"Our War started in 2001 in the basement of a now defunct tattoo shop in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The concept behind the group was simple: old man straight edge. Members were tired with the rise of the new youth crew scene at the time. Many bands were springing up all over Canada and the US posturing and posing at being hard, edge, and crucial. The fact of the matter was that this new youth crew was a predictable trend and Our War was a direct reaction to it. Steve Wiltse and Jeff Beckman (ex Chokehold/Left For Dead/Haymaker) began rounding up other members to form their old man band. Christian McMaster (ex Burst of Silence/Left For Dead/The Swarm/Cursed/Haymaker) came in as second guitarist and brought fellow Cursed member Tom Piraino (ex Left Behind/At The Mercy Of Inspiration/Cursed) as bassist. Drummer Ryan Elinsky (ex Countdown to Oblivion) rounded out the line up.
No time was wasted in getting things rolling. Within a few months of the first practice the band hit the studio to record their first demo, laying down 12 songs, most of which would reappear on their mini LP. Playing shows in Southern Ontario, the group tightened up in preparation to hit the studio again. This time recording for a mini LP on a quickly growing local label called Deranged Youth Records. For a few days in November and a couple more in December, the band hammered out the 'If You're Not Now…You're Fucking Dead!' MLP, a scathing statement on the 2001 straight edge youth crew scene. With the artwork, provided by guitarist/tattoo artist Jeff, and the attitude to back it up, Our War and Deranged Youth unleashed this monster to the world on 10" vinyl and CD in early 2002.
More shows for the band, not only in their usual stomping ground but south of the border too...word was getting out. Positive (and negative) reviews of both the first demo and the full length were creating a bit of a buzz. Toronto itself was getting established on the hardcore map with the likes of then upstarts Fucked Up, Career Suicide, and No Warning all receiving accolades for their releases at the time. Hamilton's Haymaker, Jeff's other band, was receiving some well warranted hype too. Around this time Steve started his zine Town Of Hardcore. It featured lots of up and coming local bands such as Mental, Think I Care, Terror, and Violent Minds. Steve also reprinted older interviews with bands that were legendary to the youth crew movement. Demo, live, and record reviews in the zine were brutally honest.
The combination of Steve's zine (which drew extreme notoriety due to Steve's blunt editorial style) and decent reviews of the group added up to an invitation to Wilkes-Barre PA's Positive Numbers Fest in the summer of 2002. On June 14th, 2002 Our War shared the stage with Frostbite, Suicide File, No Warning, Striking Distance, Death Threat, and Cro-Mags. This trip though would signify the end for both Christian and Tom. The stresses of playing in two busy bands was getting to them as well as some underlying tensions between members. It was decided that it was better to exit the band and save relationships than to keep going and have a full on meltdown. No Warning bassist Ryan Gavel stepped in to partially fill the void.
Heading back into the studio, the band recorded another demo (later released as a 7"). There were a few more trips around Southern Ontario and one or two more shows out of province or stateside, but all in the band were feeling as though things had run their course. The youth crew scene had just been a trend, a fad for suburban and urban kids alike. Most received the straight edge kiss of death, the ticking time bomb if you will, the straight edge tattoo. For the most part this is the beginning of the end, mere weeks until you "broke" edge. First there was the former members of the band breaking edge. Then there were rumours floating around that new member Gavel had broken edge along with the other members of No Warning. It was time to get out.
And like that it was over, early 2003. Steve kept working on Town Of Hardcore until 2005. Jeff continues to tattoo in Hamilton and occasionally plays with his band Haymaker. Tom lives in Beamsville Ontario and is a respiratory therapist. Christian McMaster went AWOL after the last Cursed tour. Ryan Gavel lives in Toronto and is a music store employee and a musician for hire. Ryan Elinsky also lives in Toronto and is a kitchen manager and band whore playing with no less than four bands at any given time."
--Author Unknown, 2011
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