PROPAGANDHI
CAN POWER CHORDS, POP PUNK, AND PARTICIPATORY ECONOMICS
de-axis the world from its current disgraceful spin? For fifteen years, like a top
with a diamond tip, Propagandhi have been able to burrow down into thick
hides of politics and corporate culture to inject their own anti-venom. It's
more than just play-acting. Ham-fisted platitudes have given way to acute,
long-lasting insight that works both as a riot on a turntable and as a sound-
track to the G-7 Welcoming Committee, a collective helped formed by the
band in Winnipeg. G-7's main business? Fostering resistance culture by releas-
ing music of substance and audio CDs by heavy-hitting iconoclasts.
I talked to the singer/guitarist, Chris, a guy who has put his life in line with
his heart and has enough business sense not to go bankrupt.
Interview by: ReTodd
he last thing you learned to clean?
Beer off of a vegan chocolate cake.
How do you do that?
You just eat the cake.
What s the shape of the flame that burns
inside of you?
A metal sign. High up in the air. Heads
banging in the background; some hair shak-
ing.
Looking back at being chased by a moose,
what series of jujitsu moves would you use to
fell it without damaging the rampaging
woodland animal?
Imagining I was seven or eight hundred
pounds heavier, I'd of shot him under its jab,
taken it down with a double leg takedown, put
it in a gentle but firm cross-body arm bar, and
demand that it submit by tapping out.
Running through sulfuric acid was a planned
diversionary tactic?
It was a rapid-fire decision. I didn't want to
get trampled. I thought I'd rather burn to
death it would be quicker and less ironic.
Did growing up in a small town shape your
vision and drive for music?
Absolutely. The three of us come from very
rural towns in Western Canada and we gravi-
tated towards very extreme and marginalized
music. It could be that it gets so cold here.
You're stuck inside, you're blasting out tunes,
and trying to do something new every winter.
Name one concert forever sealed in your top ten.
Metallica, 1986 at the Pantages Playhouse
Theatre in Winnipeg with Metal Church,
James Hetfield's shoe right in front of my
face and both of my little arms wrapped
around his leg, banging my little head as
hard as I could.
Being so impressed by Metallica and extreme
music, why the format of pop punk?
The same reasons some people have grown
tired of punk in the 90s. In the late 80s the
majors came into the metal scene, starting with
Slayer. Suddenly, there was a rampage to sign a
130 THRASHER
glut of shitty speedmetal. I discovered punk
rock. It maintained the energy of the metal
scene and didn't have a lot of the stupid, fan-
tasy lyrics. Our first demo tape has two
straight-up metal songs. Eight minutes and
forty-five seconds long. Three guitar solos.
1989. They were our attempts at ecological
concern songs. Fucking embarrassing.
When did you decide you weren't going to
separate music from politics?
MDC, Dead Kennedys, early COC, DRI,
Dayglo Abortions, and Guilt Parade helped
but we've been a political band by default
because it's the only thing we're motivated to
write about. It's not calculated.
How did your name come about?
We were sixteen. I was doodling in school. It
had a meaning once but now it's just an
unfortunate identifier. We were thinking Dead
Kennedys; trying to connect something we
thought had political value with I don't know
what the fuck.
What convinced you to stop eating meat?
I ate meat voraciously as a child. At some
misrepresents that in a sense that it was a cal-
culated knee jerk reaction to knee jerk reac-
tionaries. Now, we've been involved with
activism and progressive politics for a decade
and we're at the point of being comfortable
with ideas and are patient towards people who
are new to them. Empires lyrics aren't watered
down. To us, they seem more reasonable. It's
the first record I feel real proud of, that I don't
look at and go, "Jesus."
How did G-7 Welcoming Committee
come about?
Conceived as a serious project in '96, we
wanted to build something that would last
longer than we were around and thought we
had enough experience in the music scene-
evidently we didn't-to start a record label
and have it be successful from the beginning.
It's becoming self-sufficient. We pay ourselves
a minimum wage. It's truly democratic
between the four people here;
www.parecon.org is a participatory economics
page that inspired the structure of the work-
place. We've been able to foster resistance cul-
I THINK WE'VE BEEN A POLITICAL BAND
BY DEFAULT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY
THING WE'RE MOTIVATED TO WRITE ABOUT
point, I tried to make a logical justification for
animal suffering. I couldn't, so I thought,
"Well, fuck, I better put my money where my
mouth is."
Give me an example of the growth in
your lyrics.
How To Clean Things was people very new
to ideas looking for negative attention. With
the release of the record, our hands were
forced to consider these things more seriously.
That was how Less Talk, More Rock came
about, which was just as important to our
growth but ham-fisted. The second record
ture and we've emphasized content-not over
style, but as much as style.
Name a book that, if three million people read
it, might change the way the world works.
Cutting Corporate Welfare by Ralph Nader.
At least in the States, if three million people
could see that, it could change people's
views with who they vote for. You never
know. People can read anything, see any-
thing, hear anything-and it doesn't make a
goddamed difference.
Propagandhi is Chris, Jord, and Todd.
www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/propagandhi
D. RESTGION
REFUSED
BARANCID
RELIGION
COMTROL.
DESCENDENTS
E BOUNCING
SEE ALL THE IDEOS MTV IS AFRAID TO PLAY
CH.56
TV
ON EVERY SUN
1:00 AM
KDOC 56
PUNKORAMA.COM
EPITAPH.COM
DEATH BY STEREO
DAY OF THE DEATH
the new full length album available January 23, 2001 f Eph Reco
ROMANTIC
WARNING: THIS ALBUM MAY CAUSE FEVER,
HEADACHES, RASHES, NAUSEA OR VOMITING,
DIZZINESS, NERVOUSNESS, SLEEPLESSNESS,
BLURRED VISION, SEIZURES AND EXCITABILITY,
ESPECIALLY IN AGGRESSIVE PEOPLE.
FLYBANGER
800
HEADTRIP TO NOWHERE
FEATURING "CAVALRY" AND
"BLIND WORLD"
AS HEARD ON THE DRACULA 2000 SOUNDTRACK
ALBUM IN STORES NOW!
LOOK FOR THEM ON TOUR
PRODUCED BY MATT WALLACE
www.FLYBANGER.COM WWW.COLUMBIARECORDS.COM
AVAILABLE AT
BEST
BUY
Turn On the Fun™
BestBuy.com
SECURITY
Etaph Records 2798 Set Bled. Hollywood, CA
Epitaph Check out www.Epitaph.com While you're at it, check out www.DeathBySteveo.net
"COL" AND REGS. PAT. & T. OFF, MARCA REGISTRADA 2001 SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT INC
PARENTAL
ADVISORY
EXPLICIT CONTENT