Mikey Donaldson, Tony Johnson and I formed the Offenders in Killeen, Texas in late 1978. After a few tryouts with some different singers, we eventuially hired Mick Buck, a guy who had a real knack for exuding coolness, something the rest of us sorely lacked.

In 1980 we moved to Austin and began playing places like Rauls' Club and Duke's Royal Coach Inn. July 1981 saw the self-release of our first single, "Lost Causes/ Rockin' the Town." Our sound then was the Clash-Buzzcocks-British wave punk style. Soon thereafter though, we were taking notice of what many US punk bands were doing. Faster, more hardcore sounds coming from the likes of Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, D.O.A. and the DKs inspired us to take our sound up a notch. But Mick was not up for the new
direction we were taking, so he and the band parted ways in early 1982.

We wasted no time in picking up singer J.J. Jacobson. J.J. had no musical training but was freshly (dropped) out of high school and full of teen angst, so it seemed a perfect fit. We quickly gained regional attention with our self-styled brand of hardcore. Bands such as MDC, Die Kreuzen, Corrosion of Conformity, and Toxic Reasons helped us to forge an alliance with many like-minded punks and fans nationwide. By 1984, we were totally immersed in the burgeoning underground scene that would (sadly) eventually take punk into the mainstream.

The first LP "We Must Rebel" (R Radical) was released in July 1983. We toured the West Coast and Midwest after its release and by then had established a solid following throughout Texas and Louisiana. "I Hate Myself/ Bad Times" (45/ Rabid Cat) was released in 1984. Various other cuts appear on compilations such as Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death," Metal Moo Cow," "Bands on the Block," and "P.E.A.C.E." And, of couurse, we continued to tour throughout 1984.

In 1985, we hired SST stalwart Spot to produce our second LP "Endless Struggle" (Rabid Cat). It was released in June '85, just in time for the eastern leg of a planned nationwide tour. But, van problems and our increasing mutual contempt proved to be too much, causing us to conclude the tour in October before a western leg could be booked.

In the last few months of 1985, Mikey was devoting a lot of time to playing bass with MDC, which by then was based in San Francisco. Mikey had been the Offenders' primary songwriter, and his absence began taking its toll on the band's muse. After a Mardi Gras show in New Orleans in February 1986 (one of our best performances, ironically), Mikey announced announced that he was moving to SF. He would be joining (ex-Dicks) Gary Floyd's band, Sister Double Happiness. And so after eight years together, we called it quits. We played our final show at the Woodshock festival in Wimberly, Texas in August 1986.