Unhappy with the current state of ska music, Detroit-based bandWe Are The Union decided to stick out their own necks and tried to change things for the better in the summer of 2005. Getting a paycheck is not on their agenda. Instead of following typical ska punk conventions, WATU takes a harder-nosed approach to the genre. With influences ranging from Philadelphia/New Jersey favorites Lifetime and Kid Dynamite, and bands like Slapstick and This Is A Standoff, they rage with the best of them while still retaining a heightened sense of melody. Their love for fast music, horns and their incredibly short attention spans are a simple explanation for why WATU sound the way they do. Over the past two and a half years, they have also been incredibly hardworking. With nearly a dozen tours in the US and UK under their belt in this short span of time, they've now thrown caution to the wind and continue to be on the road full time. This will surely add to the list of heavy hitters they've shared the stage with that includes The Suicide Machines, The Mighty Mighty BossTones, Less Than Jake, Zebrahead, Strung Out, Rufio, Polar Bear Club, No Trigger, Banner Pilot, Shook Ones, Mustard Plug, Set Your Goals, The Flatliners, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Make Do And Mend, Spring Heeled Jack, Bomb! The Music Industry, The Aquabats, Four Year Strong, Such Gold, Fireworks, Hostage Calm, Transit, The Wonder Years, The Swellers, A Loss For Words, and Hellmouth. Their work ethic cannot just be applied to their tours either. Their first full-length 'Who We Are', self-released in the summer of 2007, was given away for free by the band via the Internet. Their generosity was met with a rapidly surging fan base and an offer to have the record released in Japan via InYaFace Records. Their expectations for the band are simple. They want to keep making music they love while touring relentlessly in order to provide people with a positive environment for fun and the venting of frustration. Paper + Plastick saw the youthful exuberance and the amount of integrity this young bunch of punks had and quickly wanted to become involved. 2010 brings the release of 'Great Leaps Forwards', the Billy Bragg-inspired new full length from We Are The Union. Already outselling their previous releases, WATU hit Canada and the US in support of “Great Leaps Forward” with Strung Out (Fat Wreck Chords) and Rufio in August and September before heading to the UK for dates with Less Than Jake and Zebrahead in November. The band spent the first quarter of 2011 writing and recording an EP at Drasik Studios in Chicago, IL for a summer release on Paper + Plastick records. In April of 2011, shortly after they finished tracking, they hit the eastern US with The Forthrights, The Fad, Green Room Rockers, Stuck Lucky and The Brunt Of It on the Ska Is Dead Presents: Young Guns tour. The band spent June and July 2011 on a full-US co-headlining tour with New Jersey pop-punk band I Call Fives, featuring support from Handguns and The Story So Far. In March of 2012, We Are The Union will head out with celtic punk legends The Tossers for a short run of midwest and east coast shows. We Are The Union played their final show in June 2013 in Lansing, MI with The Suicide Machines. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.