In This Defiance, first line-up and possibly first band picture, circa May 2005
In This Defiance, from London, Ontario, formed in March 2005 with Ken Montville on guitar, Matt Bouchard on drums and Ben Kaye (from Clear a Path) on bass. Later that month they were joined by Steve Parkhill on second guitar, who was at the time playing in Restless Are the Dead with Ken and Matt. When it came time to finding a vocalist, Ben suggested his friend Fudd Bokhari (who had fame in Dirge, Day of Mourning and A Taste for Blood), finalized the line-up in April. The band was a very vocal promoter of straight-edge beliefs and was always credited as xIn This Defiancex, or xITDx. Influences came from Strife (as they were named after their album), Hatebreed, Merauder and 100 Demons.
In This Defiance’s first demo, “Tour Demo 05”, with the first artwork.
They quickly recorded the first 3 songs they had written at a small home-based studio in London in four hours. One of their friend designed the artwork and it was off to the press. The band got the first CD pressing of 1000 copies just in time for their first tour, “Mission: Prohibition” with Liferuiner, in July. The band had also silk screened a bunch of t-shirts before leaving, right in their jam space. In This Defiance was actually invited to play the first Straight Edge Fest in July 2005 but couldn’t make it due to van trouble. The tour lasted over a month, from July 22nd 2005 to August 27th 2005 and took the bands from Ontario, all the way in the western provinces, down the US west coast, through the western states to the midwest, and coming back up to Ontario through Pennsylvania and New York. For a band that had only been around for five months, it was a hefty undertaking that made a mark in the hardcore scene. The tour had minor suffering from dropped shows and double booking, but some of the best moments resulted from this. When they found out last minute that their August 10th show in Los Angeles, California had been canceled, they were able to jump on a matinee show with Terror, First Blood and Piece by Piece, in which the band fitted perfectly. Later that night they booked a second show in Ventura, California with Youth Attack. Other events such as the August 16th show in Salt Lake City, Utah were parking lot shows in front of a pizza shop called “The Wild Mushroom”.
Mission: Prohibition Tour 2005. In This Defiance’s first tour with Liferuiner
Ken was originally in charge of the Myspace page and In This Defiance was posting a lot and making an impact in the straight-edge scene. Danny “Sober” Trudell from Seventh Dagger messaged them, initially to press merchandise for them during their tour (as he had a home-based shirt printing company). But as he was looking to sign new straight-edge bands for his record label, Seventh Dagger Records, the two parties signed a deal in August 2005. A few local shows filled September and on October 1st 2005, the Gatineau Hardcore Fest took place, founded by Rich Boivin (of Forsaken Trust). This show was responsible for making the band incredibly huge in Quebec, as the province was undergoing a tough-guy metalcore wave. After the Gatineau show, Ken left the band.
Gatineau Hardcore Fest, Saturday October 1st 2005
The band had already booked their second tour and embarked it as a four piece from October 14th to November 2nd. This 3 week tour took them across the US east coast, through Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Florida and back. The tour spawned shows with Integrity, Death Before Dishonor, Misery Signals, Too Pure to Die, Black My Heart. At this point, Seventh Dagger Records offered to reissue the band’s demo with brand new artwork designed by Nicola Lelli. The demo was then advertised as an EP (but later retitled to “demo 2005” on their website) and released on November 13th 2005. 1000 copies were made of this reissue.
In This Defiance Demo 2005/EP, Seventh Dagger Records, November 13th 2005
In early 2006, In This Defiance found a guitar replacement for Ken with Ryan Stompeau “Stompz” from Windsor. Ryan had previously sang in Count Your Days and they played a few shows with xITDx (they had also played a show with A Taste For Blood in October 2003). Therefore it was easy to get him on board. Their third tour was a massive series of straight-edge hardcore shows that started out with only Armed for Battle and Reign of Terror touring the US west coast and southern states, until they were joined a month later by In This Defiance, on March 22nd 2006, in Detroit, Michigan, to continue in the midwest and new England. The third leg of the tour took In This Defiance, Reign of Terror and Deathblow from the US east coast all the way down south until mid April 2006.
In This Defiance, circa spring 2006.
From left to right: Fudd, Steve, Ryan, Ben and Matt
In This Defiance’s third tour, with Armed for Battle, Reign of Terror and Deathblow, March-April 2006
When ITD came back from this tour, they started recording a second demo in the rehearsal room next to theirs. Three songs were recorded but no vocals ever made it and the demo was never released. After playing a show in Windsor that spring, Ben left the band. Ryan’s friend, Dan Dresser, who also played in Count Your Days, replaced him. Before any other show could be played with this line-up, Steve left the band less than a month after Ben. Ryan and Dan were both from Windsor and therefore the band moved to that city for their remaining span. Without Steve booking shows, the band hired their roadie Tommy Irish to handle all booking duties.
In This Defiance’s fourth tour, with Represent, July-August 2006
Tommy booked the band’s entire fourth tour, a full US tour in the Summer of 2006 with Represent. Fudd actually sang guest vocals on Represent’s first album, “True At All Costs”. The first show on the list was the annual Straight Edge Fest, for its second edition on July 8th 2006 in Auburn, New York. It was on this fest that In This Defiance met Cool Your Jets, who had also recently been signed by Seventh Dagger Records. It was decided that a split 7″ would be released between those two bands, through Seventh Dagger Records in the fall of 2006. The tour was then supposed to take them thoroughly in the midwest, then down the east coast, to finish in the dirty south and southern states. However, xITDx quickly found out that the entire tour was phony. Tommy Irish had “booked” fake dates and venues all across the states, only to pocket the band’s money and disappear without a trace. The band came back, completely broke and stuck with a load of extra merchandise, and Dan quit the band.
In This Defiance’s tentative album cover for “Vei Victus”
Determined to make a last go of it and with Ryan having composed a load of new songs since Steve’s departure, they posted an ad on their Myspace page looking for a new bassist. They also announced they would be heading in studio to record not only their side of the split but also a full-length album titled “Vei Victus”, due out in early 2007 on Seventh Dagger. However, Fudd had a knee condition that left him the decision between continuing playing in bands in a wheelchair or giving up music and walking. In September 2006, the decision was made and In This Defiance never entered the studio. Matt Bouchard and Ryan Stompeau joined XTKOX (xTotal Knock Outx), which Steve Parkhill and Ben Kaye had just started up, but it hardly lasted more than a few months, and the shows that were booked were never played. As for Fudd, there was a rumor that he went on to a brief stint signing in xTo This Dayx, but I haven’t been able to find confirmation of this. Only a year later did the final line-up (Fudd, Ryan, Dan, Matt) reunite to headline the Straight Edge Festival’s third ceremony, on July 7th 2007, in Auburn Park. A new band shirt (the “07 x 07 x 07” design) was printed especially for this show. And that was the end of In This Defiance.
In This Defiance’s only reunion show, July 7th 2007 at Straight Edge Fest
Download their first demo (I’m still trying to locate the second one)
