Born 8 years ago in the Boyle Heights housing projects of East L.A. the members of Union 13 were still in their teens when they began sharpening their early musical teeth by playing at fully packed backyard parties. The intense focused energy of their live show was so fierce that, on a tip from a friend, Epitaph HMIC Brett Gurewitz dragged the band into a his own Westbeach Recorders to record a demo before they had ever played on a real stage. Gurewitz later played the demo for Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid who liked it so much that they jumped onboard to help produce the bands Epitaph debut East Los Presents (1997).

Since then Union 13 have been toughening their musical muscles through relentless touring with bands such as U.S. Bombs, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and H20 (on the first Punk O Rama tour), while also sharing the stage with Latin rock acts Molotov and Caf