:: Interpol Cover Story::
We present an in-depth 5,400 word article on NYC’s beloved Interpol, which examines the individual personalities and histories of each band member, the band’s democratic approach to making music, and the making of the band's much anticipated new album, Antics. For the article we interviewed all four members of Interpol separately, as well as interviewing their engineer - Peter Katis, their album cover designer - Sean McCabe, and several of their fans. We did an exclusive photo shoot with the band in a Hudson River adjacent photo studio in NYC.

::The Protest Section::
This is a thirty-three-page section in the issue that examines the role politics plays in music. For the visual aspect of the section Under the Radar conducted photo shoots with various musicians holding protest signs of their own writing. The section’s content is split into three main articles, each examining a different facet of the intersection of politics and music.


The History of Protest Music

This article traces protest music through the years, from peace to punk. The article incorporates interviews with such legends as:

Yoko Ono
Joan Baez
Richie Havens (whose performance opened the Woodstock festival)
Emmylou Harris
MC5
Country Joe McDonald
The Mekon’s Jon Langford
Pete Seeger (a protégé of Woody Guthrie and a legend in his own right)
Mike Watt (a punk icon, who played in The Minutemen and is in the current line-up of Iggy Pop & the Stooges)

There is also a separate article solely on Yoko Ono.

The American Perspective

This article examines the relationship between politics and today’s indie-leaning artists; incorporating interviews with a variety of artists, some who are more politically active than others. It looks into the reasons why some artists decide to embrace politics, either in their lyrics, when performing on stage, or when speaking with the press, and why others shy away from politics. The article incorporates interviews with:

Interpol
Joseph Arthur
Devendra Banhart
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Bobby Conn
David Cross (outspoken comedian and actor)
Cursive
Death Cab for Cutie
The Decemberists
Ani DiFranco
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne
Damien Jurado
I Am the World Trade Center
Perry Farrell
Ted Leo
Les Savy Fav
Le Tigre
Low
Low Flying Owls
Luna’s Dean Wareham
Pedro the Lion
Quasi
Radio 4
They Might Be Giants

There are also separate side-bar articles on Interpol and Death Cab for Cutie, which examine those specific bands’ take on politics in a more in-depth manner.

The International Perspective

The international article gets the perspective on politics and music from current indie artists from other countries. These artists discuss political issues in their own countries and the way that America and its government are currently perceived in their own countries. This article incorporates interviews with:

Billy Bragg (a protest music legend from the UK)
Badly Drawn Boy (UK)
The Concretes (Sweden)
The Dears (Canada, they discuss their Protest EP)
Elbow (UK)
Faithless (UK, they discuss their politically charged single “Mass Destruction”)
Hope of the States (UK)
Idlewild (Scotland)
The (International) Noise Conspiracy (Swedish anti-Capitalists)
Metric and Broken Social Scene’s Emily Haines (Canada/US)
Mew (Denmark)
Rockfour (Israel)
The Sleepy Jackson (Australia)
Stars (Canada)

There is also a separate sidebar Q&A with Billy Bragg.

More Quotes on Politics

At the end of the protest section there is a page that features quotes from artists UTR interviewed, but were not able to quote in any of the articles. This page features political quotes from:

Division of Laura Lee
Enon
The Faint
The Fiery Furnaces
The Helio Sequence
K-os
Rooney
Trans Am
M. Ward

Protest Sign Shoots

Many of the artists above are photographed in the section holding protest signs. UTR provided the musicians with poster-board and paint and asked them to write a slogan of their own choosing on the board. Some of the artists UTR shot with signs include: Yoko Ono (who drew the Japanese symbol for peace on her sign), MC5, Richie Havens, Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, Metric’s Emily Haines (who recreates the famous John Lennon & Yoko Ono “Bed-In” for her photo), Cursive, Devendra Banhart, David Cross, The Decemberists, Faithless, Idlewild, Luna’s Death Wareham, The Faint, Elbow’s Guy Carvey, Low Flying Owls, The Fiery Furnaces, Pedro the Lion, Ted Leo, Les Savy Fav, Hope of the States, and The Helio Sequence.

There are also some artists photographed with protest signs by UTR who were not available to be interviewed for the section, including:

Bright Eyes
Iron & Wine
Mellowdrone
The Secret Machines
Super Furry Animals

Protest Sign Auction

All of the protest signs were autographed by the musicians. In October Under the Radar will be auctioning off the signs on Ebay and donating the profits to Music For America, a non-profit that uses music to encourage young people to vote. The date of the auction is October 1 – 7, 2004.

::Other Features In Issue 7::

Exclusive interviews and photo-shoots with:

Asobi Seksu
Clinic
The Concretes
Graham Coxon (this ex-Blur guitarist’s first American interview on his first post-Blur solo album)
The Dears
Dykehouse
The Faint
The Fiery Furnaces
The Flaming Lips (studio update)
The French Kicks
Hope of the States
Idlewild (in the studio feature)
M83
Midnight Movies
Muse
Pas/Cal
Simple Kid
The Veils

Chris Walla Explains It All

Starting with this issue, Under the Radar will now feature a regular column from Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, and noted indie producer, Chris Walla.

::Reviews in Issue 7::

Featured Review: one of the first reviews of Elliott Smith’s final album, From a Basement On the Hill.

Another 166 Albums, EP’s and Demos Reviewed on Issue 7, including:

!!!
The Album Leaf
Apostle of Hustle
Badly Drawn Boy
The Bees
The Beta Band
Bjork
Black Dice
Blue States
Bumblebeez 81
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
The Charlatans
Clinic
Comets On Fire
Graham Coxon
David Cross
The Delgados
The Divine Comedy
The Dresden Dolls
Earlimart
Einsturzende Neubauten reissues
Elf Power
Brian Eno reissues
The Faint
Faithless
Fatboy Slim
The Fiery Furnaces
Frausdots
The French Kicks
Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
Future Soundtrack for America Comp.
The Go! Team
Goldfrapp single
The Good Life
Rachel Goswell
Gram Rabbit
Guided By Voices
PJ Harvey
Helio Sequence
The Hives
Hope of the States
Interpol
The Killers
Kings of Convenience
Komeda
Ben Kweller
Lamb
Les Savy Fav
Loretta Lynn
Luna
M83
Mellowdrone
Merge Records 15th Anniversary Comp.
Midnight Movies
Mission of Burma
Morrissey
Mouse On Mars
Moving Units
My Morning Jacket
Mystic Chords of Memory
Oceansize
Of Montreal
Old 97’s
The Orb
Orbital
Pedro the Lion
Pink Grease
Pixies best of
The Polyphonic Spree
The Prodigy
Radio 4
Ratatat
Reigning Sound
Jonathan Richman
Rilo Kiley
Sahara Hotnights
Simple Kid
Singapore Sling
Sloan
Sonic Youth
Sons and Daughters
Regina Spektor
The Sunshine Fix
Super Furry Animals remix album
Supergrass
Tahiti 80
Tegan and Sara
The Thermals
They Might Be Giants
The Thrills
Throbbing Gristle reissue
Tilly and the Wall
Trashcan Sinatras
The Twilight Singers
Unkle
The Velvet Teen
Tom Waits
West Indian Girl
Paul Westerberg
Wilco (dueling critics review)
The Winter Pageant
Wolf Eyes

Plus a new page devoted to reviews of unsigned bands’ demos, and many other albums and EP’s reviewed.