IN many ways MXPX is the band that never grew up.
Formed in Seattle at the height of the grunge movement, the punk trio signed its first record deal before it had graduated from high school. ``I joined the band when I was 16 and we started playing parties with our friends at backyard barbecues and things like that,'' drummer YURI RULEY said.
``We signed to a label in high school so we literally graduated from high school and had a day off, during which we made our first video, then the next day we drove to California to start a two-month tour.
``So basically we just jumped head- first into being in a band and touring and that's what we've been doing ever since.'' Apart from a part-time job working at a pizza place as a teen, being part of one of America's most popular punk outfits has been the only life Ruley and fellow members MIKE HERRERA (vocals, bass) and TOM WISNIEWSKI (guitar) have known.
Signed to TOOTH AND NAIL RECORDS, the trio's debut album Pokinatcha became the label's best- seller and paved the way for the follow- up Teenage Politics. MXPX broke out of the underground in 1996 with its third LP, Life in General , and released the first major label debut, Slowly Going The Way of The Buffalo , in 1998.
In May this year the band split from the label and, although unsigned for now, it is on the road to support the release of its latest album, Before Everything and After. MXPX will play SHOWDOWN AT SUNDOWN at NEWCASTLE PANTHERS tomorrow night with THE VON BONDIES, LAGWAGON, SLEIGHT OF HAND, RUBIX CUBA and AFTER THE FALL.
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