we are NO! we are no. no is a word. the most powerful word in the english language. it is often the first word we learn to recognize the importance of as children. it is also the word we most rebel against and with. two letters put together to synthesize an undying spirit of resistance upon pronunciation or inscription. take this word with you. use it. it is our moniker, our text, our weapon, our poetry, and our allegiance.

in the winter of 2000, while drinking in sam's room, andy stumbled upon a yes album in martin's cd collection. he became overwhelmed by fits of laughter and criticism. he and martin proclaimed that they would have a band called no. sam quickly joined. the electric bassmanship of antoine, and the drummery of jeff were soon recruited. not a single practice was scheduled, and it was decided that the maiden performance of no! would take place as the closing act for the college of santa fe's f-6 student justice league freedom fest on may 6th. also assembled for the grotesquerie were robin, ryan, bob, and grisha. the songs were improvisational, minute-long bursts of hardcore instrumentalism accompanied by screaming and anthem calls to the audience. the sea of spectators-cum-participants shouted "NO!" along in unison. it was truly a celebration in the most anarchist sense. the evening was punctuated by a mob-rule style trial and execution of a television set. tears flowed, giggles ascended, and the bloodlust of the crowd was satisfied as everyone engaged in the gouging of the guilty electric eye. also, the earth was destoyed in effigy. three months later, the group returned to school and to rocking. robin, ryan, grisha, and bob were trimmed from the collective to streamline the hardcore rhetoric. a newcomer, eric, was asked to climb aboard as a (gasp!) second drummer. the tribalistic booty beats composed of the combined stick-smashing efforts of both jeff and eric brought forth a new divine power with which NO! would rock. practices were held, songs were written, gigs were won. the first show of the new ensemble proved to be a most thrash-worthy event, and in late september of 2001, the punk scene at warehouse 21 greeted a six-piece destructive force of nature with fists pumped high. unfortunately, aliases were used by the band members, causing a great deal of confusion in the audience. it was decided that the aliases would be dropped, and the rockers would come clean about their true identities. show after show after show followed. they played to unruly and sometimes unresponsive crowds at warehouse 21, the paramount, and csf's onate hall. the songs were getting better, and before long the band found a runaway-chart-topping-smash-hit in the uncommonly jazzy tune, "pigeon." the trombone was finally introduced into the structured original compositions, and the people loved it and asked for more. they were not to be disappointed. before long, two more songs featured the slide-operated brass dynamo: "when trumpets fade," and "fluxion." but with the success of "fluxion" also came a startling tragedy. the band's beloved bassist and friend, antoine, decided to leave the rock behind. he hung up his bass, and called it quits with NO! andy wept openly. jeff threw a chair through a window. sam, martin, and eric drank to excess. the worst part about antoine's abandonment was the mediocre-at-best website that he constructed. andy tried several times to make it look better, but antoine changed the password to keep him from such acts of reformation. and then, he forgot the password. so the five piece was now without a bassist, and without a decent cruising lane on the information superhighway. but lo, fear not! for within only a few days, the long-haired, beer-guzzling, much-adored celebrity super-rock-star matt was recruited from his ultimately doomed relationship with the acoustic trio, 2 the Xtreme. however, yet another setback was in store for NO! during matt's first practice with the group, eric quit the band for the eighth, and seemingly final time. the band moved on and quickly became the most to-be-reckoned-with musical force in town. andy booked his own show at w21, featuring NO! and other csf bands including the hip-hop celebrity supergroup, escalade; the genre-defying rock legends, hughes red shoes; and matt's side project, 2 the Xtreme. jeff b and jason brought a dat recorder. the show was an unbelievable success, bringing both area high school punk kids and artsy college students together for a night of music and mirth. and NO! finally had a live cd recording to give to fans. when the summer came, matt left town, leaving the other members to fend for themselves. a tour was scheduled, and abandoned. a side project was planned. the avant-garde, improvisational art-rock bands, truck norris and scumcock, were formed. featuring members of NO! (including eric) and guest musicians such as scott, buttercup, lindsey, and kevin, the two groups bewildered and blew-away anyone in attendence at their performances. school started up again and jeff entered the first practice of the season bearing ill news. he was to leave for new york before the end of september. a farewell show was organized. the concert, held in the bandshell of the csf quad area, featured 2theXtreme, santa fe's all-girl punk screamo quartet, dead man juaoquin; thedrummersfromno, and others. towards the end of NO!'s set, 2theXtreme climbed onto the stage to join us, in their last stage performance ever, for a cover of their hit-single "fuck me like a leprechaun." matt's eyes were misty as he rocked, for the final time, with his former bandmates. it was also to be eric's last performance as a member of NO! after a great amount of drama and confusion, he was not allowed back into the ranks. by october, jeff had left as promised, and NO! had a new drummer. the greatest stick-wielding woman in the world, sarah, was asked to join the band and much to the band's surprise, accepted the offer. she transformed "pigeon" from a raucous marching band hardcore epic, into a lean, dance-inspiring, trance-invoking, genre-defying masterpiece. a new song was written, and the once-forfeit dreams of a halloween NO! concert were revisited. covers were assembled. and venues were sought out. but none were to be found. andy was told of a show on halloween night at warehouse 21. the headlining acts? boston's hardcore legends, american nothing (formerly american nightmare), and seattle's avant-garde rock gods, the blood brothers. the promoter was still looking for opening bands. andy called and called and called. confusion, anger, and misunderstandings ensued. but finally, the slot was won. NO! was to open on halloween night. NO! played covers of "nativity in black", "halloween", "thriller", and "pet semetary," along with the new original song, "carve the stars' ressurrection." free cds of the 4.20.02 performance were handed out. the blood brothers never showed up due to a delay in texas. it was to be NO!'s last show for a great while. as the days grew colder and shorter, and the school semester got increasingly stressful, NO! dwindled away from performing, but continued to write new songs for a no-nonsense return set sometime the following spring. a studio recording was planned for the same time, and matt and andy began talks of a side-project, a rock-art, mod-dance-core collective by the name, we be knives. sam and martin embarked upon their own side-project, an art-metal, post modernist, post-grindcore duet called "corpse violation." and slowly, but surely, the pieces are falling together. as the ground thaws out and sun gains more courage. as the spirit of creation conjured from destruction once again takes hold of the winds and the powers of lust and life resume their thrones in the hearts of the populace, look to the southwest, listen closely to the seemingly distant rumblings. in time, they will grow to a surrounding thunder and NO! will blossom forth again at the turning of the tide.

NO! is:
sarah = drums
matt = bass
sam = guitar
marting = guitar
andy = vocals, trombone


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