TO EXPLAIN PUSHBUTTON WARFARE'S PLACE IN WESTERN MASS HISTORY, ONE MUST UNDERSTAND THE LEGACY OF A BAND CALLED BLOODBATH.....FORMED IN SPRINGFIELD IN 1989 BY OURAND, ROMANKO, MUCKINHAUPT, AND FRONTMAN BRUCE LEPAGE, BLOODBATH WERE THE HARDEST BAND IN THE WESTERN MASS. SCENE OF THE EARLY 90'S-LATE 80'S. THEY PLAYED BOSTON AND SOME OTHET OUT OF AREA GIGS, RELEASED TWO BONE CRUSHING DEMOS, AND THEN FOLDED WHEN LEPAGE GOT MARRIED AND MOVED AWAY, DECIDING TO TRAVEL THE USA IN A MOTOR HOME AND ROCK CLIMB....
PUSHBUTTON WARFARE came into being in the summer of 1994 following the first Bloodbath reunion. Guitarist Karl Ourand(EX-BLOODBATH),drummer James Muckinhaupt (EX-BLOODBATH, LAST BREATH) and bassist Paul Romanko( EX-BLOODBATH, NOT WITHOUT, Future Shadows Fall), felt they should continue to be a band following Bruce's cross-country move. Next came the search for a singer and a name. After compiling long lists of prospective names, Karl thought of using the name Pushbutton Warfare from a song by local hardcore heros The Outpatients. Bloodbath had previously covered an Outpatients song so when the band heard the list of names, Pushbutton had the most impact and meaning for the band.
FAST FORWARD THREE MONTHS LATER... J.P. MARKOU AND PAUL ROMANKO RUN INTO EACH OTHER IN THE BAR AT NORTHAMPTON NITE CLUB PEARL STREET. SNAPCASE IS ON STAGE. KIDS ARE GOING CRAZY. IT'S DECIDED AFTER 4 YEARS OF MARKOU AND ROMANKO TALKING ABOUT DOING A BAND TOGETHER, THAT IT WILL FINALLY HAPPEN. J.P. MARKOU BECOMES PUSHBUTTON WARFARE'S VOCALIST. PRETTY SOON THE BAND HAD A SET AND A DEMO RECORDED.
WITH J.P. MARKOU FRONTING WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY, "BLOODBATH WITH A NEW SINGER", PUSHBUTTON WARFARE GOT TO IT WHEN IT CAME TO RECORDING DEMO AFTER DEMO, PLAYING GIG AFTER GIG. MOST WEEKENDS WERE SPENT IN CARS OR VANS, GOING TO CONNECTICUT, WORCESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ALL OF NEW ENGLAND.....THE SOUND GREW HARDER AND MORE FOCUSED. IN 1996, A TOUR WAS OFFERED BY BROTHER'S KEEPER, THE ERIE, PA BAND THAT MUCKINHAUPT HAD PLAYUED DRUMS IN BRIFLY WHEN THEY WERE VICTORY RECORDS ACT SOMETHIN' TO PROVE. KARL OURAN DECIDED HE WANTED TO QUIT HAVING TIRED OF THE HARDCORE SCENE.....NOT TO BE STOPPED, THE BAND ENLISTED THE SERVICES OF LONGTIME FRIEND/DRINKING PARTNER ZUESS(EX-DOOM NATION), AND THE GUITAR WIZ LEARNED THE WHOLE SET IN ONE PRACTICE. PUSHBUTTON WARFARE IMMEDIATELY TOOK TO THE ROAD IN WINTER OF 1996 PLAYING THE NORTHEAST/NORTHWEST AND BACK. THE BAND GOT TIGHTER AND TIGHTER.
WITH ZUESS ON BOARD, PUSHBUTTON BEGAN WRITING ALL NEW MATERIAL THAT SHOWED A MORE METALLIC SOUND. THE NEW SHIT HAD BREAKDOWNS THAT PEOPLE COULD GET HURT BY.......LOCKING THEMSELVES IN FUTURE STAIND-SOUNDMAN JEFF GILMER'S WESTFIELD STUDIO, THE ROCK SHOP, THE BAND RECORDED THEIR DEBUT CD, A SELF TITLED 7 SONG DISC OF CLASSIC HARDCORE THAT HAD BOTH PRECISION,AND MELODY. WIDELY HAILED BY CRITICS WORLDWIDE, "FINALLY A TOUGH GUY BAND WITH ACTUAL SINGING ONCE IN A WHILE" SAID INSIDE FRONT FANZINE. OF COURSE, DUE TO HORRIBLE DISTRO DEALS AND BAD PLANNING, THE BAND PLAYED ON AND ON, WITHOUT A LABEL AND NO REAL DISTRIBUTION NETWORK IN SITE TO MOVE THE CD'S. PUSHBUTTON WARFARE SHARED STAGES FOR THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO WITH LIFE OF AGONY, DEPAIR, ONE LIFE CREW, LORDZ OF BROOKLYN, HATEBREED, 25 TA LIFE, ETC.......
J.P. MARKOU WAS STILL IN ANOTHER BAND OUT OF TROY NY CALLED WITHSTAND AT THE TIME, AND IT SUDDENLY LOOKED LIKE THAT VERY BAND HAD A DECENT RECORD DEAL OFFERED TO THEM. WITH SADNESS AND REGRET, MARKOU INFORMED PUSHBUTTON WARFARE THAT HIS DAYS AS THE FRONTMAN WERE COMING TO AN END. HE BEGGED THEM NOT TO BREAK UP, AND ALREADY HAD A PLAN IN EEFECT. BRUCE LEPAGE, THE ORIGINAL BLOODBATH SINGER, HAD RETURNED FROM HIS TRAVELS, AND WAS NOW A ROADIE FOR PUSHBUTTON WARFARE. EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE FIRST DEMO, PUSHBUTTON ALWAYS THREW IN A COUPLE OF BLOODBATH SONGS IN THE SET. IT WAS LIKE GIVING TRIBUTE (TO THEMSELVES) TO THE PLACE WHERE THEY HAD ALL COME FROM. J.P. MARKOU GAVE ALL OF HIS LYRICS TO LEPAGE AND TOLD THE BAND TO CONTINUE WITH BRUCE SINGING.
THIS MARKED THE SECOND GENERATION OF PUSHBUTTON WARFARE. WITH THE DEPARTURE OF MARKOU ALSO WENT A LARGE CONTINGENT OF FOLLOWERS OF THE BAND WHO WERE PART OF AN EARLY BERKSHIRE COUNTY "CREW" CALLED WSC. FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS THESE PEOPLE HAD BEEN CAUSING TERROR AMONGST LOCAL WESTERN MASS HARDCORE KIDS WITH EXTREMELY VIOLENT DANCING, A RAVENOUS SUPPORT OF PUSHBUTTON WARFARE, AND THE MORE THAN OCCASIONAL DANCE FLOOR BEATING. IT WAS BECAUSE OF HIS VERY ASSOCIATION WITH WSC THAT J.P. MARKOU HIMSELF WAS EVENTUALLY BANNED AND TRESSPASSED FROM PEARL STREET NITE CLUB, THE VERY CLUB WHERE HE PLAYED HIS FIRST SHOW WITH THE BAND.
THE BAND RECORDED A BRUTAL DEMO OF NEW SONGS AND SOON SIGNED TO JAMIE JASTA'S LABEL, STILLBORN RECIRDS. A 7", "WASH AWAY THE WEAK", WAS RELEASED AND WAS ACCEPTED WIDELY AS A GREAT RECORD AND A BAND WHO WERE TO BE RECKONED WITH. J.P. MARKOU TRIED TO DRUM UP INTEREST BACK IN THE ALBANY, NY HARDCORE SCENE FOR PUSHBUTTON BY GETTING THEM ON SHOWS OUT THERE. SOON THEY HAD A "HOME AWAY FROM HOME" AND APPEARED ON A FEW COMPS OUT OF NEW YORK, AND COMPS OUT OF CONNECTICUT AS WELL. UP UNTIL 1999 THE BAND PLAYED,AND ONLY GREW IN STATURE AND POPULARITY.....SHARING THE STAGE WITH AGNOSTIC FRONT ON THAT BAND'S RETURN TO THE HARDCORE SCENE PROVED TO BE ONE OF PUSHBUTTON'S LARGEST GIGS YET.....THE BAND CONTINUED CHURNING OUT DEMO TAPES AND APPEARING ON COMPILATIONS, "EAST COAST EMPIRE", "THE WORLD IS YOURS", ETC.....
AND THEN PEOPLE BEGAN LOSING INTEREST. ZUESS WAS BUILDING WHAT WOULD TODAY BE THE ENORMOUS PLANET Z RECORDING COMPOUND WHERE TONS OF TODAY'S HOTTEST METAL/HARDCORE ACTS GO TO RECORD FOR MAJOR LABELS. PAUL ROMANKO BEGAN PLAYING BASS IN SHADOWS FALL, WHO WE KNOW WOULD SOON CONQUER THE METAL WORLD, JAMIE MUCKINHAUPT WAS ASKED TO PLAY DRUMS FOR HATEBREED, AND PLAYED DRUMS THROUGH THREE TOURS, THE FIRST FULL LENGTH ON VICTORY,"SATISFACTION IS THE DEATH OF DESIRE", AND ALSO HELPED CO-FOUND CT BAND, DEATH THREAT, AT THE TIME WITH ORIGINAL GUITARIST C.J. AND BASSIST LARRY. JAMIE PLAYED DRUMS ON THE FIRST TWO DEATH THREAT CD'S. "LAST DAYZ", AND "PEACE AND SECURITY", BEFORE MOVING TO COLORADO. BRUCE LEPAGE WENT ON TO FORM 100 DEMONS WITH SOME FRIENDS FROM CT, THIS BAND MANAGED TO TURN INTO ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND SOUGHT AFTER HARDCORE BANDS IN THE USA. BRUCE LEPAGE REMAINS THE FRONTMAN FOR 100 DEMONS TO THIS DAY, EVEN AFTER A FEW YEARS OFF WHERE HE WAS REPLACED BRIEFLY. J.P. MARKOU WENT ON TO FORM BLOODWAR, A NY BASED BAND HE PLAYED GUITAR FOR, RELEASED TWO CD'S, AND TOURED RELENTLESSLY FOR 5 YEARS. FINALLY, HE MOVED TO BROOKLYN, NY AND THEN TO NEW JERSEY, WHERE TODAY HE PUBLISHES AN ALL-HARDCORE MAGAZINE, "EMPIRE HARDCORE", AND BOOKS SHOWS AND FESTIVALS AROUND THE NORTHEAST FOR FRIEND'S BANDS. EVERYONE IS DOING THEIR THING AND IS HAPPY. DESPITE RUMORS IN 2004 OF A POSSIBLE PUSHBUTTON WARFARE REUNION, THERE IS NOT ONE PLANNED IN THE FUTURE....
IN 1998, LIFELESS RECORDS RELEASED A MINI-DISCOGRAPHY OF PUSHBUTTON WARFARE DEMOS AND COMP SONGS CALLED, "A PAIN YOU NEVER THOUGH COULD EXIST". THE BAND DID PLAY A SMALL RE-UNION SHOW FOR THE CD RELEASE AT A LAME CLUB CALLED INFINITI IN SPRINGFIELD,MA. THE SET FEATURED ORIGINAL GUITARIST KARL OURAND ON A FEW SONGS WITH MARKOU SINGING, AND THEN A FEW WITH ZUESS PLAYING GUITAR AND MARKOU, THEN LEPAGE SINGING. THE CROWD THAT DIDN'T COME TO THAT SHOW WOULD REGRET IT YEARS LATER AND NOT REALIZE THAT THEY MISSED THE CHANCE TO SEE THE BAND IN IT'S ORIGINAL FORMS FOR THE VERY LAST TIME. BY THEN THE SCENE WAS DEAD AGAIN AND WOULD TAKE YEARS TO COME BACK. IN 2006, ALL OF THE BAND MEMBERS OF PUSHBUTTON WARFARE ARE DOING WELL IN THEIR OWN ENDEAVORS. THERE IS A PLANNED RE-RELEASE OF THE DEBUT CD WITH SOME BONUS TRACKS FOUND ON THIS SITE, PLUS THE LONG AWAITED "PRICE OF PAIN" DVD DOCUMENTARY PRODUCED BY J.P. MARKOU THROUGHOUT 2004-2005. LOOK OUT FOR IT IN THE EARLY FALL OF 2006. THIS WAS A BAND THAT INFLUENCED A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF WESTERN MASS. HARDCORE BANDS, AND PUSHBUTTON WARFARE WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED...
J.P Markou passed away in November of 2006, dashing any hopes of a reunion of at least the original lineup. He had been looking forward with enthusiasm to releasing the Pushbutton Warfare DVD as well as an EP of his previous band "Wish". Wish had released a split 7" with the ban Focust on Community Chest Records. He will be sorely missed by friends and fans of his bands. RIP Justin.
