Issue 7 of Under the Radar, The Protest Issue, features a special 33-page section that examines the intersection of music and politics. The section features three main articles that examine different aspects of politics and music: The History of Protest Music (which traces protest music from peace to punk), The American Perspective (in which we spoke to current American indie-rock musicians about politics and political music), and The International Perspective (which examines how musicians from other countries view politics and political music). We interviewed a wide range of musicians for these three articles and so there were a lot of great quotes that we simply weren’t able to fit into the issue. Below is a selection of the best quotes that didn’t make it into the issue, sorted by article and then by artist.

For the visual aspect of the issue we photographed musicians holding protest signs of their own writing. Some musicians made more than one sign, but we were generally only able to fit only one photo of each musician into the issue. Thus, also found on this page are bonus protest sign photos that didn’t make it into the issue, as well as some behind the scenes photos that show some of the musicians making their protest signs.

Please remember that all the best quotes and photos are in the print version of the magazine. Apart from that, enjoy!

The History of Protest Music

Joan Baez:

Joan Baez on the current political climate in the United States:

“I don’t think it was ever quite this creepy. I just saw Fahrenheit 911 twice, because it makes ultimate sense. (The current administration is) more maniacal now, and more empirical. And more careless and thoughtless and uncompassionate. When you have all those mixed together, it’s difficult to figure out what to do. I think part of it is because we don’t have much of a free press anymore. If you were working for one of the biggies, what would you write about if you wanted your job? It feels like a more dangerous time. What has developed over the last 30 years, they’ve been spending millions of dollars coming up with more ways to blow up the world. I’ve been more frightened. I talked a lot more 30 years again, and I believe that what I said was true and that it holds true now. But I hadn’t felt the tangible fear that I feel this time. But here we are, making the best of each day, and I think there are hundreds of thousands of people trying to figure out what to do with themselves.”

Joan Baez on Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 911 filling the role traditionally proscribed to musical activists:

“There’s no way to compare it, because it isn’t music. That’s what fascinates me, because people are waiting for some kind of stereotype of what came before. Like, ‘How come no one’s writing ‘Imagine’ or ‘Blowin’ in the Wind?’’ Well, we don’t ever have a repeat of history. And lo and behold, from this chaos emerges this big sloppy guy who looks like hell and goes around interrupting people’s lives to bring them the truth. Who would have known that that’s what would have been birthed from this mess? So maybe it isn’t someone standing playing a guitar; maybe it’s something totally different.”

Emmylou Harris:

Bright Eyes

Emmylou Harris on fans booing Linda Rondstadt for dedicating a song to Michael Moore during one of her shows:

“I did speak to her, and she was not aware that there was any kind of riot. It was completely overblown in the press. She said, “I dedicate a song to Michael Moore every night, and some people applaud and some people boo, and in Las Vegas one person said, ‘You bitch!’ And that rolls off her like water off a duck’s back, because she’s very intelligent, very well read, and understand the issues, and she makes a decision and she goes forward and she’s totally unfazed. With freedom of speech, she had a right to say what she did, and the audience had a right to respond. I think the frightening thing is when we lose our civility, which I think is happening across the board, and I find disturbing.”

Emmylou Harris on her responsibility to incorporate political messages into her art:

“I’ve at least got my foot in the water…Pretty much all I say politically is I encourage people to register to vote. And even if they don’t vote the way I’d like them to, it’s important that we at least show up and participate. This is not the way the founding fathers intended for it to be, I don’t think. With the Constitution they set something in motion that is a pretty extraordinary document and a recipe for the way you would want people to live. It’s an evolving thing; it’s an experiment; it’s a work in process, but it shouldn’t be left to a handful of elected officials. As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don’t get our civility back, we’re in trouble.”

Richie Havens:

Richie Havens on the current political climate:

“We’re still dealing with the guys that we were dealing with in the 60s; they’re still here, and they’re still trying to get their way. Well, we learn every day, and little by little, they lose control of their way. They created the middle class as the American dream, and then they chose at a certain time to kill it and let it grow again. So we’re right back in what you could call the early 1950s. There is no middle class anymore in the sense of that sanctity that they were working for to get to that place. Everyone that owns a home is fearful of losing it because they can’t afford to keep it up. Everything that we put our political currency as free people – all that we put it into – was to be part of that American dream. The fact turns out that we put it into it just to keep the other industries growing. People my age have the taste of having come from not knowing to knowing.”

Richie Havens on the rise of the 60s counterculture:

“I heard them say, ‘Oh yeah, yuppies, yippies, hippies,’ and all of those names came from the newspaper with their definition of what they meant. So they educated not us who didn’t call ourselves hippies or beatniks, but the two generations below who rebelled using their definition. So that’s how we got hippies, and it didn’t have anything to do with the ones the newspapers were calling hippies. It was a powerful mistake. They got to create the monster they wanted, but the monster was already equipped with the guys who went before them, because that was the information they were given. The idea was to lump everybody together so they could hit them all in the head at the same time -- that was the tactic. But they couldn’t do it, because even the hippies, who just thought they were hippies, were people of peace. Who do they call generation X and why do they call it? It’s obvious. Just lump them all together, show them what to wear, and beat them up because they like rock and roll. They’ve got strings left to lose, where they use to have a rope. All those little strings fraying are our new society. It’s wonderful.”

Country Joe McDonald:

Country Joe McDonald on whether he remains as optimist today as he was in the 60s:

“I am, personally. More so probably, because I think at times in the 60s, I didn’t think we had a chance in hell; [I thought] that they were going to come and get us. And now I realize that there are 6.2 billion people on the planet and it’s not about me. It’s not about Joe. But the heat was on sometimes. Our phone was tapped a lot and people would follow us around and shit; we were like suspected Al Qeada.”

Country Joe McDonald on the current lack of political activism among contemporary artists:

“One thing that you’re not hearing now are subjects being discussed in songs in a way that you haven’t heard before. There is a lot of bullshit going on in pop music today that you hear on the radio, and with the singer-songwriters and people that are getting attention right now. Now there are an infinite number of superstars on VH1 or MTV and it’s endless. There are an endless number of stupid assholes out there who have a lot of fucking money and they’re acting in films and singing songs and they want to be fucking individualists but they’re nothing. They’re lightweight bullshitters who have never done anything to offend anybody but get strung out on a drug and go to detox, and even that doesn’t mean anything nowadays. People have it in their mind that they want all the bling bling in the world and the want a fancy car, and that’s it -- whatever the trend is. Pretty much if MTV or VH1 of Fox News is talking about you, you don’t mean shit. Whatever you’re saying is just fucking nothing. If you want to get on television don’t say anything. But you do have to say something, which is generally, “I love almost everything that is going on.” And they don’t have any experience. It’s hard for me, because I’ve been in the military, and I’ve been in the counterculture, and I’ve been in the protest movement, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years. It’s hard to impress me. It’s rough. There are plenty of issues to write about and protest. It’s a goldmine for people to make fun of and issues for people to write music about. And there are millions of people out there – as opposed to the 60s when there were a few thousand – who need music that speaks to them. And if you want to do that, you can.”

Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals

The MC5’s Wayne Kramer:

The MC5’s Wayne Kramer on the role that music can play in social change:

“To the extent that the musicians themselves can be activists, that’s one way. Use your band, use your music to play benefits to lend to causes that represent causes that you believe in. There’s another way, which is more powerful, which is in the songs themselves, in the stories and the songs. They become the clandestine meeting of like-minded people. I hear ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ by Bob Dylan, and I go ‘Goddamn right!’ And you hear and feel the same way, too, and now we have a connection. I think that’s the best role that it cane play.”

The Mekons Jon Langford:

The Mekon’s Jon Langford on the early days of punk rock:

“We didn’t just think about the music and the songs, but it was about the way you act and what you do and the way you structure your life and your career. It wasn’t about being a big pop star and being socially correct. It was about walking it like you talked it. That was the idea when we started, but there were a lot of pitfalls and lessons you learn on the way that point out how complicated and difficult that is. Fundamentally, I’m still of the same opinion, though. It was never going to be a mainstream thing. Everybody has different ideas of it, but my idea of it was that it was a radical overhaul of the structure of the music business and the way culture was produced. It didn’t work out that way. It was more like a series of gorilla raids, like a cyclic thing.”

The Mekon’s Jon Langford on the dichotomous nature of British punk rock:

“It fragmented very quickly because it meant different things to different people. To some people it just meant taking your trousers in and shouting loud and still having to have a hit on the Hit Parade. It was over pretty quick, in terms of really radical things. I didn’t take the whole idea that with pop music if you put out a record and if it doesn’t sell five million copies it’s a disappointment. My ideal thing would be for a lot of people to be making records that were informative and communicated with a lot of people.”

Yoko Ono:

Yoko Ono on the protest movement of the 60s:

“I would rather say ‘peace movement’ than ‘anti-war movement.’ I think that it’s logical that none of us would like to see ourselves maimed or see our children killed. We want to stick to life and it’s beauty. In order to do that, we were in the same boat together, and if you make too much of a mess, the boat is going to tumble. And if the boat tumbles, then we are all going to sink together. You have to be extremely careful, and be concerned, and be sensitive and think of peace.”

Operation Ivy’s Jesse Michaels:

Yoko Ono

Operation Ivy’s Jesse Michaels on punk rock’s antipathy toward the 60s counterculture:

“I would say that Punk Rock was a rebellion against (the counterculture’s) decadent phase. In all the different styles of punk, hating hippies was practically universal. I don’t think punk started as a political protest movement per se, though there were political elements. If you look at the biggest early punk bands such as the Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and so on, the music isn’t exactly political. In the case of The Clash there is certainly that consciousness but it is highly stylized and seems to serve the artistic thrust rather than the other way around. Punk was closer to an artistic movement like Dadaism than a political movement like the Anti-Vietnam War or Free Speech movements. But like Dadaism it was infused with political elements. Ultimately, though, it was pretty unique. I say ‘was’ because although punk still exists it is totally different now simply because it is absolutely commonplace. Rebellion is now a choice within a variety of approaches in punk such as punk as fashion, punk as entertainment, punk as MTV culture, punk as ‘The Cool Thing To Do,’ whereas in the seventies and most of the eighties you could not avoid the rebellious element. It isn’t dead but isn’t exactly alive either.”

The American Perspective

Asobi Sesku:

Yuki: “If Gay and Lesbian couples are not entitled to the same rights and protection for them and their families, they shouldn’t have to pay taxes. This boils down to a basic human rights issue. Anyone who believes otherwise is just sadly misguided and mistaken. I hate people who talk about ‘morals’ when it comes to this matter.”

James Hanna: “I think a lot of liberals are afraid of speaking out because frankly conservatives are better-organized and quicker to attack.”

Barsuk Records’ Josh Rosenfeld:

“We started off very idealistic, but we then came to realize that in order for us to be a good force in society, we needed to be a strong business. And the reality is that to be a strong business, you need to make money. As I’ve grown to have employees — employees whose livelihood depends on the success of my company — I’ve learned to take my role in business, and within the community, much more seriously.”

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Peter Hayes:

Secret Machines

“For us, [being on a major label] was taking the approach of jumping down the belly of the beast and cutting our way out.”

“We pulled back on the song ‘US Government’ initially because we wanted to be sensitive to the events of Sept. 11. The point was not to offend or rub it in for innocent people—and that’s who would be hearing the song. If we could play it before Congress, then absolutely [we would have released it right away].”

Cursive’s Matt Maginn:

“[As a band] we do not feel comfortable telling people what to think, of preaching, but rather encourage people to inform themselves.”

“It is never a band’s job to do anything other an art and entertainment, but there is a responsibility of being a good person [to be overtly political].”

“We just make jokes about preaching to the choir, but at least with a Cursive crowd we can feel good about preaching about voting, because they do need to hear that.”

Death Cab for Cutie:

Ben Gibbard: It seems like now liberal people are up in arms about, this time don’t vote for Nader, vote for Kerry, we have to get Bush out of office. The whole thing that happened four years ago, a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush. That’s really not true. Like Nick was saying, I don’t like the fact that we’re put in a position that, not only with the Electoral College, it’s possible to have a candidate that did not win the electoral vote. That to me is like the biggest miscarriage of justice in this country, as far as how we elect a person into office. It’s like the person who gets the most votes should win, I mean, that’s seems like very simple, simple logic. And the fact that we have an electoral system that is weighted in this kind of ludicrous way where, when people campaign they ignore areas of the country because they know that they have to win in a state that has the most electoral votes in order to get that state. It puts you in a situation where, yeah, if there was no electoral college, I would have no problem voting for Nader, because there’d be no doubt in my mind that George Bush would be defeated. If he didn’t win the last election, he’s not going to win this election by the popular vote but the fact that we have a system that is ass backwards is really disheartening and makes me think that I have to vote for Kerry, and that I don’t have a choice.

Death Cab for Cutie

Chris Walla: Well, and the thing that’s the most horrifying about that to me is that there wasn’t a revolution in 2000, you know? I mean, there will be a revolution when the price of hibachis doubles at Wal-Mart, but there’s not going to be a revolution when more people vote for somebody than not and they don’t get into office. I mean, that speaks to a truly and completely complacent nation of people. That speaks to our relative survivalist simplicity. I mean, it’s true there are some basic truths about our country. We have more to eat as a nation, more than any other nation in the world and we have housing more than any other nation in the world, and those things are good and they are true and our water is clean and that’s good. So I think that that breeds complacency, and what it means is that the system can get away with whatever it wants to get away with, apparently.

Ben Gibbard: Yeah, I think if you were a person and you had a family and George Bush doesn’t win the election but doesn’t become president, I’m not going to throw my family’s livelihood in jeopardy and go wage a war on the government.

Nick Harmer: And, couple that with a lot of the bigger interest stuff. I mean, there’s just so much big money that the layman can’t compete with. I mean, the MoveOn scandal that happened at the Super Bowl is a great example of an organization that paid for an ad and they wouldn’t run a political advertisement, but yet they allowed George Bush to give a speech and his face was all over the place. It just frustrates me that there are organizations all over that can’t compete and that’s when politicians –

Chris Walla: Or even when they can compete, they’re not allowed to.

Death Cab for Cutie’s Nick Harmer:

“We need to start feeling personally responsible for what’s being done in the name of our flag.”

“I’m finding it really difficult to formulate a lot of clear action plans. I’m really disheartened a lot by what I see. People still call it a war, but I think it’s officially been declared over, so it’s hard to even describe what’s going on in Iraq. Is it an occupation, is it a mess? So it’s really hard to know what to rally against. You can’t really put ‘war’ on a banner and say ‘no war’, because there’s not really a war going on anymore, of sorts, in that classic way. I think that I’ve been really sort of disheartened by a lot of things and I’m going through a really difficult time, personally, just because I’m feeling more and more marginalized and less and less like I can do anything about it.”

The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy:

UTR: If you plan to vote for John Kerry in November’s election, is it because you truly believe he’ll be a great president or will you be voting for him just to get Bush out of the White House? Was there another democratic nominee that you preferred to Kerry, one that you wish had won the nomination?

Colin Meloy: I thought Kucinich would’ve been the ideal candidate, but certainly not the most practical one.  I’m still getting to know Kerry a bit, though I do have faith that he will be a kinder, more ethical president than Bush.  The whole “just-get-Bush-out” attitude is a little depressing – it really undermines the other candidate’s platforms, no matter how strong they are – but if it’s something that galvanizes the left, I’m all for it.

UTR: Besides Bush, the election and the war in Iraq, what other political and social issues are concerning you right now?

The Decemberists

Colin Meloy: I’m hoping that in the next few years we can consider ourselves enlightened enough to extend the relatively quaint right to marry to all citizens, regardless of their sexual denomination.  I’m also hoping, with a new president, we can begin to reconstruct the damage that’s been done to our environmental and health policies by the current administration.

UTR: What role do you think musicians should play in addressing political issues, either in their lyrics, when speaking between songs on stage, in the media or in leading by example?

Colin Meloy: I think it’s tricky.  Protest songs these days come across as a little precious or pat.  I don’t know what that is – I think possible we can blame that on the permanent affixation of irony into modern pop music.  No-one wants to hear anything spoken in earnest anymore, unless it happens to involve unrequited, teenage love.

Ani Difranco:

“…Certainly if you are a rock star, then you have a lot of money, and a lot of support out there in the world, so in a way it’s easier to stand up. You have a platform to stand on, you have a certain amount of empowerment as a human being that someone down at the corner store doesn’t have. So in a sense, you can say it’s much harder for that person to say something at work when a political discussion ensues, or to make people feel uncomfortable for a second, or even risk something horrifying like getting fired. I think that we all need to be able to put ourselves at a certain amount of personal risk, especially if it’s only economic, to fight for the lives of other people, the lives of people in Afghanistan, in Iraq, or wherever.”

“For those of us who desire change, envision it, and work for it everyday, [Sept.11]-kind of crises present incredible opportunity because everybody’s suddenly impassioned with politics, and thinking about things like foreign policy. So it’s an opportunity for dialogue that wasn’t there before. So there is a good fortune there as well as a pain.”

“The minute your airplay is more important than war you are becoming part of the problem.”

Enon’s John Schmersal:

“I don't usually think of myself on political terms. This war and this presidency is enough for me to feel a sense of cooperative duty to do something to help get Bush out of office.”

“Many bands don't want to color their image with politics and will never deal with them in their music or in between songs onstage. … You don't have to stick your foot in your mouth to get something accomplished....you can be passively active by simply not playing venues and events sponsored by the likes of Clear Channel or other monopolizing
organizations related to Bush.”

The Faint’s Todd Baechle:

Devendra Banhart

“[Paranoiattack] was written during that time and what it’s getting at is saying, are we sure that this fear is for real or is it really produced by the government and the media in order to put the country in such fear to gather momentum for an attack, that’s ultimately selfish.”

Perry Farrell:

“There’s a perception that the people in control are the majority—but that is a misperception. I think it’s completely the opposite. I think the majority need to only unify, and we’ll have a great country.”

“Everybody knows how to vote now, and that’s powerful. This year being an important election year, and people are much more informed, conscious, and their participation has never been more important. And I think we are actually going to make change.”

The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne:

“The system is never set in one place and in one time. I don’t think the system is necessarily corrupt; it’s open to be whatever the people who are in it want it to be. And if you are one of the people in it, you can change it. But if you’re on the sidelines, you don’t deserve the benefit of the change.”

“Most politics isn’t about war—most of it is mundane bullshit. [Politicians] don’t have to be imaginative. I wouldn’t want that job. I don’t think anybody grows up today wanting to be a Senator or Congressmen; it’s only people who are in political families. No, people wake up and wanna be Kid Rock, Eminem. And who wouldn’t want to be them? So those jobs are for the leftovers now. We get what we get.”

The Helio Sequence’s Brandon Summers:

Helio Sequence

“The blind patriotism and fear that propelled this war are two more outside forces that an individual needs to be aware of in order not to have something decided for them.”

“It's no secret that being an ‘indie’ musician isn't a rich ‘profession’ to begin with and it seems almost like a joke to think that money would be a motivating force for any action as an indie musician…There is the question of alienating people though...I don't feel like it's my place to go on a 10 minute tirade against the Bush administration on stage...to make a comment is one thing, to preach is another...”

I Am the World Trade Center’s Daniel Geller:

“If America would just work on its Energy Independence, none of these fake wars would even be necessary”

Damien Jurado:

“In my genre, I don’t sing about politics, and to me it’s not important. When you are telling me about how your brother committed suicide, and how the last few records got you through some tough times, I’m not going to say, ‘wow that’s great. By the way, who are you going to vote for? But, yeah, people do look to artists; I’m just not that voice. I do have very strong opinions, I’m just not very vocal when it comes to my music; it’s just separate.”

K-os:

“If I am to say something ‘political’ I measure how natural it sounds.  How it fits the music.  Not forcing it on people -- just conversational.”

“A fact -- mainstream media is not made for dissenting voices.”

Les Savy Fav’s Syd Butler:

“I grew up in DC and there is this saying that every young politician starts off wanting the same thing, with the best intentions. Clean drinking water, schools, Medicare, gun control…Everyone has the same thought process: ‘I want to save the world’. Basically politics is a mountain of shit and to get to be president is to be the most beautiful flower on top of this mountain of shit. But climb this mountain to get to the most beautiful flower in the world, you’re covered in shit. So we have to figure out a situation where people can get to the top without being covered in shit.”

Le Tigre:

Kathleen Hanna: “Art revolves around creating something that isn’t there.”

Johanna Fateman: “The negative aspect [of being recognized for our politics] is that we are often overlooked as musicians, producers… [it’s the] aesthetics that then do not get addressed.”

Pedro the Lion’s Dave Bazan:

“To whatever degree [George W. Bush] waves the flag of Christianity, he is disingenuous…[He and the] so called ‘Christian right’ ideas of faith and politics are the exact antithesis of everything that Christ ever said … I am infuriated by the ‘attempting to do God’s will’ rhetoric politically and socially. I can’t even explain how infuriated I am by that. It’s just not possible. I’m boiling now just thinking about it.”

“[The Republican Party has] co-opted the language and the religion itself has become the antithesis of whatever is true and good in Christ’s teachings.”

“Information is the key to this thing working right, and right now information is totally manipulated by people who are economically conservative, of protecting the wealth that already is.”

Quasi’s Sam Coomes:

“Music is vast - much greater in every sense of the word than politics. There's plenty of room for politically oriented ideas and feelings in music, and it’s ridiculous to think the two can't or should mix.”

Radio 4’s Anthony Roman:

“When we started the band, people were being

Mellowdrone

as vague as possible when it came to lyrics, and it was bothering me. So we came in and were like, this is what we are saying, like it or not.”

“We had one [Clear Channel] show on the last tour, and it turned out to be the worst show of the tour. It was a place we’ve played a couple times and I found out on this trip and I was like, ‘ah, that’s not surprising’. You know, too much money at the door, nobody there…but Irving Plaza is CC and the guy who books that is a great guy, and he’s supportive of all the NY bands. So it has a lot to do with who you deal with directly. I mean we are on a big label, a big company, so you can’t be completely hypocritical.”

Rooney’s Taylor Locke:

“Musicians do not have any implicit duty to speak on political issues, however, if a band had reached a level of notoriety where they feel they have a platform to speak from, and something to speak about, then they by all means should. I encourage it!”

“A year or two ago I would have said that bands who consider themselves ‘pop’ shouldn't be politically explicit with their politics, but nowadays I'd say fuck that, get right out there and say what you think because young people need to hear it.”

M. Ward:

“Violence and revenge are the worst examples to set for the next generation.”

The International Perspective

Billy Bragg (England):

UTR: What role do you think musicians should play in discussing political issues, in their lyrics, on-stage or in the media?

Interpol

Billy Bragg: I think that the pop tradition doesn’t really do that. The pop tradition reduces everything down to a commodity – to a video, to a single, to a soundbite. But the folk tradition, which I think I am actually a part of, has always been heavy on storytelling – both singing songs and talking to the audience. On reflecting both personal & political views. On picking up news in one place and then bringing it to another place and then taking that news back. The bottom line, most important of all, is doing it in a way that’s entertaining, rather than in a way that’s hectoring or lecturing.

UTR: Do you feel that the youth of today is generally apathetic about standing up for their political viewpoints?

Billy Bragg: This is a very difficult question to answer, because in some ways it’s difficult to make political culture when you’re living in a political vacuum and there’s not a lot of political discourse going on. All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations. For instance, “The Times They Are a Changing.” Bob Dylan wrote that because of what was happening in the Civil Rights movement and what was in the papers everyday. It wasn’t the other way around. You know the Civil Rights movement didn’t happen because Bob Dylan wrote “The Times They Are a Changing.” It works the other way around. So when there’s not all that activity going on, it’s hard to expect people to be writing political songs. And although there is a war going on in Iraq, it took Vietnam four or five years until the draft really started to cut in to white America, frankly, before the students were radicalized. So these things do take time. But if it’s any consolation to you and your readers, when we were doing our political activities in the 1980s in Britain, the most political time in my lifetime, the mid-‘80s during Margaret Thatcher’s reign, people were always saying to us, ‘God, the students don’t give a monkey’s.’ You know, ‘They don’t care, this is nothing like it was in ‘68.’ So people are always looking back to the time when students or young people were much more radical. I do think that’s a very common thing. I do think that the very fact that there are people out there making records, making websites, making films, newspapers, magazines, it’s all still going on. I come into contact with it all the time.

Broken Social Scene and Apostle of Hustle’s David Newfeld:

UTR: What are your thoughts about your own government, are you happy with your leader and the way your country is being run?

David Newfeld: All these parties are working knowingly and unknowingly for the people who own the system and don't actually run for election. These established political parties on television and in print are pretty much just the visible management level of politics and money. Their leaders all work for the secret government otherwise they'd attend Bilderberger meetings and then tell us what went down, but they don't. In the end, these elites, like parasites, are out to bleed what's left of nations and people for every last usable ounce of their wealth. Democracy is a front or cover for this operation that's essentially global corporate Fascism.

UTR: What role do you think musicians should play in addressing political issues, either in their lyrics, when speaking between songs on stage, in the media or in leading by example?

David Newfeld: Musicians are generally trying, but I strongly recommend you educate yourself and study by your own design without waiting for anyone else and definitely don't depend on rock stars.

UTR: Do you feel like the youth of today is generally apathetic about standing up for their political viewpoints and in regards to voting? If yes, why do you think that is and do you think music and musicians can help change that apathy?

David Newfeld: Hard for young people I imagine to feel like they can do much about reality since it's pretty much disappeared under electric conditions. I'd recommend leaving the major cities and moving to more remote areas and forming self-sufficient, cooperative type communities amongst like minded individuals who value people and self sufficiency. In the end, the constitution is a great thing, but the people who've hijacked the Whitehouse like constitutions and democracy as much as their former business partner Adolf Hitler did.

UTR: What role do you feel capitalism plays in the freedom of speech/censorship discussion of political music? In other words, are you ever afraid that by expressing your political views you will risk loosing money, either by alienating some of your more mainstream fans, or by radio and TV networks like Clear Channel and MTV refusing to play your music?

David Newfeld: It's people like RFK/JFK, John Lennon or at one time independent publisher Larry Flynt who are the genuine threat to the awfulgarchy because they're rich already so they're harder to buy off and they don't need a sugar daddy with the resources they already have at their disposal. Those people generally are assassinated. There aren't many of these people presently left.

Buzzcocks’ Tony Barber:

“The Labour Party [in the U.K.] was founded on socialist principles, but has been hijacked, in the last ten years, by moderates. Western democracies have all moved the centre to the right, and [Prime Minister Tony] Blair is the culmination of that. Great Britain has been fast-tracked, by business interests, into being a miniature US.”

“I am a socialist. No apologies. The war in Iraq is over control. Saddam is a separate moral issue. People should remember that.”

“99.99% of all lyrics are vacuous puerile drivel about boy/girl stuff, anyone from Boy-bands to 'Punk'. The sad bit is that most of the other .01% is just self-indulgent twaddle.
There again if Kylie released a song about the war in Iraq, I'd probably question her motives!”

“Why is it ok for 'artists' to sing any old pseudo-psychological arrogant drivel and not be taken to task, yet, if one were to make a political comment, then that person would be under the microscope, scrutinised beyond belief? Why don't people ask if there should be a separation between 'Music' and 'Business'? I think there should be separation between mindless piffle and music.”

“You are sold crap to eat. You are given sanitized scraps of 'entertainment' to watch on TV. You are forced to work, then forced to give all the money away in order to survive.
You are then expected to salute whatever flag they stick in front of your face. You are told jump in front of a gun for it when they tell you to. You will probably die penniless and pass on a world to the next generation that’s in worse shape than when you came into it. That’s progress. That’s the 21st century.”

Clinic’s Carl Turney (UK):

“I just think we don’t feel comfortable being attached to any sort of [political stance], because we’re basically a band that’s completely ambiguous. I think if we started having a political opinion, it would tarnish the mystery of [the band]. It’s like, ‘Clinic? They were quite mysterious, but no, now they’re super-political.’ It simply doesn’t work, we’re more theatrical than that. There’s more fantasy. As Ade said, the ridiculous. People who are ridiculous can’t comment on politics - it just wouldn’t be right.”

“I think there’s different circumstances and bands in different situations where [musicians addressing political issues] can work and it can do good. And in

Guy Carvey of Elbow

those circumstances I think, ‘Why not?’ You can use your personality or your celebrity, say you want to talk about Bono or Thom Yorke or people like that. They’ve almost transcended being in a band to become a celebrity as well, so people listen to what they say, listen to their opinions. And if their opinions are for a good cause, I think that’s a righteous thing to do – to achieve some sort of good. But then they’ve gone beyond being a guy standing on stage saying ‘Fuck the war,’ this song is called whatever - it’s gone beyond that, they’re talking as just people. And not really talking in respect to the band either, because they’re not saying Radiohead or U2 are against this. They are protesting against it themselves. It’s personality over the band or music or whatever. Well, [Radiohead’s album] Hail to the Thief is an exception.”

The Dears’ Murray Lightburn (Canada):

UTR: Besides The Dear’s Protest EP, are you ever tempted to get into politics in your lyrics?

Murray Lightburn: It’s not my thing to be overly political. But I try to think of basic human issues that I like to discuss. You know, how we treat each other. It’s really all about love. Peace and love. You don’t have to do something dated and say something like ‘George Bush is an asshole’ in one of your songs, because George Bush will be dead in 50 years. No one will care about him anymore. But people will always be talking about love, and they’ll always be talking about peace. We can discuss issues, but we really need to focus on how we deal with each other. And the more we focus on that, the better off humankind will be. We have a new song called “The Ballad of Human Kindness” and it’s all about that. That’s what our flow is, really. We’re not getting caught up in specifics.

Faithless’ Maxi Jazz (England):

“The inspiration for all of my songs is people. When you see people suffering in major ways all over the place, you think to yourself, ‘Hang on a minute, I’ve got to do something.’ In a lot of cases, it’s within our own gift to improve our own lot. In Buddhism we believe that one’s environment is a reflection of one’s self. So when I began to moderate the view that the world is a hard, difficult place, and believe the world really is a brilliant, bright, abundant, generous, compassionate, amazing, powerful place, then all of those vibes start flying at me. As soon as I started to really value myself, my environment started to value me. I got paid. As soon as I started to respect myself, then respect started coming towards me. So as far as that’s concerned, I have it within my power to make my own life better. But in order to make the lives of people of the country better, people have got to unite and become strong.”

“There are two forms of truth in the world today: superficial truth, and fundamental truth. Superficial truths all point to our differences. You know, I’m a man, you’re not. You live in America, I don’t. You probably have different favorite bands. All of this is true. But the fundamental truths are, if I write on, say, hunger, you’ll go, ‘Wow, that’s right.’ So would somebody in China or Romania. If you were to write an essay on what it’s like to lose your partner, we have no cultural demarcations when it comes to our basic wants and desires as humans. So all sorts of differences, while true, are superficial and totally irrelevant. But it’s how we live our lives. We’re always pointing out the differences between us and them. All of these little national stereotypes we have – I think that it’s on this basis that we still find it in ourselves to go to war.”

Hope of the States’ Sam Herlihy (UK):

“I'm not a fan of war in general. It's a basic and trite thing to say. When these people decided to go and do this, there was a little half of them that knew it was wrong and comedically ridiculous. It baffles me, totally baffles me, that these were the people put in charge to lead our fair lands, and they're leading us over the edge. Blowing people up was justified maybe once in history when the Nazis were exterminating the Jews. We see so many conflicts based on pointless, pointless things. When the world ends, there will be a lot of reckoning for a lot of people.”

“I'm blessed to be born in a democracy. You're allowed to way what you want, pretty much. People can sing about whatever the hell they want. If people want to make a literal comment about it, more power to them; if they don't, that's their right. Sometimes I find it strange that people don't say things more often. But even answering these questions, I don't have a clue. I'm as dumb as anyone else. The point it gets to be offensive is when people preach. I'm confused by the world these days, our songs are about that confusion more than anything else. If through that you can get into discussions with people, then that's fantastic, but when people preach... people in bands are idiots. What the hell do we do? We stand around and hit guitars and scream. It doesn't make people in bands any more qualified than anyone else.”

Komeda’s Marcus Holmberg (Sweden):

“I don’t think it’s necessary for music to be political. Music is political whether it’s intended or not. It starts a revolution in somebody’s head. It reflects thoughts and ideas and it affects people in doing so. Young people search for what they want and need. If they don’t find it in lyrics I believe they’ll find it somewhere else. I think it could be dangerous to listen too much to what any rockstar says since they often live in a strange corrupt world and are of course affected by it. The ones with the greatest political ideas mostly don’t start playing the guitar, so the greatest truths that comes from rock and roll are the easiest and most true: Peace and Love!”

“In Sweden my greatest concern is that Sweden has sold out. The government has sold out what belongs to the people and made social welfare into a lottery, a game. Bit by bit the government has turned right wing. And nobody seems to care.”

Metric and Broken Social Scenes’s Emily Haines, (Canada/USA):

“In my opinion, the best thing anyone can do for America is to help the bored break down and have some kind of transcendent experience through art or music or film or drugs or whatever. Ask any kid losing their mind in Walmart, we are currently experiencing a serious shortage of freaks! We need masses of people who very recently were either too discouraged to do anything at all or were just blending into whatever was socially acceptable in their particular world suddenly busting out in unimaginable ways. We need more weirdos, we've got too many long-banged youngsters in distressed denim leaning in corners or shuffling around acting superior because their legs are so skinny. These guys are everywhere, I think Urban Outfitters manufactures them and sends them out

Emily Haines

into the world to make everyone else too self-conscious to do anything but lean either. We need overweight boys in tennis shorts reciting their utopian manifestos, not more posers who think that because their band recordings are low quality their music automatically stands for something, or that indie rock by definition is any kind of movement. It isn't! It's fashion-driven and market-driven just like everything else.”

“My sense is that we've lost sight of what it means to be citizens of this country. We complain but do nothing. I was living in England when Bush was ‘elected’ and all the newspapers there ran headlines like ‘THE WORST THING HAS HAPPENED’ and ‘HORRIBLE NEWS FOR THE WORLD.’ They anticipated the worst and they were right.”

“There are no ‘political messages’ in my lyrics, just observations. I'm not telling anybody what to think, and I'm not telling them what to do either, except I guess in ‘Combat Baby’ with the line ‘fight off the lethargy.’ My dream is that suddenly everybody's self-absorbed moping is going to turn into action, if not for any specific political motive then at least to make our collective existence less passive.”

“[Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean] Chretien did some amazing things in his last days in office- he was extremely vocal about honoring the wishes of Canadian citizens and not joining America's war. Around the same time he passed legislation allowing for same sex marriage and decriminalized marijuana. Unfortunately the pot thing got repealed shortly afterwards. Anyway it was a beautiful moment.”

Muse’s Matt Bellamy (UK):

“I think musicians like Rage Against the Machine and System

Luna

of a Down who address political issues directly in their lyrics are very important in these times.  But I think it is painful when other artists whose music is just simplistic entertainment with no real political content believes their fame empowers them to influence people's votes or use it to attract a particular demographic.” 

“I think there is a feeling of mistrust for the government in general.  The problem with mistrust is that it makes your vote seem useless as whoever comes in will probably muck things up again. Well, having said that, I think a blowjob from Monica Lewinsky is less of a crime than shaking hands with Dick Cheney!”

Stars’ Amy Millan (Canada):

UTR: How do people in your country [Canada] currently perceive the United States and the Bush administration?

Amy Millan: I don't believe people think George Bush and Americans are one in the same. Let's not forget he was not elected in the first place. America has lost democracy and it is a terrifying thing to watch. The media and government are preaching that they are bringing democracy to the world, and they themselves don't have free elections. The new digital voting machines could be the end of democracy. Americans need to work very hard, be very brave, and watch every move to get their country back. I love Americans, they are warm and friendly, and they are being lied to.

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