Whatever It Takes

A Fistful of Revolution/Stars and Skulls (2003)

Once upon a time, a long time ago (2001), in a far away place (Pittsburgh, PA) I was a concert promoter. One night, I had a show with The Lawrence Arms (at the time, who were completely unknown), and I had my strong local drawing band cancel on me a few hours before the show.

I made a post to the messageboards at www.pittpunk.com, and within about 30 minutes I get a phonecall.

**RING**

Me: "Hello?"
Voice: "ADAM!!! This is Chris #2 from Anti-Flag, I hear you need a band for your show tonight?!?"

At this point, I'm virtually creaming my pants, thinking that I'm going to be having Anti-Flag playing an intimate show, on a few hours notice.

Chris: "My new band, Whatever it Takes would love to play."

At this point, I'm let down a tiny bit, only because I jumped to conclusions, but I agree to let them play, and thus begins the WIT REVOLUTION, playing this, and numerous shows at the local smaller venues around town.

A full length and 3 EP's were put out…. all of which they released themselves, and put out of print relatively quickly. Pretty good stuff, probably some of the best poppier punk/melodic hardcore to come out of Pittsburgh at that point.

Then Anti-Flag went out on the Warped Tour, and WIT took a backseat for a few months.

Fast forward til early autumn 2001, at a show, Chris hands me a copy of a burned CD, with the letters "WIT" written in sharpie on it, and says, "This is our new CD, have a listen."

This CD would go on to become, "A Fistful of Revolution"

Molding Chris #2's vocals (which if you're a fan of Anti-Flag, you're familiar with) with musical stylings that lie somewhere between Hot Water Music and Lifetime, and some of the most personal lyrics I've ever had the privalidge of reading, Whatever it Takes is truly something special.

Songs like "Green Light, Yellow Light, Stop," "Post Marked Yesterday," and "Apt 2, 4AM Friday," touch on getting to know yourself better, which has always been a general theme of the band.

"Not So Metal," and "Cold of Winter," touch on relationship issues, and there are even a handful of political songs on this CD.

A few months, and a very successful tour with Thursday and Saves the Day later, and Whatever it Takes went back into the studio, and recorded the SUPER-LIMITED (300 copies ever pressed) "Stars & Skulls" EP, which sold out in a matter of weeks.

The songs on the EP are a bit more mature than the full-length, but the overall recording quality was a bit on the lacking side, which in a way, added to the charm of the disc.

A-F has packaged all of these songs onto one CD, for those of you who missed the boat on the original releases (or live somewhere that Whatever it Takes has never toured), along with some new artwork, and had it remastered, which adds a whole new layer of quality.

So what does it sound like? There's something for everyone on this CD… emotional songs, hardcore songs, punk songs, acoustic songs… you'll just have to hear for yourself.

Whatever it Takes is currently writing new songs, and playing sporadic shows in the area, while Anti-Flag is working on putting out their new full length…. once things slow down a bit for the Flag, Whatever it Takes will be back rocking in full effect.