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Not Your Parents' Protest Music

By Naeem Mohaiemen, AlterNet. Posted March 13, 2006.


The burgeoning politi-punk band Outernational discusses what it means to be revolutionary.
on_suchdevfist
Suchdev gives salute
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"One hundred thousand civilians died in Iraq, what the f@*#! is up with that?" -- Sonny Suchdev of Outernational, introducing the song "Blood on the Streets."

I've been following the band Outernational -- with their fearless melange of punk, rap, ska, bhangra and afrobeat -- since 2003. While still not a household name, the group began to make waves at 2004's Republican National Convention protests in New York. That's where they played (at the "Axis of Justice" concert organized by Tom Morello, formerly of Rage Against the Machine) to a large crowd of pissed-off activists, many of them Critical Mass bike riders who had just watched the NYPD target and arrest scores of their own (the Bloomberg administration claimed that "anarchists" had infiltrated the group bike ride). The repercussions of that day's mass arrests and police mistreatment continue to reverberate in Outernational's NYC home base.

Even before Outernational's breakout performance at the RNC protests, they had fans -- like me -- regularly attending their shows for a political floor-stomping fix. In 2000, as the New York Times pondered the possible death of "protest music", older anti-establishment voices like Consolidated, Public Enemy, Fugazi, and Negativland were dimming, and fans needed something new. Into the gap stepped Outernational, which came together in late 2003 with a heady mix of radical politics and furious beats.

Since its inception, the young (most members are in their early 20s) band has been growing steadily, supporting numerous political events such as last year's Atlantic City concert at a picket line of striking hotel workers (with Wyclef Jean) and World Can't Wait events to demand Bush's resignation. The group has also been playing sold-out shows at national clubs and college campuses, with the likes of Michelle Shocked, Dub Is A Weapon, Prince Paul, and Gogol Bordello (led by Eugene Hutz, who produced the band's EP "Outernational"). As it is for many other still-unsigned bands, the networking website MySpace.com is a crucial tool for Outernational, helping build a dedicated internet fan base that follows them from city to city.

I recently caught Outernational at New York's Knitting Factory and was pleasantly surprised to find that their audience had changed. Alongside the hardcore anti-war activists and South Asian radicals I used to see at their shows, there was now a huge following of high school students and Latino working-class youth. When a spontaneous mosh pit evolved, with enthusiastic kids crowd-surfing and hanging from ceiling pipes, I worried that the band's shows might devolve into "forget politics, just dance" parties. But, thankfully, Outernational's repertory remains political, with crowd favorites like "From the Future" imploring listeners to "send these fools to the trash and move these ghouls to the past/ take a stab at this cornered crabby crass capitalist class."

After their Knitting Factory show, AlterNet met with band members Miles Solay and Sonny Suchdev for a free-wheeling discussion about politics, music, fans and inspiration; other band members weighed in later via email.

[Outernational are Miles Solay (vocals, lyrics), Sonny Suchdev (trumpet, vocals, percussion), minimum tek (guitar), Jesse Williams (bass) and Turbo Garcia (drums).]

Naeem Mohaiemen: What were your inspirations to start the group? I remember a general malaise from the idea that revolution rock was dying (metaphorically with Rage Against The Machine's implosion, and literally with the passing of Joe Strummer and two Ramones). Were you inspired to fill a gap?

Miles Solay: The origins of Outernational partly came from a felt need among our generation. The passing of Joe Strummer (The Clash) was incredibly influential for me. It was tragic because he was not some washed-up relic. He had a new band and was really trying to be relevant and connect with a new audience.

We started Outernational after the U.S. invaded Iraq for the second time. We come out of a certain tradition, which we embrace and contribute towards. What we're doing, though, is trying to develop a new synthesis -- a new sound -- based on the legacy we came out of.


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Naeem Mohaiemen is a filmmaker and media activist. Projects include Shobak & Disappeared In America.

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View:
Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Posted by: Tom Degan on Mar 13, 2006 3:14 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Not your father's protest music, indeed. This can only be seen as a sign of hope. Rock 'n' Roll (Ah-womp-bopalooba-ah-womp-bam-boom....Did I spell that correctly?) lost its edge so long ago that I began listening to the music of the twenties and thirties. I now pocess every Bing Crosby recording ever made between 1926 and 1947. How pathetic is that? (Actually, to be fair, der Bingle was pretty cutting edge in his day. Listen to his Paul Whiteman recordings sometime).

Outernational tells me that there might be some steam in the old machine after all. Music can and will play a vital roll in the overthrow of the muderous bastards in power now - but don't go looking for it in the chain stores or on the major record labels. You can the best stuff in the independant stores and on the indy labels. Main stream "rock", if you insist on still calling it that, has been corporatized. For a riveting account on how this hideous state of affairs came to be, read the book, "Mansion On A Hill" The author's name escapes me but you can find it easy enough by doing a google search.

Back in the weird old days, while people like Dylan (Columbia), Hendrix (Warner) and the Beatles (EMI) had to use the corporations to reach the public, generally the "suits" stayed out of the creative process. Today they have totally taken over. Can you blame me for going over to Crosby?

Do yourselves a big favor find the Alternative Tentacles website. It's a record label run by former Dead Kennedys lead singer and Green Party presidential candidate, Jello Biafra (My good friend, Don Hickok placed his name in nomination). If you're looking for cutting edge stuff, Alternative Tentacles is the place to go.

Finally, if you want to hear a really original band, pick up the latest Southcott CD: "Flee The Scene". The band is original, hard-driving and brilliant. And the lead singer, Chris Pennings, is my nephew.....So sue me!

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

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» Author's name: Fred Goodman Posted by: Tom Degan
truthful music
Posted by: rsaxto on Mar 13, 2006 3:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What better kind of music can there be than truthful music that moves us toward a better society?

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The day the Music died,
Posted by: AlienSlave on Mar 13, 2006 6:13 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sweet Jesus, there is hope for my grand children after all! Guess I’ll be able to pass my 60’s and 70’s protest music torch into the hands of these young men and go to my grave happy. Knowing the day the music died in the 90’s has come back from the dead. The one thing I don’t like about this band is this. So I’ll say it for them DUDE DON’T TRUST ANY MOTHER FU*KER IN A SUITE OVER 30. When he tries to sign you to a recording contract.
AlienSlave

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Also in Britain, pro peace pro labour music
Posted by: dearkitty on Mar 13, 2006 6:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Also in Britain, there is a pro peace, pro labour, etc. music movement, like around the Militant Entertainment music label.

See here.

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More good political music
Posted by: B3 on Mar 13, 2006 6:30 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There is a hip-hop artist named Sage Francis, who is an excellent lyricist, that writes very good political songs. Though his music isn't purely political, it is the core of his music.

In my opinion, his greatest politcal song to date is called "Makeshift Patriot", a song written in response to all the people who suddenly had flags in their yard or "Proud American" bumper stickers after 9/11, when being patriotic became the cool thing to do, but had showed little or no national pride publically on 9/10/01 or before.

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link to 100's of Free Anti-War, Anti-Bush, Pro-Peace NEW music
Posted by: lazydog on Mar 13, 2006 8:11 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

FREE PEACE


http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/Free_Peace_mp3s.html

this site has some great stuff, all kinds of new music, folk, hip hop, techno, including stuff from Ani, Jello, Shiitake Mushrooms, Stephen Smith, Public Enemy, Chris Rock, Bonnie Raitt, Honky Tonkers for Truth, Utah Phillips, Dar Williams, James McMurtry, Jessie Colin Young, Billionaires for Bush, Radio Sub Rosa, Willie Nelson- for Dennis Kucinich, and so many more,
forgive me for not mentioning them all.
And links to other sites!See for yourself!
There are videos too.

Keep the faith Brothers and Sisters!

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YOU R NEOLIBERALS IN DISGUISE
Posted by: fairleft on Mar 13, 2006 9:20 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you aren't for protecting the US working class by keeping work-for-almost-nothing labor out... then you're on the anti-revolutionary side. Opening our borders means an unavoidable race to the bottom on wages. Opening our borders means the impossibility of organizing labor: factories will continue to race to the cheapest labor country as soon as organized labor raises wages or imposes any other costs on the giant corporations.

Workers need protection, not the neoliberalism of corporations & alternet.

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» RE: YOU R NEOLIBERALS IN DISGUISE Posted by: AlienSlave
Am I the only one?
Posted by: Phenix on Mar 13, 2006 7:34 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
who has noticed that they are not very good. I can hear their energy but the group isn't very good. I've listened to a few of these songs a couple of times now and I just don't feel them. The lead singer can't really sing and it jus seems like they're tryin to find their way. I also don't like trumpets... So if you actually like "protest" music check out State Radio. They are actually an amazing band. The lead singer is a former member of Dispatch, one of the greatest indie bands of all time.

PS

I just don't think this group is very talented.

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» RE: Am I the only one? Posted by: AlienSlave
» RE: Am I the only one? Posted by: Phenix
» RE: Am I the only one? Posted by: naeem
» RE: Am I the only one? Posted by: Area51_BRB
Protesting oil while burning tons of gas?
Posted by: Newtopian on Mar 14, 2006 12:35 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There's something very hypocritical to me about protest bands who say they are challenging the status quo, but they burn huge amounts of oil and gasoline touring, juicing their amps, and attracting their fans who burn even more gasoline and oil getting to their gigs. They could at least be using alternative fuel to back up their progressive politics.
Tamra
Lucidnation.com

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globalization how it oughta be
Posted by: rabblerouser77 on Mar 14, 2006 1:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks for covering this dynamic bunch of radical musicians. I've been following Outernational since their earlier lineup and their sound gets tighter and the message clearer every time. They bring an informed passion for changing the world without sanctimony and with lots of rhythm. This is globalization how it oughta be...incorporating sounds and ideas from around the world into some serious dance music with a heaping side of border-less solidarity...

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Musically and politically inspired
Posted by: framji on Mar 14, 2006 1:25 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I applaud Outernational's bravery in speaking TRUTH, naming U.S. imperialism, calling out injustice, and celebrating global resistance. Their visionary music is a source of hope and inspiration in a historical moment when the consequences of speaking out against the actions of the state are often dire. An Outernational concert is a unique musical experience that transcends all boundaries of genre and identity... finally, political music that is creative, passionate, and totally contagious!

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this is progress
Posted by: pocacosa on Mar 14, 2006 2:23 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great to see one of my favorite all time bands being covered here on AlterNet! Totally exciting!!! Every positive step forward is just that, even if it's "just" a song, or "just" a news article. Keep it up.

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trumpets or no, who cares?
Posted by: pocacosa on Mar 14, 2006 2:31 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It seems to me that the bigger take-home point of the article, about music-with-a-purpose and the potential role of music in social change, is a much more important function of this article than the promotion of the band. The point -- especially any points about the band's instrumentation, which is totally immaterial -- about the musical quality is really only secondary here.

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RCP front band
Posted by: ShiftShapers on Mar 15, 2006 1:27 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
i'm disappointed that no one (that i have seen) has yet exposed this group as a front band for the RCP, or the Revolutionary Communist Party.

The World Can't Wait is also an RCP front group.

i dislike front groups because i feel it's deceptive.

check out the comments on infoshop.org

peace

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riotfolk!
Posted by: ShiftShapers on Mar 15, 2006 2:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
my parents protest music was much better.

this is MY protest music! (free downloads!)

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happy to see they are getting noticed
Posted by: Area51_BRB on Mar 19, 2006 6:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
im happy to see these guys are really getting noticed. Ive been to about 4 of their shows, my first being the november 2nd rally, and they've been better every time. Im happy to hear that they are getting more attention, because they have a message that is really worth listening to, and to all the people who don't think they are good, see them live and you will understand why they are so amazing.

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