Biography

from left to right: Wade, Pat, Scott, Rob, Steve

(This is a little old, but the best one I could find)

Like the rock and roll foundation it shook up 20 years ago, punk rock has become the sound of a new youth generation. Or as Unwritten Law vocalist Scott Russo puts it, "I don't think punk is really punk anymore. Punk was people who couldn't play their instruments--it was more of a fashion statement. Nowadays, you can call us whatever you want...it's just '90s rock and roll." Drummer Wade Youman sees a bigger picture: "The whole new generation of punk rock, I think it's their world, in every sense of the word. I'm trying to make it clear to kids today that this is their world."

Russo and Youman, at ages 23 and 22 respectively, are loud and significant voices in this new world. And if they sometimes speak like elder statesmen, their hard-fought mastery of their chosen craft backs up their words. OZ FACTOR, the new Greg Graffin-produced album from Unwritten Law--the band's first for Epic Records--brings to fruition the promise of a punk rock dream that dates back nearly ten years.

That's when the first incarnation of Unwritten Law began in Poway, California, six months after a 12-year old Wade Youman was given a drum kit by his mother. Inspired by the first generation of American hardcore bands like T.S.O.L., the Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, and Minor Threat, the young percussionist could not know that one day he would work with Bad Religion singer Greg Graffin or Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker (who contributes a solo to Suzanne on the new album).

The name Unwritten Law symbolized the ever-present sense of repression that stifled every adolescent pleasure, from skateboard- ing to band practice. This ceaseless intrusion from the powers- that-be not only inspired some poignant future songs about loss of control, but literally brought the group together. Youman, Russo, guitarist Rob Brewer, and bassist John Bell all met in a Southern California continuation school (named after a Santana album!), along with the young Scott Russo.

After years of jamming a nd a succession of 16 different members, Unwritten Law's current lineup finally fell together at the bands practice space, an abandoned house dubbed The Blue Room, where Scott Russo was living full time.

"It was a skateboard crash pad, totally trashed with writing on the walls," Youman recalls. Russo, then merely a friend, sang a Fugazi song during an informal jam--and a revitalized U.L. was born. After recruiting 16-year old Steve "The Kid" Morris (now 18) on second guitar, the picture was complete.

In 1994 the band recorded its first CD, Blue Room, released on the independent Red Eye Records label in San Diego. An impressive debut filled with sugar-charged but sweaty songwriting, calisthenic drum- ming, and plenty of loud/fast guitars, the album marked Unwritten Law as important constituents of the burgeoning Southern California surf-punk scene.

"Compared to heavier, screaming East Coast punk, California bands definitely have our own glazed sound, with melodies and harmonies," observes Russo. "It's like Beatles songs sped up," adds Youman.

"The whole surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding industries are all related now," Scott declares. "You can't pick up an action sports video out there now and hear anything else." Scott has a skateboard half-pipe in his backyard; he also surfs and snowboards.

With that lifestyle synergy in mind, Unwritten Law were chosen to participate in a unique cross-country multi-media tour in the fall of 1995, in conjunction with local premiers of Taylor Steele's "Good Times" surfing video. U.L. shared the bill with others featured on the "Good Times" soundtrack such as 7Seconds, All, and Pennywise. The tour offer came just as Epic Records picked up the band and re- released Blue Room, which had already sold a healthy 12,000 copies.

At the conclusion of the tour, Unwritten Law set to work on Oz Factor with boyhood hero Graffin. "Working with Greg was like a dream come true," Wade enthuses. "He showed us how to bring out the best in ourselves and how to work on vocal strategies like no one else could. This album has three times the energy of the first one."

Along with heightened vocal and technical prowess, Oz Factor boasts matured, hook-filled songwriting and a new urgency of message. "We definitely have a mission with this one," says Wade Youman. "Oz Factor is about sensory isolation and the power of dreams. We want to make kids feel safer about being different."

"My parents split up when I was two years old, so I never had the feeling of a real family together," recalls Scott Russo, whose earlier song "What About Me" poignantly criticizes deficient parenting. "I think that's the reason I was fucked up as a kid...you know...the future all comes down to your upbringing, and we're here for the kids."

--Unknown

(This bio is newer, but not as good and a little inaccurate)

More of a power-pop band than anything else, though they're nestled in Southern California's skate/snowboard punk scene, Unwritten Law formed early in the 1990s, with vocalist Scott Russo the only holdover from the band's early days. By the time of their first recordings, the group included Russo, guitarist Steve Morris, bassist John Bell and drummer Wade Youman.

After releasing their debut Blue Room on an independent label, Unwritten Law toured America several times but grew disgusted by the lack of distribution of their records. The quartet eventually signed to Epic, which re-released Blue Room and in 1996 issued their second album, Oz Factor. Bell later left the band -- to be replaced by Pat Kim -- and Unwritten Law added another guitarist, Rob Brewer. The group jumped labels yet again in 1997, to Interscope, and released their third album [the self titled one] in June 1998.