Interviews

Canadian Dimension (August 2005)

What’s the biggest misconception that people have of Propagandhi?

Well, it’s probably not useful to make many assumptions about anyone who only puts 30 minutes of music and words out into the universe every 5 years and then disappears back into their space capsule for another 5. I would imagine that most conceptions people have of us are inaccurate because they are drawn from limited evidence. And any conceptions that are accurate are probably only lucky guesses. People are generally quite disappointed when they meet us.

People - young especially - tend to steer clear of political involvement, and in many cases the rationale for such ignorance seems to be that pursuing issues is either tiresome, confusing, or too out of reach from the "little guys." You’ve been educating yourself and advocating political awareness for years- how have you continued to maintain a passion for connecting music with politics? (Especially when it would be easier - and more profitable - to just sing about broken hearts, bling, and boobs)

I actually think that now more than ever, "political" music is as lucrative for the budding entrenpeneur as it traditionally has been for the "artist" who has resorted to safe, sentimental musical cliches about conventional interpersonal relationships to earn a living. Both genres are replete with nebulous platitudes that intentionally reference catch-words (like "revolution" and "love", respectively), to assure their target audience that, yes, you are indeed listening to the correct category of music to fit the lifestyle you have chosen from whatever magazine it is that services your demographic. Both approaches could be equally regarded as intense, protracted campaigns of saying nothing (for profit).

Political art is a subjective experience, and i do think compelling examples of it exist, but they’re not necessarily identifiable by familiar political rhetoric or imagery.

Regardless, in my mind, there is no such thing, in music or without, as "apolitical". In my opinion, people who try to identify themselves as "apolitical" are actually committing the intensely political act of deferring to the interests of the prevailing order (more often than not because of the privileges conferred upon them by that order in exchange for their deference). Once you come to terms with that, you can choose to either be a functionary or a malfunctionary. I spent the first half of my life as a functionary and i ain’t going out that way, so that is what keeps me interested.

Propagandhi is known for having some serious muscle in both music and politics. For instance, ten years ago i could belt out every word off of the how to clean everything album, but i didn’t really understand it. Fast-forward a few years (and more than a few corporate scandals) and suddenly the message - not just the music - became the "good shit." If you were forced to choose between the two extremes - being a strictly instrumental musician and a purely spoken word artist - which would you connect more with and why?

I’m sure anyone that has seen me speak publicly would reasonably seek an immediate injunction against anything from my mouth ever coming within 300 feet of a microphone again. Clearly, i was not put upon this earth to stand at a podium and lecture people without 20,000 watts of raging hardcore backing me up and, more importantly, drowning me out.

From which base-emotion does your motivation to write, perform, and educate yourself stem from? (Be it anger, empathy, spite, etc.)

Given what has constituted the majority of "loud" music in the mainstream, it’s not totally outlandish that people’s perception of loud music is that it is motivated primarily by anger and i’ll assume that’s what people think when they think of this band, but i can’t say it doesn’t disappoint me when that perception is somehow used as a weapon to discredit or belittle it’s place among the many dialects of the language of music. I mean, what is anger anyways? To me — and at the risk of your readership picturing me playing bongos and doing half-baked capoeira in the park — it’s a corollary of love; it’s a response to violations against love. What could be more righteous than that?

Music that doesn’t exist in the relentless pursuit of love, regardless of whether it is filed under "death metal" or "indie-rock" at your local future shit shop, isn’t music. It’s just "sound". Straight-up.

I understand you guys have been in some pretty intense situations while touring. What is the most daunting situation you can recall?

I guess my philosophy is that if your band hasn’t had to fist-fight it’s way out of a show; if it hasn’t been the subject of police harassment or a full-scale city riot; if it does not habitually face death-threats from paramilitarized white supremacists and theocratic fascists while on tour; then what you are doing probably does not honor the spirit of rock and roll. You may be a "musician" or an "artist", but you’re not a rock band; you are basically performing the safety dance. Around a maypole. With a collection of small people festooned in medieval garb.

At least this is how i attempt to justify to the past 15 nerve-wracking years of my life (insert nervous laughter bordering on tears here).

In your opinion, what is the worst crime against humanity?

Well, y’know, there are the shocking explosions of ultra-violence around the planet that manage to fall under legal definitions of crimes against humanity and then there’s the mundane crimes against humanity — like people sleeping on heating grates in rich industrialized countries — for which no one will ever face a judge…Except, perhaps, for the guy sleeping on the grate. The former we usually see on television, broadcast from a faraway place and the latter we usually step over on our way to work in downtown winnipeg.

I suppose one is clearly "worse" or more horrific in terms of spectacle, but there is something evil about the mundanity of the other, particularly given the wealth of the west. I don’t know, i think any crimes that are beyond prevention should be vigorously prosecuted.

Winnipeg has the highest child poverty rate in Canada. What do you see as being the first step in resolving poverty?

I don’t think i’m really in a position to answer that with much authority, but my intuition is that one necessary step might be for the general population to acknowledge that poverty exists and that it’s a predictable outcome of a system that sees a massive concentration of wealth and decision making power in the hands of a few. Another possible step might be for that same general population to mobilize against such a system in favor of one that works to prevent such flagrant assaults on democratic principles. Of course, people working directly in the anti-poverty movement would be much better qualified to answer this question. The ontario coalition against poverty seems to be one shining example of what citizens could and should be doing if they’re interested in justice.

If you had the undivided attention of every person, young and old, in north america, what would you say? On that note, what single book would you assign as mandatory reading?

I would hope i’d have the presence of mind to step aside and allow someone a little less ridiculous and a little more judicious than myself to give it a go. Perhaps someone representing the interests of the population of the world that doesn’t live quite as extravagantly as we do? As i hinted at earlier, after 34 years i have a much clearer understanding of my role on this planet and i think we can all agree that it is certainly not at the front of any parades.

Whoever spoke though, perhaps i could stand just a little behind and to left of the podium, still in frame, nodding enthusiastically, conspicuously holding a copy of chris hedge’s "war is a force that gives us meaning"? I don’t know.

Top Three

Three lessons you have learned the hard way?
  1. Be careful what you put out into the universe. You never know what kind of shelf-life it may turn out to have.
  2. Wildlife should be viewed from a safe distance.
  3. Rubber bullets aren’t made of rubber.
Three people you consider to be geniuses?

Rush

Three things for which you are grateful?
  1. My wife
  2. My children
  3. That 1. and 2. do not exist.
If you could "Mr. Potato Head" a new society, what are three qualities that every human being should possess?
  1. A relentless sense of skepticism coupled with an intense appreciation for the colossal mystery of the universe and everybody’s equal place in it.
  2. The capacity to actually feel what other people are feeling.
  3. X-ray vision (just me though)
Word asscociation (first thing that comes to mind when i say…)

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