Formation as solo act

Against Me! was formed in 1997 by singer/guitarist Laura Jane Grace as a solo act, amidst the breakup of her previous band(s). The first Against Me! release was an eponymously titled demo tape in 1997. It was self-released in very limited numbers. With the addition of drummer Kevin Mahon, a second demo, Vivida Vis! (1998), was released in limited numbers by Misanthrope Records. The band started their first tour in March 1999, a month-long tour of the East coast, during which they met Jordan Kleeman in Baltimore, Maryland. The band’s first EP, Against Me! , was released twice through Crasshole Records (once in 1999 and 2000). Grace’s longtime friend James Bowman joined the band for a west coast tour in support of the EP, traveling in Grace’s 1976 Buick LeSabre , the engine of which exploded at the end of the tour. Their first widely distributed release was the EP Crime as Forgiven by Against Me! (2001), released by Plan-It-X Records and Sabot Productions (run by longtime Against Me! tour manager Jordan Kleeman). While neither Bowman or Fridkin had part in the recording of Crime as Forgiven by Against Me! , they both joined the band on tour to support it. On April 23, 2001, while heading south on I-75, returning home from their first tour as a four-piece band, their van was struck by a semi truck. They landed upside-down in a ditch. No one was harmed, but the van and equipment were destroyed, after which Bowman and Mahon left the band. The band broke up for a few months that year. A third EP , a self-titled acoustic recording by Grace and bassist Dustin Fridkin, was released in November 2001.