BIOGRAPHY

Ass-End Offend was a four-piece DIY hardcore punk troop from the small town wastelands of Northwest Montana... A state that hosts one of the nations biggest federal Superfund clean-up sites (Butte's Berkeley Pit and Libby's asbestos for starters) and more casino/bar/restaurants than you could fit onto the Unabomber's shitlist! Razed on a scurrilous diet of 80's and more modern punk sounds, AEO threw together their own raucous mix of hardcore that has been deemed by some as "harsh", melodic at times, and "gloomy with a metallic tinge". Ass-End Offend's damage report includes four 7" EP's and one full length CD/LP, plus 3 full U.S. tours, a handful of west coast trips, and a tour through Eastern Europe.
SEE: 2005 US/EUROPE TOUR DIARY
AND: TOUR DATES

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT...

Brent has been involved in the Montana scene the longest, he was in Disgruntled Nation, who self released a ton of records and were the first MT punk band to do a US tour (that I know of). Tom was in a band in Kalispell called the Vagrants, Dan was in the Miscreants (also from kalispell), I was in The Anti Difrancos & Venal i.V. here in Missoula. After their bands broke up they got together to start Ass-End Offend sometime in '99. In the spring of 2001 they recorded the material that was released in 2002 as 'Becoming Our Destruction' EP and the split EP with The Anti Difrancos. The Anti Difrancos played a lot of shows with Ass-End Offend before I joined, including a west coast tour and a later trip to seattle. The Anti Difrancos quit when our drummer moved to south Korea to teach English. So I was suckered into playing with AEO sometime in 2002 and we soon released another EP "Welcome to the Discomfort Zone". Tom and Dan moved to Missoula, and Brent is still in Kalispell (this has always made practicing interesting).
That winter '02/’03 we did another west coast tour and froze our asses off. There was a layer of ice on the floor of the Suburban and we got stuck in some bad snow storms. One night we had to sleep in the Suburban in a parking lot; i ended up passing out on the floor and woke up the next morning with my clothes stuck to the ice. We somehow made it through that tour and went on to do a full US tour the summer of '03. We got to play so many fun shows and meet and stay with really fun people. We played in NYC and stayed with our friend at the C squat. total culture shock. We broke down in the middle of nowhere (Brownsville,TN) and had to get the transmission rebuilt, but managed to finish the tour. The next spring (2004) we drove down to SF and recorded with Tim Green for our release with Wäntage USA records "Character Assassins". We did another US summer tour to support that, managed to make it without breaking down again. All the previous releases were released under my DIY label 'Poisoned Candy Records'. I also released a compilation CD of old and new Montana punk rock called "Welcome to Montana...Come die with us". I've always thought that the demos that these bands only made a few copies of should have been heard by everyone. Most of these great recordings are sitting in their basements rotting. ...Anyways, to move on, Brent has been running a website "www.mtpunk.com" which has played a major role in keeping the montana scene organized. Two of us are parents- Brent has a 12 year old daughter, and I have a 9 year old daughter. That has always made things interesting, especially when we have to tour!
This spring (2005) we did a west coast tour and stopped in Portland to record with Mike Lastra, then released it as our new EP "Unchecked Aggression", and left for two months through the U.S., Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, & Czech Republic. It was very inspiring to experience the way they run things over there. They are totally committed. I’m still not sure why we came home! We broke up soon after returning home and three of us have since made our escape from Montana to reform as SQUALORA. -Matt Svendsen, 2006

WÄNTAGE INPUT

Ass-End Offend is a terrifically blazing Montana (a large, rural, mountainous western state) hardcore punk rock institution. They have been around for six years, and have turned what started relatively standard hardcore into powerful music full of it’s own personality, and originality. Ass-End Offend play hardcore that can’t, and shouldn’t, be pigeonholed into one convenient category. In their six years, Ass-End Offend have amassed a serious following across Montana and America. They have toured the U.S. three times. They write songs, that for a reference point, are similar to much of the output of the Prank label. Civically, Ass-End Offend are thoroughly involved in the U.S. scene; they book shows like crazy for touring bands. They write zines. Guitarist Matt Svendsen does a record label called Poisoned Candy –which co-released the CD with Wäntage USA. They are entirely committed to playing small, intimate spaces to all-ages crowds. They don’t preach the gospel of DIY, they practice it.
Ass-End Offend have an almost martial ability to alternate their bombast and restraint. Like the best hardcore, it’s fresh to the point where it doesn’t need to rely on what’s been done in the past. Rather, it plows forward loudly. And there’s a song called Skateboarding Is Not a Sport. The LPs are limited to 400 copies pressed, and were hand silk screened at the Wäntage USA Societal Betterment Labs. Fans of Gauze, Artimus Pyle, Neurosis and the Prank and Six Weeks labels will appreciate Ass-End Offend’s ruckus. -Josh Vanek, Wäntage USA Records