About One Life Crew

One Life Crew (OLC) was a straight edge hardcore band. They originally formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1994. Though the band has had numerous members, the most notable line-up consisted of "Mean" Steve Murad (Vocals), Blaze Tishko (guitar), John "Lockjaw" Tole (bass), and Anthony "Chubby Fresh" Pines (drums). The band formed out of the ashes of Murad's former bands Confront, and Mean Streak. After releasing a series of demo tapes, the band was picked up by Victory Records and released their debut LP Crime Ridden Society on the label. The track Our Fight, which appears on Crime Ridden Society and proclaims an anti-racism message, was originally performed by Confront. Ironically, OLC has been accused by many as being a racist band, due in no small part to the lyrics of the track Pure Disgust, which reflect a right wing stance on immigration issues. OLC, along with Victory, tried to combat their racist image by releasing One Life Crew t-shirts with the lyrics to Our Fight printed on the back, and included a post card along with the vinyl version of the album that likened the song to Agnostic Front's Pubic Assistance. The band was dropped from Victory Records after a fight broke out during their set at the 1996 Cleveland Hardcore Festival. Though many claims have been made as to the actual reason OLC was dropped from the label, Victory's stance remains that they do not condone violence. Victory Records had 1,000 post cards printed explaining their decision, and mailed out to their customers. Allegedly, all remaining copies of Crime Ridden Society on cassette, CD, and vinyl were destroyed, making it a very sought after album in collectors circles. Upset with Victory's decision, two prank phone calls made by Chubby Fresh were recorded and subsequently released on the Internet. The calls were placed to members of Victory Records' most popular bands at the time, Earth Crisis and Snapcase. After only playing one show in 2001 in Youngstown, OH, with Pitboss 2000, the band returned in 2003, with only Steve Murad and Tony Pines remaining as original members. The band played under a half dozen shows, and released a greatest hits CD entitled 9-1-1, which included songs from Crime Ridden Society, American Justice, and a song by Pitboss 2000 (Sell Out). Once more, the band went on hiatus. With the moderate success of the 2003 reunions, Prophecy Records obtained rights to and re-released the OLC demo tapes on both vinyl and CD. One demo was released under its original title, Reality Check, and the other was a split 7" with North Carolina hardcore band Empire Falls. Around this time, a second band with the name One Life Crew was formed without any original members. This, however, quickly fell apart. In 2008, an album was released under the name of One Life Crew entitled 2KH8, which in actuality was demos of Anthony Pines' other band, Heavyweight. The origin of this album is disputed. In 2009 Double Or Nothing Records announced that they would be releasing an anthology on CD titled It Is What It Is. One Life Crew once again reunited, this time with Murad and Pines being accompanied by Blaze Tishko, to the delight of many fans. The band played two shows to support the release. One in Cleveland, OH, and the other in Philadelphia. The show in Philadelphia was met with much controversy, with Anti-Racist Action voicing concerns to the venue about the lyrical content of OLC. Rather than risk losing the venue for future events, the promoter and the band moved the show from the original venue to an undisclosed location within the city. Word of the show was spread via text messaging and e-mails to avoid any further controversy. Double or Nothing Records is rumored to be releasing a new One Life Crew album in future. Reportedly, the majority of the material has already been written by the band.