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Who’d a thought 15 years ago that a three piece punk rock band from Bremerton, WA would be one of today’s most recognizable trio’s in the music industry. Flash back to the early 90s and you’d find MxPx’s Mike Herrera (bass/vocals), Tom Wisniewski (guitar/vocals) and Yuri Ruley (drums) wearing out their Descendents and NOFX cassettes, breaking into the industry on Seattle based indie label, Tooth & Nail.
Bring us back to 2006…MxPx is still making music together, and they are still wearing out their NOFX and Descendents cassettes. Marking their growth and loyalty, the band has teamed up with their first label, Tooth & Nail for the sole release of the deluxe-edition, Let it Happen, the 1998 rarities compilation that marked MxPx’s move from Seattle indie-label stardom to the great wide open of popular music.
True to form, they’re pulling out all the stops the second time around: Besides the original 32 tracks, the deluxe edition of Let it Happen features three new studio tunes produced by longtime band associate Aaron Sprinkle (Anberlin, Emery, Mae), three original demos from MxPx’s salad days, and a bonus DVD videography compiling 12 music videos from throughout the band’s history. Factor in the new artwork—which finds the band’s “Pokinatcha Punk” mascot rocking Herrera’s Ernie Ball bass—and the exclusive photos, and Let it Happen isn’t just a deluxe-edition reissue; it’s a veritable time capsule from the biggest pop-punk export in Pacific Northwest history.
It’s only fitting that Tooth & Nail Records, which originally released Let it Happen in 1998, is back onboard for the re-release. MxPx and Tooth & Nail both got their start within a year and only 20 miles from each other—MxPx forming in 1992, Tooth & Nail launching a year later. —But more famously, they first crossed paths at an MxPx gig in Herrera’s parents’ back yard. That show, which Herrera remembers as “terrible—I blew out my voice just from practicing for it,” nonetheless marked the beginning of a long relationship, from which MxPx built their name.
“It’s been great coming back to Tooth & Nail, because we as a band are in a different place, and they as a label are in a different place than when we last worked together,” Herrera says. “We did [the 2002 career retrospective] Ten Years and Running with them, but we were still under contract to A&M at the time. Now, we’re not under contract with anybody—which, if you know anything about the business of being in a band, is a great position to be in. We’re on a record-by-record basis with anybody we work with, and that’s a great thing, to finally have that sort of independence, that autonomy.”
Fans who bought the original version of Let it Happen (currently approaching Gold status in the U.S.) will remember all three albums the band has released through Tooth & Nail: 1994’s scrappy, fan-favorite debut Pokinatcha, 1995’s Teenage Politics, and 1996’s Life in General (recently voted by Alternative Press magazine’s editors as one of the 10 best punk albums of 1996).
After building a steady discography through Tooth & Nail and after their indie deal expired, the band decided to take a leap up by inking down a major-label deal with A&M. In 2005, their contractual obligations to A&M complete, MxPx made one of their toughest band decisions yet, they left A&M, and decided to continue as free agents. For all the years MxPx had spent operating as a punk band, it was the most punk-rock business move they’d ever made. To keep the momentum going they headlined the 2005 Warped Tour formally reintroducing them to a world that was more than ready.
While MxPx have released close to two-dozen EPs, live discs, retrospectives and 7-inch singles over the years, Let it Happen will always be the collection that stands out most for the band: not only because it marks the end of one era, but because it kicks open the door to another one. “It’s funny, because time just flies by when you’re in a band for over 10 years. You experience so much together that the day-to-day starts becoming a little more normal, a little less exciting,” Herrera says. “But to look back at the photos in this CD, I’m reminded that we really had a lot of good times.” He laughs. “Don’t get me wrong: We still have a lot of great times, but I’m gonna have to wait another 10 years to look back on the photos from today to realize it.”
