long. You can catch the band on June 14 with U.S. Police State and the always politically incorrect Dirty Works on Wednesday, June 14, 9 p.m. at the Electric Ballroom.

—John Sewell, Kevin Crowe, Molly Kincaid - The Metro Pulse


Discography

2005-
"Getta Whiffa Dis" EP
2006-
"Let's go Ride Bikes" EP
The Streets: Punk Rock Radio
Various Artist Compilations
2007-
TBA full length

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Oversat is the opposite of understood. Our best tag is "...To be great, is to be Misunderstood" -Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Oversat is actually two parts, a Rap group and a Hard Rock band, but not a Rock-Rap band, ever. What makes venues book us is our lyrical differences. King Doug is the Crunk Rapper, T.G. Gutter is the Proper Noun Complex lyricist, and Jeremiah LongBear is the Music/Movie obsessed intellectual who grew up listening to Rock. The Oversat was established in 1998. They started playing rock shows around the South-East. In 2002, lead singer Alka-JonHall-ik was shipped to Iraq to fight. That is when The Oversat Crew emerged. With an established reputation and the addition of friend and talent T.G. Gutter Oversat entered the fast track to prominence with several underground hits on Hip-hop and College radio. In 2005 Oversat started their "Brain Injury Awareness" tour. Look for Oversat's Public Service Announcement, "Keep your Helmet On" on televison throughout Tennessee. Also go to Yahoo Keyword: The Oversat Crew to find fan sites, podcasts, and interviews.