Monsters or Mayhem

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Monsters or Mayhem

Music genre(s)	Apocalyptic Punk, Punk Rock, Hardcore Punk
Homebase	Ann Arbor, MI
Years active	2006 - Current
Current Status	Indefinite Hiatus
Notable Records	M.O.M. / The F.A.S. EP
Label(s)	ARBCO
Website	http://www.myspace.com/monstersormayhem

Monsters or Mayhem, aka M.O.M., is an apocalyptic themed punk band from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Primarily active through 2007-2009, they released a split 7" EP with another Ann Arbor punk band the F.A.S. The band continues to play shows periodically.

1 History
2 Discography
3 Members
4 Misc.
5 Links

[edit] History

Early Rehearsals and First Line-up

Monsters or Mayhem formed in the fall of 2006 when Doom, Kuperman, and Wsks were talking about starting a band together. They came up with the monster heart logo with the acronym M.O.M. as a play on the "mom in a heart" tattoo, and decided on the name Monsters or Mayhem because it fit the apocalyptic style they had decided to make the band's theme.

Initially intended to be a grindcore band, they had a few practices with drummer Caleb. The musical direction of these practices tended to lean more toward rock and heavy metal, so they continued to write songs in that style. The original rehearsal drummer Caleb ended up not being able to make a commitment, so the project was put on the back burner until December when the Ann Arbor band State asked if M.O.M. could play a show at the Club Above in Ann Arbor, MI.

Seeing their chance to break into the scene, they recruited Jef Porkins a mere week before the show and wrote a nine song set of original material, and learned a cover by the band The Pussy Pirates. A few blunders aside, their first show was a resounding success. Unfortunately, Jef couldn't continue playing with the band at that time due to prior commitments, so he had to leave.

Second Line-up and Demo

M.O.M. had decided to continue on as a band at this point, so they started looking for a new drummer. Asking around locally if anyone was interested, they happened upon Sam, who had played drums in a few bands around town previously.

After teaching Sam the original set list, they started writing more new material in hopes of recording a demo. In early 2007, with a few new songs in hand, they entered Belch Recordings studio owned by Von Doom's brother Jamie VanEffen and roughed out a demo.

Come spring of 2007 M.O.M. was starting to play live more, mostly at house parties, and gaining a small local following. Around this time they found out Sam was going to be leaving the country, and had to miss a few scheduled shows they had already booked. Pussy Pirates drummer Murrevol agreed to temporarily step in, and learned the songs very quickly to fulfill their previous show commitments. After these shows, they decided to take a short break from performing and two of the members left town for a few months.

Third Line-up and EP

Regrouping in the mid-summer of 2007, yet lacking a drummer, M.O.M. set out to find another person to take the throne. Having made good friends and sharing gigs with fellow A2 band The F.A.S., their drummer Austin agreed to fill the drum position. Back to writing songs and playing gigs, the band played their first out-of-town shows in Detroit, and Grand Rapids. Meanwhile their local following was getting a bit larger, with many people coming out to every show they played. Fans would even drive along with the band to their out of town shows to see them play. Come winter 2007, M.O.M. entered Belch Recordings once again to record their entire set in the hopes of releasing it as a full length album.

Around this time, past drummer Jef Porkins approached M.O.M. about putting out a 7" split record with The F.A.S. on his label ARBCO Records. Having just recorded, they selected which songs they wanted to go on it since there was limited space. Von Doom came up with the cover idea of a fifties housewife style mom holding a platter with the band's name on it, amidst the wreckage of a nuclear blast, and had Nate Higley illustrate it. Nate also drew the cover of The F.A.S.'s side of the record.

[edit] Discography

M.O.M. / The F.A.S. - split 7" EP; ARBCO Records 2008 [ARBCO702]
The Analogging Industry - 7" Compilation; ARBCO Records, 2010 [ARBCO704]

[edit] Members

Current Members:
Nick Wsks - Vocals (2006-Current)
Adomski Von Doom - Guitar & Backup Vocals (2006-Current)
Jon Kuperman - Bass (2006-Current)
Jef Porkins - Drums (2006 for first show, 2009-Current)

Past Members:
Caleb - Drums (2006; rehearsal only)
Sam - Drums (2006-2007; live and on demo recording)
Murrevol - Drums (2007 ;for a few shows)
Austin - Drums (2007-2009; live and on studio recordings)