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If you're actually going to read this, then settle in for a tale that spans decades and geographies. The best way to tell our story will probably be through the different bands we have been in together. You will see, that the four of us were destined to be together. Also, it was interesting how we each took on a persona of the ninja turtles organically. Read on, friend, to hear us talk in 1st and 3rd person perspectives.

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Pillage

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One could actually say this band was the genesis. It all started with Pillage or Troy's bucket. Matt and a childhood friend started a band in high school. They had already played together in a grade school band, but Matt purchased his first drum that freshman year. Also, Matt never took drum lessons so you can imagine how those first jam sessions went. As those 2 rookies began to see the potential, they knew that a bass player was needed to make it legit. A tryout was held and Pat (P-stump) stood out like a gem because he could play a "walking" bass line. After Pat was rocking, another guitar player joined, and Pillage was almost complete... but for a singer. Pillage had a singer for a few years, but the style of singing... or actually screaming wasn't matching the style. So, they needed a new singer, and one just showed up. This cool kid with bleached tips started hanging out with the band. He seemed chill, so they were like, "want to be our singer?" and he was like, "Ok." 

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Pillage went on to play a bunch of shows around the San Fernando Valley, including some battle-of-the bands shows and some high school gigs. You know they were rocking those American Legion Halls as well. So, things were rockin' and they just recorded their very first album (yep, on the tape reel). This is when the lead guitarist drops a bomb on Pillage. His cousin had started a clothing company called Pillage, and said we could not use that name. Pillage had already recorded their album and started burning CDs (yes, burning) with the logo. Literally, the night of burning CDs, the name was changed to Havik... which was super lame. Not too long after that, Matt left the band to pursue a high school relationship which was probably not a smart investment. The band played another show with a fill-in drummer and that was that.

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T.H.O.

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The name itself is shrouded in controversy, but we'll come back to that later. The rhythm guitarist from Pillage had joined another punk band as a bass player. The band already had two guitarists and needed a drummer and a singer. So here comes Matt and Pat to the rescue. In fact, they were referred to as the "band-aid"... get it? Anyways, they quickly got together and wrote some sweet punk tunes. This band actually had a decent following already, so the few shows they played drew a significant crowd, which Matt and Pat weren't used to. In fact, it was pretty common for someone to get a concussion in the mosh pits. As the band's punk status began to rise, they were being asked to join some other established bands creating ruckus in the San Fernando Valley at that time.

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The pinnacle show for T.H.O. was a battle-of-the-bands in Hollywood, The Palace. In fact, it was at arguably one of the best venues in Hollywood at the time. All of the coolest bands ever played a show at The Palace. And that show... was... epic. There is a picture floating around somewhere with the band on stage and a giant circle pit taking up almost the entire floor. As the band's buzz grew, some of their family members started asking what T.H.O. stood for, and now begins the controversy.  When Matt and Pat first joined the band, they were told it stood for one thing. As the band had reached its heights, it was only then that Matt and Pat found out what the initials really stood for. But, since there is no official record, we will all never really know what it really stood for. After The Palace show, there were several more backyard parties/shows played... and that was that.

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The Lost

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Not too long after T.H.O. dissolved into the sunset, Pat (P-ez) resettled back in the South Bay where he and D-rock came together with a few other bandmates to form a metal band called The Lost. It was an interesting time back then. Metal was making its way back onto the scene, and starting to incorporate some of those fast punk beats with some gnar gnar heavy breakdowns. The hardcore scene was sort of waning, and punk was status quo. This little band from Orange County, CA was starting to really make a name for themselves. You might have heard of them, Avenged Sevenfold? Well, that band really kind of muddied the waters of  punk and metal because those used to be in separate ponds. AX7 had formatively shaped Pat's vocal influence... as well as some of his former band members. The Lost was starting making some noise in the South Bay, and they did end up recording some songs that maybe are still around on a burned CD sitting in the back seat of an old Ford Bronco (inside story)... along with a scratched-up Havik CD. And that was that.

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Confined

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So remember how AX7 was becoming an influence to some other band members? Well, during this time Matt had been blown away by the drummer in that band (RIP The Rev). Just by a drum stroke of luck, Matt had learned to play drums from a friend who had played with double kick pedals. So, while Matt was trying to get better at drums, he was able to keep good foot balance while playing with two kick pedals. The Lost (now just P-ez, D-rock, and a bass player) was at an existential crisis, and looking for a new drummer. Well, of course Pat M was going to tap his longtime friend to join a metal band. Matt showed up to the first practice and pounded some metal chops accompanied by D-rock's shredding solos. Confined to Flesh was born that night. 

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Now, we know what you're saying... that's not the band name showing above. We know... we'll get to that shortly. But Confined to Flesh hit the South Bay hard very fast. They were playing shows in Hermosa Beach with some already established local metal bands. They then went to record a full-length metal album, which they totally still owe money for that recording (Sorry, Jimmy!). With a new album and some promo materials, it was only a matter of time before the Hollywood infamous, M-Productions, would reach out to start booking shows. Now for those outside the industry, it was a perfect "pay-to-play" setup, but not relevant for the bio. Now regardless of the business practice, Confined to Flesh was starting to be booked at some large venues. Some of them you might have heard of... The Whiskey, The Knitting Factory, The Viper Room, and so on... (clearly a Hollywood venue needs to start with "The"). This is when the band dropped the "to Flesh" and became simply "Confined." Not too long after that, as most bands go through some band "stuff", Confined went on hiatus for a bit. D-rock had left the band, so Pat, Matt, and the bass player tried to keep it going. But going it did not. And that was that.

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Any Last Words

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We know what you're thinking, where was P-stump during all of this? Well, P-stump was one of the biggest fans and totally supported his brothers. He was there in the mosh pits, and was there to make fun of the super serious metal promo picture shoots from Confined. But after Confined officially broke up, everyone went their separate ways. Quite a bit of time had passed since the end of that band. Matt had started a company, What Productions, to film punk rock shows and help develop content. One of the projects Matt had the opportunity to work on was "Punk Rock Concoction." It was a punk rock compilation started by some So Cal punk bands and was distributed for free. A ton of bands provided songs for the project without any expectation of money or royalties (shout-out to A Wilhelm Scream!) Matt was starting to film some legit bands, and his longtime friend P-stump was down for the cause. P-stump would help film some of the shows, and  it was then that Matt and Pat knew they wanted back in on punk rock music. Matt recorded a punk rock song late one night... and the seed was planted.

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As soon as the first riff was riffed, Matt had to get P-stump in on this. Their love for awesome punk rock music was reinvigorated. Pat had some creative juices backed up, and out those melodic tunes came. So, as they  had come to this point several times in the past, a singer and shredder was needed... and they knew exactly who to go to. It was pretty much a no-brainer to bring P-ez and D-rock into the mix. They knew that they didn't want to write just basic pop-punk (no offense to... well... you know who you are). With so much metal influence, the goal was to create some punk rock with a heavy metal element in the background. In 2011, they recorded their self-titled album, "Any Last Words." They also recorded a very low budget video and shared on social media, to like maybe 30 people. However, that wasn't going to stop them, they were getting ready to get back on to the stage. But... more band stuff happened which led to the dismemberment of ALW. (The story of the ALW band stuff is epic... you wouldn't believe us if we told you... but that will remain locked up for the foreseeable future.)

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But... just when you thought that would be the end of ALW, think again. Almost 10 years go by since the first album was recorded, but for some reason, Matt decided to go back and remaster the original album, and officially release it via legitimate distribution. So after a long idle period, ALW was now streaming on all of the big dog music streamers. It wasn't so much to restart ALW, it was more to make sure they had their legacy floating in a cloud somewhere... not in a toilet bowl.

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And then Boom! In 2023, Matt wrote a new song and sent it over to P-stump. P-stump was thrilled because unknowingly to Matt, the Stump had also been writing some new punk rock songs. They had about 6 or 7 songs before P-stump finally reached out to P-ez to start writing some lyrics for those songs. And of course not too long after that, D-rock was contacted to bring it back home... and ALW lives again.

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So here we are... and if you actually read all of that, then bravo to you. Either you are a glutton for punishment or were truly entertained by our story. If we want to sum up where we've been and where we're going... we just want to write punk rock music, hang out, and have fun with our family and friends. We would love for you to join us!