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The Immorality of By-Proxy Punishment | 21.05.2004 |
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 or Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Gore
I consider myself a liberal person. Perhaps moderately liberal in some people's eyes.. but liberal just the same. However, in the last few months, I have been subjected to negative reactions from different left-wing factions for something I have no control over. I find it to be really disturbing. I'm writing a couple of paragraphs here simply to state my political affiliation, (so that I can appease the black-listing "freedom fighters" that unfairly catagorize me by jumping to conclusions) and to clear the air about a few things.
First off, I am no fan of Bush. I am a athiest that detests the presence of organized religion in government. I believe in personal freedom. I believe in legalized marijuana and prostitution. I do not believe in moral legislation in any shape or form. I cant say that I agree with every liberal cause that has ever been presented to me (I dont support Affirmative Action, for example). The most revolting thing, to me however, is organized religion and its hold on America. I dont think other cultures are evil or wrong. I dont care if I see a boobie on tv. And I hope that gay people can enjoy the same marital rights that we all do one day soon. Therefore, I consider myself firmly against the Republican party.
I also dont believe that 3rd or 4th generation multi-millionaires or billionaires should be in a leadership position over a nation of middle-class, blue collar workers. These people dont live on the same planet as you and I. They have never had to worry a day in their lives about things like late bills or credit cards. This is something that most people deal with every day, and it shapes our character in a way that the born rich will never know. I cant catagorically say that every person born rich is evil. But I can say that they dont know what the average American life is like. This is another reason that I do not support George Bush.
I could go on and on about the different facets of my political affiliation, but you (hopefully) get the point. Im not a radical left-wing, vegan-reich punk rocker. Im just your average, left-leaning human being.
However, I have recieved some very disappointing treatment from the left-wing faction of the punk subculture. Why? Because a friend of mine wrote a semi-conservative article on a website.
Besides being the guitarist for Down By Law (a part time proposition at the moment), Im also pursuing several other projects with a vengeance. My full-time gig is singing and playing guitar for Pseudo Heroes (www.pseudoheroes.com). We are in the middle of a European tour right now. As soon as I landed, I was told that several shows in France had been cancelled because of an article that I did not write. This stinks more than you might guess. Pseudo Heroes is a new band. We dont really fit in any catagory, jumping from powerpop (Big Drill Care) to metallish, harcore (Poison Idea) in the same set. We dont look very cool. Just a trio of suburban dorks. I have long hair. My point is, we confuse people and we're new. We already have the world against us when we walk into a room of people with triple mohawks and Amebix patches trying to win them over with our strange sounds. Now we have a negative label unfairly stamped across our foreheads which we must deal with as well. Not fun.
Secondly, the promoters that cancelled these shows are morally wrong for punishing me by proxy. I did not write this conservative article. The "offensive" words did not appear on an album that I have played on. So how can I possibly be held responsible for this action? My guess is that either they wish to appear politically "cool" by taking a stand against the friend of the moderate conservative, which is bullshit since I am probably on their side and am someone that is going to vote against Bush in the next election. Or they are simply posers that are worried about money, and think that this scandal will affect ticket sales. Real punk, guys.
I also have another project, "Track The Curse" that I am shopping around. It includes the ex-vocalist of the grindcore band, Assuck. So I am approaching many small, cruster labels among others, to put this record out. I have recieved several responses which say that these labels would never put out a record from a member of Down By Law because of this article. Sometimes it's also accompanied by a rant against Bush. My response is simply: lighten the fuck up, guys. I was told by one label owner that his crowd is left-wing, and that they wouldnt purchase a record with my name on it. Despite the unfairness of this statement, the first thing that came to my mind was that this label (Prank Records) which claimed to be completely anti-capitolist and diy was worried about record sales (I dont think he even listened to the tune until several emails later). Pretty ironic, I must say.
A couple of other interesting points in this exchange included the fact that the lyrics to Assuck were bordering on Socialist in nature. Didnt this offset the moderately conservative words that my other singer wrote at some point? Im just trying to follow this ridiculous logic that Im being held up to.
Also, I mentioned to this label that I was sending out a song of "Track The Curse" for anyone to put on a compilation if they wished. I sent to diy cassette comp makers in foreign countries as well as animal rights cd-r compilations in the states and several other small, diy, one-man labels.. or just kids making comps to hand out to their friends. I was told by this anti-capitalist, anti-establishment, "punk" label, that I shouldn't bother with comps because they dont sell anymore. Again.. very ironic. PS, anyone that wishes to download a song from "Track The Curse" and use is on your comp, its available through the Pseudo Heroes website.
So, in closing, I would like to clear my name from affliation with the moderately conservative ideals of my friends. At the same time, I would like to send out a big fuck you to the people that are trying to make things harder for me by making my own diy efforts more difficult because of words that I didnt write and dont agree with. You are not punk. And you are punishing someone that will be voting against George Bush in the coming election. Congratulations. Punk used to be about social freedom to be who you are and speak your mind. Now it seems it's just an excuse to exclude at any chance you might get. At least it seems some people think that way. Dont be one of those people.
To all the other people that have been so great to Pseudo Heroes on the current European tour, thanks very much. You are greatly appreciated.
This article is dedicated solely to the promoters and labels that thought it was cool to try to deter me, or the ones that were planning to in the future. Go find a real enemy to pick on.
Further Links:
 Pseudo Heroes
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| Author:
Sam |
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