Listen To An Interview With THE FALLOUT

Back in August 2007, Aaron from the aforementioned Generation Annihilation radio show interviewed Byron from THE FALLOUT.

Head over here and click on the Generation Annihiliation link under the “Rock/Punk/Hardcore” category. It’s the August 25, 2007 episode.

Lots of other great stuff too…check out the playlist:

Playlist August 25th 2007
The Fallout – Turning Revolution Into Money CD, In This Land (Longshot)
Career Suicide – Attempted Suicide CD, Attempted Suicide (Deranged)
Regulations – Different Needs 7″, Cat Eyes (Havoc)
Alternate Action – Tough Times 10″, Thin Line (Nayryan)
Wednesday Night Heroes – Guilty Pleasures CD, Uncivilized Bastards (BY0)
The Fallout – Dismantlement CD, The End Of The War Years (Insurgence)
The Fallout – Turning Revolution Into Money CD, Quebec City (Longshot)
The Fallout – What Is Past Is Prologue CD, Raise the Minimum Wage (Longshot)
The Fallout – Turning Revolution Into Money CD, PTL Pass The Ammunition (Longshot)
The Fallout – What Is Past Is Prologue CD, In The Gutter (Longshot)
The Fallout – Dismantlement CD, Peace Love And Anarchy (Insurgence)
The Fallout – Dismantlement CD, Radio Fallout (Insurgence)
The Fallout – Dismantlement CD, Change The World Today (Insurgence)
The Fallout – Turning Revolution Into Money CD, The Great Disappointment (Longshot)
The Fallout – Turning Revolution Into Money CD, Gateway 30 (Longshot)
Blundermen – Fuck The Commonwealth CD, 309 and Beyond (Fans Of Bad Productions)
Sons Of Ishmael – Mimsy With The Borogroves 10″, Evolution Is For Turkeys (Self Released)
Pointed Sticks – Waiting For The Real Thing CD, Somebody’s Mom (Sudden Death)
The Tranzmitors – S/T CD, Plastic Genocide (Deranged)
The Futureheads – S/T CD, A To B (679)
The Jolts – Jinx CD, Caffeine Hangover (Black Market)
Blitzkrieg Boys – 20th Anniversary Album CD, Mickey Mouse Goes To War (Woimasointu)
Violent Minds – Eyes Of Death 12″, Brutality (Parts Unknown)
ANS – Success At Last CD, Don’t Hate Skate (Overdose On Records)
Under Pressure – Come Clean CD, Tranquilizer (Yellowdog)
Ribzy – ‘81-’85 Recordings CD, Absentee List (Vinehell)
Eliminate – Systematic Annihilation CD, Systematic Annihilation (Merte Negra Discos)
Four Stroke – I Was A Teenage Suicide Bomber CD, Moral Panic (Crusty)
Kakka-Hatta 77 – Totaalinen Kakkahata CD, Hamaan Haimatuledhdukseen (Combat Rock Industry)
Massmord – Inget Liv CD, Wasted Lives (Crimes Against Humanity)
Disclose – Tragedy LP, Dying Of Disease (Your Own Jailer)
Bastards – Insane World LP, Vote For Your Lords (Hohne)
Crude SS – Network Of Friends LP, Destroy Capitalism (Plastic Bomb)
Nitad – S/T 7″, Panikattack pa bus 316 (Deranged)
Dick Cheney – Pa Mitt Rum 7″, Hinber Ente Me (Thrash Bastard)
Totaliatar – Vi Ar Eliten LP, En Av Dom Som Skamtar Om (Prank)
Limb From Limb – Death Famine Plague CD, Final Unholy Judgment (No Options)
SMD – The Devil Makes Me Do It LP, Kill The Gods (Six Weeks)
Martydod – In Extremis CD, Tamed Humans (Havoc)
Bludwulf – Cryptic Revelations CD, Hell Razor (Charged)
Saw Throat – Indestroy LP, Indestroy (Skuld)
Merciless Death – Speed Kills CD, Tombs Of The Dead (Heavy Artillery)
Avengers Of Blood – Speed Kills CD , Enemy Attack (Heavy Artillery)
3 Inches Of Blood – Fire Up The Blades CD, Trial Of Champions (Roadrunner)
Voivod – Katorz CD, Silly Klones (The End)
Razor – Shotgun Justice CD, American Luck (Fringe)
Sacrifice – Apocalypse Inside CD, Salvation (Metal Blade)
Judas Priest – Painkiller CD, All Guns Blazing (Columbia)
Iron Maiden – Best of The Beast CD, Hallowed Be Thy Name (EMI)
Black Sabbath – The Dio Years CD , Turn Up The Night (Rhino)

 

(Another) Interview With THE FALLOUT

THE FALLOUT were just interviewed in the Winter 07/08 issue of Profane Existence Here’s what they had to say:

And, here’s “Peace, Love And Anarchy”…

Anti-Warped today/ a punk rock hit parade/ of independent sound/ our own identity/ build our community/ without the industry/ create a new scene/ peace, love and anarchy/ I know my disapointment shows/ I know my frustration grows/ for all that’s comfortably complacent,/ I haven’t got the patience/ for polite entertainment/ it just makes me hasten/ my changing attitude/ confused for being rude/ cos’ I’ve got a  new scene/ with peace,love and anarchy/ no animosity/ fuck their hierachy/ we respect each other/ that’s  our currency/ there ain’t no money/ just credibility/ we’ve got our own scene/ peace, love and anarchy

The title of the new CD is “Dismantlement.” Any particular reason behind the name? What does ‘dismantlement’ signify to The Fallout?

‘Dismantlement’ is taken from the Erik Marcus book ‘Meat Market’. ‘Meat Market’ is a very honest look at the current reality of animal cruelty and the animal advocacy movement. He draws analogies between the struggle for animal rights and the history of abolitionist and civil rights movements in the US. He makes a convincing argument for regulations to begin to put an end to factory farming practices.
‘Dismantlement’ also extends this idea and applies it to taking apart other exploitive industries. A number of songs on the CD reflect these ideas.

Continuing with the literary references, I saw “Dismantlement” described as having “elements of John Steinbeck and Howard Zinn poured into a punk format.” Accurate? As the lyricist, is this something you are consciously going for?

Comparisons to Steinbeck are flattering but unwarranted. We write concise songs to drive a point home in less than 2 minutes. We try to avoid clichés. We aren’t afraid to look in the mirror and see that we are a part of the systemic issues we are addressing. We are challenging both ourselves and our audience to face up to what is needed to affect change and the role we all play in making that happen.

You cover “Strange Fruit” on the CD – a song written almost 70 years ago, made famous by Billie Holiday and an anthem of the anti-lynching movement of the 1930s. With the whole Jena 6 controversy raging in the U.S. it would seem that this is still a very relevant song. What made you choose this song to cover? (How)does it fit into the whole ‘dismantlement’ theme?

Strange Fruit is a very powerful song. I think a lot of people would be surprised that such a graphic lyric was written in the 1920’s. Obviously we’ve stripped it down somewhat.
It extends the ideas on ‘Dismantlement’ as lynching was a big problem some 50 years after the end of slavery. The struggle for civil rights was still in its infancy. Blacks were free but they were not accepted as equals by many whites.
The Jena 6 situation demonstrates that hate crimes are still a problem. It’s another example of racism not being dealt with seriously.

Yeah, speaking of that, I know you guys have played a few Rock Against Racism shows and I understand that because of your involvement in that, your personal information – home address, phone number, etc – were posted to a neo-nazi website called Canadian Redwatch. What was that all about? Did you get hassled in any way by boneheads because of that?

We had neo-nazi’s scare the management of the Hamilton club, the Underground, with threats of violence if they allowed a Rock against Racism show to go on as scheduled. The gig was postponed and eventually held at the Corktown where we played without a problem. I’m not sure why we get this reaction from Hamilton.
My personal information was posted on the right wing website Canadian Redwatch but I haven’t been harassed in any way because of it. I guess one generalization that seems to be true is that racists are very lazy people.
Of the posts I’ve read about the Fallout on these right wing bulletin boards all I can say is that if people took the time to read our lyrics they would see for themselves that all these accusations simply aren’t true. It’s nothing but wild assumptions based in ignorance.

In the song “A Shot Rings Out”, about gun violence in Toronto, you say “here’s a message to my American cousins, make a few less guns, then you can build a few less prisons.” Care to expand on that? Seeing as this interview is running in an American publication…

Hand guns are a problem in Canada because of their availability in the US. It seems self-evident to this Canadian that guns and violent crimes are directly connected. Reducing the availability of guns will reduce the incidence of violent crime.

You’ve got a couple of songs about Animal Advocacy on “Dismantlement,” and you were chosen recently by VegNews magazine as one of the “top 25 most fascinating vegetarians.” Is The Fallout an ‘animal rights’ band first and foremost?

The Fallout is a punk rock band. We write songs about issues important to us. We rally against injustice. We promote the ethics of DIY and thinking for yourself. Animal advocacy is just a part of it all.

So what other issues are important to you guys? It seems to me that you do tend to focus somewhat on particularly ‘Canadian’ issues…

We focus on issues that not only affect Canadians but on issues that Canadians can act and speak out against. It’s too easy just to point fingers at the US and their imperialist foreign policies.
On the CD we touch on migrant farm workers in ‘Ontario’, community radio in ‘Radio Fallout’, the power of organized labor in ‘Bread and Freedom’ and personal responsibility in ‘Riot Boys’ and ‘Change the World Today’.

The Fallout are on/have been on a couple of fairly small independent labels – Longshot and Insurgence. Would you ever entertain the idea of signing to a major label? Does the ’signing to a major label to reach a bigger audience’ or the ‘we’re tired of preaching to the converted’ argument make any sense to you?

We certainly understand bands that would like to make their living from their music. We’re just not convinced that bands such as Anti-Flag are capable of crossing over into the mainstream markets. They have already made artistic compromises to have their CD’s sold in retailers like Wal-Mart. Shaking hands with the devil isn’t the only option.
With Insurgence Records we are collectively working towards creating an independent industry. It may never be as commercially successful for us but we will always retain full creative control over our music.
Hopefully, with enough like-minded independent bands playing and networking together, we can one day back the major record corporations into a corner they can’t escape from.

Ok, that leads me to my next question… it seems that the idea of ‘community’ comes up a few times on this album – on Radio Fallout you applaud community radio, on Peace Love And Anarchy you call for the building of “our community” and Bread And Freedom is about the power of unions…is the building a ‘counter-power’ or ‘alternative community’ something you see as necessary/desirable? Something you see yourselves as contributing too in some way …

The idea of creating co-operatives, which is growing in other industries, is seriously lacking in the music industry. I don’t understand why bands either choose to toil as complete independents or chase the elusive ‘recording contract’.
It seems to me that bands would better serve their common interests by working together and pooling their resources.
Labels like Insurgence Records are committed to creating mutually beneficial arrangements. Creating a larger co-operative musical scene seems much more desirable than one watching bands shaking hands with the corporate devils.

In the song “Talkin’ Punk Rock Civil War’ you say that “Our music, poetry and politics don’t lead to a cure. We need more than talkin’ punk rock civil war.” You’re saying that punks should take a more action-oriented approach to things? Less talk, more action? Any particular action you are fond of?

It’s sometimes easy to think that music is a catalyst for change. This song is about being honest and accepting the fact that real change comes from people who take action. It’s about lifestyle choices that are in harmony with our communities.
I participate in protests, I’m active in my trade union and I’m a regular blood donor. It’s about doing whatever you can do to impact your community in a positive way.

An Interview with THE FALLOUT

From the COMMON CAUSE BENEFIT Myspace:

Here’s an interview with THE FALLOUT … From the excellent Free Society Zine …

The Fallout has been together for a bunch of years and you’ve got something like 6 records to your credit. What, if anything, keeps you guys fired-up and moving forward or inspires you to keep knocking out the ’socially conscious’ punk rock?

Well, we really only have 2 full length releases on Longshot. As our earlier CD’s were independent and now out of print, we have repeated older songs on the first 2 CD’s for Longshot. Our current release is an EP of covers. So we’re not as prolific as it may seem. But we’re just 3 guys that like to rock out more than anything. We get bored fast; hey our songs are quite short, so new songs keep it fresh. We may be ’socially conscious’ but it’s just that we write about what we know or care about. We write about our lives, our concerns and our country. We don’t write about US foreign policy or fast cars.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that quite a few of your songs deal less with international issues and more with local specific issues and concerns; things like gun violence in Scarborough, or migrant workers in the Niagara Region or even your paean to the ‘Equalizing X Distort’ punk rock radio show. Is this The Fallout taking the “Think Globally, Act Locally” maxim to heart musically?

I guess we think that local action everywhere amounts to global action. More than anything we sing about concerns we have and can hopefully do something about as Canadians. I can’t vote Bush out of office but I can be outraged by governments I can vote out who have enacted legislation that is clearly stacked against workers as is the case with migrants in our new song ‘Leaving Ontario’.

I see a tendency to focus on US crimes while thinking Canada doesn’t have its’ own shame to bear. It’s easier to point fingers than to look in the mirror. It seems more productive to rage about something we can affect with our votes and our numbers.

OK, so you’ve got a new CD coming out on Insurgence Records this year…I’m guessing we can expect more of the ‘politically charged’ anthems you guys have become known for?

The new CD has lots of punk attitude and challenging lyrics. We move in a few new directions too. We try and draw some connections between animal advocacy, abolition and civil rights. We even do a cover of ‘Strange Fruit’, a song made popular by Billie Holiday about a lynching. The problems we’ve been having with the RAR shows and these fascist-minded boneheads seem to confirm that there’s a need to get these messages out there.

The Fallout played a Rock Against Racism show in Hamilton a little while back. A thread on the Stormfront neo-nazi message board trash-talked that show and the bands involved and one bonehead disparaged that “The Fallout even call themselves ‘punk rock’. They’re anarchists, which means they love the idea of no borders (which would mean one world government and 1 race)” Is this really an accurate description of the band?!

I think we’ve been called communists as well and that we support ‘terror’ groups like ARA. Considering that our lyrics are on our website www.thefallout.ca it should be plain for anyone to see that we are not promoting any particular ideology. We have an old song “Fists of Fury’ that states our position on thug-minded fascists and groups like ARA that react to them. We are clearly anti-violence. We certainly can sympathize with ARA’s cause but not all of their actions. We certainly have some anarcho-syndicalist themes. We are singing about unfair practices or situations some workers in our communities have had to deal with. These are stories that are not well known but are very telling about how are society is really organized. I think most people, regardless of political inclination, would empathize with the unjust conditions some workers face. How anyone can read so far beyond that is incredible, but I guess for these boneheads, reading at all is a first step.

They got the punk rock part right.

There are a couple of songs on the new CD – Meat Market and Compassion Over Killing – that talk about animal liberation. I’m assuming you guys are all vegetarians and concerned with Animal Rights? Any favorite veg/vegan recipes?

Yes, we are all vegetarian. We see it more as animal advocacy.

‘Meat Market’ is stolen from the book ‘Meat Market’ by Eric Marcus. ‘Meat Market’ is an honest look at factory farming and what can reasonably be done to promote animal advocacy. At www.vegan.com you can even download Eric’s first book ‘Vegan – the new ethics of eating’. ‘Compassion over Killing’ is a non-profit animal advocacy group www.cok.net. Hopefully, the idea that factory farming is cruel and unnecessary will continue to spread. I feel that anyone, vegetarian or not, can agree that current factory farming practices are not acceptable. Eric Marcus makes the case that the need to abolish factory farming today has analogies to the abolition of slavery in the 19th century. Just as abolitionists were likely racist, they could accept that slavery was wrong. Today, it seems reasonable to accept that factory farming is wrong, even if you consume animal products. It shouldn’t be so hard to create protection for animals against such cruelty.

There is a new book out, Vegan with a Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I haven’t got it yet but I understand it’s quite good.

The Fallout, or members of The Fallout, have been instrumental in putting together the (pretty much) annual Anti-Warped Tour show in Toronto and you do a song called “Peace, Love And Anarchy” that extols the virtues of this event. What’s the story behind the show? What’s it meant to be?

Jeremy has put together the Annual Anti-Warped tour over the last 10 years. Last year there was difficulty getting a venue but Jeremy will hopefully do it again this year. Anti-Warped is a celebration of independent music. While primarily punk, Jeremy has tried to always include other genres as well. The problem has been that these big shows fail to give an opportunity for local independent bands to have a large showcase. They end up commercially co-opted. So the punk thing has always been to DIY and now it has become a cool alternative on or about the date of the actual tour in Toronto for Jeremy to do the Anti-Warped.

The song ‘Peace, Love, Anarchy’ takes the frustration of being in a punk band and watching the Blink182’s and Sum41’s of this world cash in and dilute the very music you love. But as always there is Anti-Warped to remind us the entire strong, supportive local scene that makes being in a band all worthwhile.

You’ve got a song called “Raise The Minimum Wage” – now that the minimum wage has actually been increased by a whole 25 cents (while the MPPs increased their own salaries at the same time by 25%), will you still be playing this tune, or is it “mission accomplished?”

I guess we should rent a battleship for a photo op, eh? Heh heh. The fact that we need a minimum wage suggests the current economic structure is suspect. We have to prevent by law Capitalists from impoverishing workers. The market may be free but by no means fair. And who opposes the increase? The constituents of the members of parliament? I don’t think anyone who casts a vote is going to be against an increase in pay. This song suggests there are other constituents that the government is listening to. So I think we’ll keep playing the song for a while yet.

Last year you also released a CD called Turning Point which is The Fallout covering a bunch of well-known and not-so-well-known early Canadian punk rock bands. Was this a way for you guys to pay homage to the bands that got you into punk rock?

It hopefully accomplished that and more. When we came up with idea for the CD I saw a need to inform younger fans of the rich Canadian punk tradition. I see so many kids with US and UK bands on their t-shirts. At the last Hamilton RAR show I remember seeing Dead Kennedy’s and Exploited tees. I want to see Youth Youth Youth and Young Lion shirts!

In the last few years we’ve seen Punk History Canada , re-issues from a lot of bands, DOA’s early catalogue, CD’s from Jan Haust’s OPM label, merch through Stacey Case. So it’s starting to happen which is great.

How D.I.Y is The Fallout and why….my understanding is that you do everything yourselves, even to the point of having built your own recording studio from scratch?!

It has become fairly easy for bands to be completely DIY. Technology allows for the easy creation and sharing of music. We want to promote DIY as a way of self-empowerment. If you aren’t getting what you want then get off your ass and make it happen. There’s no reason you can’t. Our studio, The Farm House, is simply our collection of gear at my home. I hope to have a self contained structure to allow other bands to use it too. I hope it can happen this year.

The recording gear we have is professional. We have built gear through resources like www.groupdiy.com and www.DIYfactory.com. Anyone with a library card can learn all they need to do most anything.

Everyone in The Fallout contributes more than just musically. Jeremy is a great graphic artist and booking agent and Bob takes care of our business and legal needs. I twiddle the knobs and handle the soldering iron. We do as much for ourselves as we can. We work with people, like Insurgence Records, who understand and share our ethic.

Finally, any local bands that you would recommend?

Some bands that we’ve played with locally are Angels, Saints and Heroes, BlackJacket, The Rotten. Across Canada , Knucklehead, The Prowlers, Rebel Spell and The Riptide. These bands are all keeping punk alive and deserve support when they come to your town.