[For complete article reference links, please see source at Truthout here.]

The state of political consciousness in the United States today is a joke, and civic participation in activism pales in comparison to that during the Vietnam era. In the wake of President Obama's recent announcement to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan people are feeling more powerless and demoralized than ever. It is in this environment that Cox, Brihanu, guitarist Bryan Berry, bass guitarist Dan Choma and drummer Graham O'Brian have created a combination of activism and art. The day after Obama's announcement, Cox and Berry were arrested in Minneapolis while protesting the escalation.

The band does not shy away from hot topics. Everything from the US financial meltdown to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis is addressed in the new album. The song "Manifest" tackles head-on the foundational doctrine of the United States:

    So the message becomes repetitive, seduce you like a sedative
    You hear it in school, in the media and in your church edifice
    We're the civilized here to save the savages
    Their culture is ravenous, they're a lesser people
    Not equal to receive the gifts bestowed on god's righteous leaders
    Let's teach them they're inferior and should despise themselves
    And if they don't conform to us, they've destined themselves for hell
    If they rebel we have no choice but to take them by force
    It's what we're destined for, so you know it's god's law
    And if need be it's a justification for war
    By any means necessary, destroy all our adversaries
    And spread our doctrine to the edge of the Earth
    Cause the world is ours, it was manifested by birth
    We want your land and your resources for the nourishment of our society
    But don't fight it and don't test we
    Just realize this is your manifest destiny

 

***

To ensure their survival and success, musicians in the US keep away from the contentious issue of politics. They are rewarded by the corporate-dominated media with excessive publicity and, as a consequence, higher sales. In such an atmosphere, bands like Junkyard Empire are unlikely to find any of their songs reaching the number one position on the charts. Nor do they hanker for that brand of popularity. They do want to reach people, but through different routes and for very different reasons.

It is not indifference to public taste, but rather an examined intent to sensitize the public that guides the band.

Ask them what is wrong with someone just wanting to listen to music to have a good time, and leave politics out of it, and Brihanu responded, "Why does it make them uncomfortable? Does it make them uncomfortable to hear the misogyny, violence, and materialism prevalent in 'fun, party' music? The best music should stimulate our minds, bodies, and souls. It is impossible to deny the impact of Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Michael Franti, Fela Kuti, Dead Prez, Public Enemy, and numerous other musicians on our society. Like those musicians, we want to challenge people through our music in the hope that they will question what we've been taught and how we operate. I also believe that if you have a platform to say something then you should say something with substance. Plus, there's nothing wrong with shakin' your ass to a political message that sparks a fire inside of you."

Cox shares his view: "Some of the most educated and political people I know are jazz musicians. However, most of them don't feel politics belong in their art. But I think politics affects everything we do, including our music. And as a jazz musician, I have always felt there should be more to the music. My take is that all music has intense social relevance. For us, we're just taking this path because we have some things we want to say, and we're using music as our way of saying it. If you're given a stage, why not include something that changes people's minds, or at least opens them up?"

***

Truthout attended the band's release concert of their new album, Rebellion Politik, in September, at the Cedar Cultural Center in downtown Minneapolis. The band refers to the title track as an "operating theory" that uses as a force for organizing and political action, "the science of survival in a repressive environment."

The track "Original Assumption" asks:

    What is freedom?
    Is it the perceived option to choose between two preconceived concoctions
    Of a two party dictatorship, based on maintaining a deranged relationship
    With no explanation of our benefits

 The chorus of the title track reinforces the thought:

    Rebellion Politik, the opposite of what you know as politics
    Where corporate capital makes the government break their promise
    It's a new day where people create the policy
    And the economy trickles up to eradicate the poverty
    So get up, stand up, these are our demands, what
    We want our money back so politicians get your hands up
    Equal distribution of the land and the profits
    An end to all war and a socialized democracy

 These lyrics come as no surprise from a band that, along with thousands of protesters, was chased by riot-gear clad police at last year's Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. The experience galvanized the band as a unit, explained Cox. "That experience kind of made Junkyard Empire, in our minds. It solidified for us how much we want to be a part of the movement, versus being a band that is just into the subject matter."

One of their gigs during the convention week took place on the steps of the Capital, the day after Rage Against the Machine had played at a festival. Cox recounted, "We played for a protest called 'No peace for the war makers.' We played our set on stage, with some speeches between our songs, it was great, and intense. All of a sudden I looked to my right and saw about 50 cops in riot gear, and I was wondering what was about to happen. So it was a bit awkward, but the energy was great. It was the first time for us, as a band, that we felt like we were doing exactly what we wanted - playing live music, involved in a live protest, cops around, and being connected to both, was incredibly energizing."

The band's conviction is both refreshing and unmistakable. Junkyard Empire believes that their music can assist in fomenting the change they feel must happen in the world right now. For them, it is important to combine music, art and politics because they see music as an inspirational mechanism to create change.

Brihanu reminisced, "One of the first ways I realized that there were problems to be confronted, was when I was listening to Public Enemy and KRS-One as a child. It helped me interpret my world and built a passion for social justice inside me that I didn't even realize was there."

Today he hopes their band might have the same effect on people.

"Our music and message are one in the same, they are meant to provoke thought and inspire us all to realize our true potential. We want to be the soundtrack for a mass social movement in the US and around the world."

    Right now I'm speaking as the voice of the masses
    Defeated, mistreated, believe it you beat us robbed us and gassed us
    We've been passed up, locked up, exploited and downsized
    But we will uprise, no compromise, this is the fire next time

 Junkyard Empire is sporadically touring the Midwest, looking to partner up with other radical bands for a larger tour, and working towards a tour of Europe. They are also in the planning stages for other international political actions, and are promoting Rebellion Politik, which is their third album.

Bhaswati Sengupta contributed to this report.
 

Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.