1998
The Virus formed in Feb. 1998 and we played our first show only a month later. During the first 6 months that the band was together, we got to play quite a few great shows including a show in Philadelphia, PA with Special Duties, and a show at now closed Coney Island High in NYC. In July 1998 we recorded 2 songs for a split CD with New York band- The Manix (with members of the Devotchkas & Casualties). Only 130 copies of the CD were made and they sold out quickly.
1999
In Feb. 1999 we recorded 5 songs for our first 7" titled 'Global Crisis' and for the Punx Unite 2 compilation on Charged Records. The 7" sold out pretty quickly and we started getting a lot more show offers so we continued to play regularly all over the east coast.
2000
March 2000 we went back into the studio and recorded 12 songs for our first full length CD/LP titled 'Still Fighting For A Future' on Charged Records. After the album was recorded singer Mike Virus left the band and Paul took over on vocals. Later that year, in June, we left for a six week USA tour with: Casualties, Endless Struggle, Antidote, & Funeral Dress. This tour helped out the band tremendously because we made a lot of new fans and contacts.
2001
In March 2001 we went back into the studio once again to record 4 new songs for a limited picture disc 7" to be released on Charged Records. After the songs were recorded, Punkcore Records bought the rights to release the picture disc from Charged Records. Punkcore Records released the 7" in October of 2001 along with a 'Singles & Rarities' CD which was a collection of all the band's 7"s, and compilation tracks. In June of 2001 we played the 2-day Promote Chaos festival in Atlanta, GA alongside bands like: Anti-Nowhere League, Crack, and Peter and The Test Tube Babies. A month later we went over to Morecambe, England to play the Holidays In The Sun festival alongside bands like: Exploited, Partisans, GBH, UK Subs, Resistance 77, Threats, Cock Sparrer, plus many others. Late August saw the band on a short east coast tour with Antidote from Holland. This tour was nothing short of a disaster with van problems and show cancellations. However, the shows we got to play were great so that made up for the other problems. After returning from tour the band took the next the next five months off to write and record our second 12 song CD/LP titled 'Nowhere To Hide' on Punkcore Records.
2002
Feb 2002 saw the band back in the studio to record our second full length album. Then on Feb 15th, we played in Philadelphia, PA with Slaughter & The Dogs which was our first show in nearly 5 months! After that, we were back to playing regular weekend shows all over the east coast. In April, the "Nowhere To Hide" CD & LP was released. In July we went over to play the Holidays In The Sun festival in England. It was great to see a lot of the people we met at HITS the previous year. Once we got home we only had a week to rest before we took off across country for a short west coast tour with The Riffs from Portland. This was definitely our most successful tour to date and much like our last west coast tour, we met a ton of people and we had a great time at the shows. We played the HITS fest in Asbury Park, NJ. in early September. The festival went over well and it was sort of like a family reunion for us because most of the U.S. bands that we had been playing shows with early on (Casualties, Unseen, Violent Society, Boils, Endless Struggle, Devotchkas) were also playing the festival. The highlight of the festival for us was having Wattie from the Exploited, join us on stage to sing our cover version of The Exploited's "I Believe In Anarchy". We decided to return to California at the end of the year to play three shows in Hollywood, Pomona, and San Diego with The Riffs & The Voids. All three shows were very successful and it was a great way to end the year.
