Here’s some excerpts from an interview with The Class War Kids that was done a little while ago…
From what I understand, The Class War Kids are really involved in an “activist organization” called The Applecart Collective. Maybe you could tell us what kind of activity you are organizing?
Mostly we are bringing radical zines and literature to the island and making it accessible to people here. We have vegan bake sales from time to time; we publish a leftist zine and run a bookmobile too. We’re probably the most wholesome radical organization around.
Errr…a bookmobile?? I have a mental picture of you guys in a big Library-On-Wheels, driving around the island, with a long line-up of kids clamoring for radical literature…accurate? What’s the Bookmobile all about?
Well it’s less a “mobile” than perhaps the name lets on, we basically drive our books to our shows along with our gear and we lay it out, it’s not like we’re serving out radical literature like ice cream cones (though perhaps that’s an idea) but there are always books/zines/pamphlets at our merch table.
I understand that the Applecart Collective has even drawn some attention from the local police??
Yeah, there was a little bit of a fuss over the whole thing. In May of last year we put out our first (and to date only) zine. In it we outlined radical actions that one could take to create change and to express ones discontent with the system at hand.
Basically someone went around and smashed the windows out of cars and left our zine as their calling card. The wonderful folks at the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary got a hold of it and went bananas, they highlighted the sections they felt were most offensive and sat down to have a chat with some members of the group. They explained to us that people here are happy with the status quo and we don’t need young upstarts trying to whip everyone into a blood-orgy-sex-frenzy with ideas about autonomy. They have since gotten off our back but I’m sure they’re keeping a close watch over us.
Yikes! So what in particular about Mayday pissed off the cops?? What parts of the Zine did they highlight? Were can I get a copy…?
It’s available at our merch table for a buck or if you wanna copy through the mail you can email us for one and we’d gladly send it out. In one section we outlined counter-revolutionary tactics that are used by those in power to keep radical movements grounded. One such tactic is the use of murder by the status quo to wipe out any voice of dissent. They highlighted that part and said “So you are advocates of murder?” and we’re sitting there like, “No! That is something you folks do to help maintain control!” They totally didn’t get it.
You guys say, and I quote, “The Class War Kids are a political punk rock band who believe that music can be a force for positive change in our world, and that music should be catchy as shit!” Having said that, what’s more important, the music or the message? Do you want people dancing or debating?
I’d like to see both happen at once to be honest, I think debates would be way more interesting if people had to do the Hucklebuck or the Twist or something and talk politics at the same time; it’d be a challenge for the mind and the body. But seriously, I don’t think that one can be accomplished without the other, at least not in a greatly significant way. Music is the easiest way to reach the entire world; it speaks to us all regardless of what our mother tongue is. I have learned more from well thought-out music than I ever have from any other medium. Music not only has the ability to change the world, there are examples of that actually happening.
The Hucklebuck?! Don’t know that one? You’ll have to teach me…!
Paul Williams outlines the movement pretty well in the chorus to The Hucklebuck :
‘Push your partner out,
Then you hunch your back,
Start a little movement in your sacroiliac,
Wiggle like an eel, waddle like a duck,
That’s the way you do it when you do the Hucklebuck’
Okay…dance lesson is over, back to nitty-gritty…any bands in particular with a “well thought out” message that have influenced/inspired your song writing and lyrics?
I’m a huge Clash fan, Joe Strummer inspires me, he said ‘the world is worth fighting for’ and I think that that is beautiful, I totally agree. It is worth fighting for. Jesse Michaels is also a huge inspiration, I really grabbed on to Operation Ivy after hearing the song “Unity”.
OK, what strikes me about the songs on the album is just how optimistic and, well, joyous, they are. Songs like “Break Me” “We’re Gonna Be Alright” and “Song For The Broken Hearted” are incredibly upbeat, both in terms of the music and the message. You seem pretty sure that “we’re gonna be alright”…how come?
The world has some pretty big problems that need to be solved, but it is a world worth fighting for and a fight worth romanticizing. Every time I turn around, I realize I am surrounded by love, hope, and that provides the sense that everything is okay, that we are gonna be alright. People just seem to easily forget that united we are strong and that fighting one another is a useless struggle that is getting in the way of the bigger issues, and so I like to remind them. Our greatest asset in struggle is a positive outlook; negativity is defeating.
Speaking of issues, are there any in particular that The Class War Kids are trying to get across?
I think we’re humanists, we believe in equality. We’re anti-fascist. I write about a lot of things, violence; poverty; racism; sexism; homophobia; I realize those are broad issues and I try to be specific, thoughtful and inspire a message of hope.
