band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of vocalist and guitarist Erik Petersen, bassist Shawn St. Clair, and drummers Christopher Petersen and Christopher Kulp. The band played
culture. It was started by Erik Petersen as a solo project, but eventually grew into a band. Petersen drew inspiration from the
" (Profane Existence No. 54, 2007), and anti-establishment
artists like Woody Guthrie and
Crass. Petersen's lyrics often pay homage to
American labor radicalism of the early 20th century.
Mischief Brew has released albums and EPs on many
different labels, notably Art of the Underground, Gunner Records, and Fistolo Records. In support of these records,
Mischief Brew toured extensively throughout the
United States as well as
Europe. When playing live, they performed with four to five people, incorporating such instruments as junk/found percussion, trumpet, accordion, violin, mandolin, and vibraphone into their set.
Mischief Brew started after Erik Petersen's previous band, The Orphans, broke up in 2000. At first, the band consisted of only Petersen on an acoustic
guitar or mandolin, playing songs off of the Mirth demo. In 2003, Petersen released the Bellingham & Philadelphia split with Robert Blake, and the Bakenal CDEP. After extensive acoustic touring in support of the first two releases, Petersen assembled the first full-band incarnation of
Mischief Brew, featuring Chris "Doc" Kulp (of Red Devil) on drums and Sean "Shantz" Yantz (of Evil Robot Us' and Abusing the Word) on bass. In 2005, Petersen released his first full-length, Smash The Windows, featuring guest spots by artists from Leftöver Crack, World/Inferno Friendship
Society, and Guignol. This release saw him experiment more musically, with styles ranging from gypsy-folk to swing.
The second album was Songs From Under the Sink, a collection of songs written between 1997 and 2002 which stresses his anarchist beliefs and is complemented by his clever
guitar melodies. Yantz left the band shortly after Songs from Under the Sink was released, and was replaced for a few shows by Kevin Holland and later by Shawn St. Clair (of Endless Nightmare, Lost Cause, Stations, the Bad Dudes and Wrought With Sickness), who played bass.
Mischief Brew's released Photographs from the Shoebox in 2008, a split LP/CD with Joe Jack Talcum of The
Dead Milkmen.
In 2009, two versions of the song "Punx Win!" appeared on a split with Andrew Jackson Jihad. Rather than a traditional 7" single,
Pirates Press Records released the record as an 8" with parallel grooves, therefore able to play either version of the track depending on where the needle is dropped. Petersen and Guignol collaborated in 2009 on
Fight Dirty.
Mischief Brew released The Stone Operation in May 2011. The previous year, on October 18, 2010, an unmastered track from the album, "Dallas In Romania," was previewed by Y-Rock on WXPN.
Leading up to and following the release of This Is Not For Children,
Mischief Brew released three
music videos for their songs "O, Pennsyltucky!" (Fistolo, 2014), "City of Black Fridays" (Shibby Pictures, 2015), and "Squatter Envy" (Shibby Pictures, 2016), all three of which appeared on the album.
Mischief Brew have played shows in support of
Food Not Bombs, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, and ABC No Rio. In October 2011, Petersen played an acoustic set at
Occupy Philadelphia.
Founding member and vocalist Erik Petersen died on July 14, 2016.
Printed in USA
