3 the Hardway is a 3 piece proto punk/riot grrrl band from Detroit, MI. Bustin Brooklyn is lead singer and drums. She is the soul of the project. Sloppy Joel plays lead guitar and does some back up vocals. Heavily influenced by the raw 70s nyc/Detroit punk rock (Iggy and the stooges, the cramps, plasmatics) along with femme punk bands of the 90s and today (babes in toyland, L7, amyl and the sniffers). They take their name not from the beastie boys song or any gaming term but from the 1970s b movie starring James Williamson, Jim Brown, Jim Kelly. The 3 team up to single handedly stop a US government assisted genocide against its own citizens. Finding parallels to this movies plot in today’s world, the 3 uses music to fight the evil wickedness of this totalitarian ran world that’s becoming duller by the day. They aim to break the reality, with a sound that’s so mean it’ll sonically smack you right in the face. Their mission to rock n roll is just, all while demonstrating strong sexual energy, an audible thrust. They’ve been making music together since fall of 2022. In 2023 they added a rhythm guitarist (Ary Raine) and released the ‘cost of living’ ep on cassette and the single on 7 inch vinyl in May 2023. The first show they played with this line up was at trixies bar in Hamtramck. They opened for Ricky Rat of the Trash Brats. The single was reviewed in the national publication ‘Maxium Rock n Roll’ where it was enjoyed, noted for being unique, and compared to Sonic Youth. In promotion of ‘cost of living’ some out of town shows were played in Grand Rapids, MI and Windsor, ON. They made a live appearance on the Ann Arbor radio show WCBN to promote the album ‘HWUAH’ which was released in August 2024. The album is 13 tracks and just under 45 minutes long with a mixture of melodic indie sounds and the signature unpolished sludge sound with riot grrrl esq vocals that they are known for. They played porchfest in Berkley, MI the day of its release. During this time the band made loops around Detroit playing many shows around town at places like Lager House, Old Miami, Outer limits lounge, Trixies, corktown tavern, Smalls, jobstoppers, Donovans, the garden bowl and others. They also played Ziggy’s in Ypsilanti a handful of times during this period. They opened for longstanding Ann Arbor punk group ‘State’ during this time at the diy venue ‘Packard art house’ . The group played around 40 shows with this line up from March 2023 until January 2025. In early 2025, Ary left the band. 3 the Hardway continued playing as a 2 piece and released ‘SEX CYMBAL’ in May 2025 which was well received in reviews by razorcake. The band recorded their first version of ‘can’t hardly stand it’ a cover by Charlie Feathers that was later covered by The Cramps. This was the first project recorded by Xian Muller. A fellow local musician, and friend. In July 2025 they went on a small tour of Wisconsin/Indiana with the Michigan band ‘Permanently Pissed’. In August 2025, Frank Williams joined the band on bass. They played more shows out in Toledo (Frankies), Ypsilanti (regal beagle) and Ann Arbor (blind pig) during this time. In&nbsp;November they filmed a live performance for Warren tv, a local public tv station. In January 2026 they embarked on a 4 date Canada, Ontario tour dubbed ‘the pot playoffs’ with Michigan solo artist ‘seizure pleaser’ with 2 stops in Toronto, 1 in Hamilton and 1 in Windsor. They continued playing around Detroit with an appearance on March 7th at the annual Hamtramck Blowout festival and April 25th at the Corktown Music festival. On April 14th, the 3 opened for The Meteors at The Sanctuary in Hamtramck, a longstanding psychobilly band from London, UK. On April 25th, 2026 they released their newest 4 song ep ‘hotcakes’ on streaming networks aswell as 7 inch vinyl records. In June 2026 they went on a 3 date southern tour where they play on Memphis, Birmingham, and New Orleans. In New Orleans they were joined on the bill by legendary pro skater Dustin Dollin (who dj).This summer they have shows planned around Detroit aswell as near Ann Arbor and Saginaw, Michigan. In September 2026 they will be going back to Canada with shows in Toronto and Hamilton.In October 2026 they plan to go to the northeast with dates in New York City.