4 January 2010 By Dahr Jamail The band Junkyard
Empire does not differentiate among music, message and
life. Political Affairs magazine said, “A jazz version of
Rage Against the Machine, Minnesota-based Junkyard
Empire blends jazz instrumentals, hip hop, and
socially conscious lyrics to create a fresh sound …
this new Midwestern band has something to say.” The title track of their new CD Rebellion Politik,
declares: They lure us in stores to keep us all poor Lead vocalist/rapper Brian Lozenski, whose stage
name is MC Brihanu says, “Music and art should
represent life. My life revolves around social justice
and trying to make a better world for my children.
Therefore my music reflects that. I don’t think every
piece of art and music needs to be explicitly
political, but there needs to be an accurate
reflection of people’s lives. Most of the mainstream
music we hear today is purposefully not political.
That is a political act in itself because corporate
media does not want its consumers to think critically
and challenge the status quo.” They are a band
endorsed by Noam Chomsky. Christopher Cox, founder of the band, tells
Truthout the name evolved in this way: “I originally proposed the name ‘Refuse Empire’
which was clearly anti-imperialist, but also an
ecological statement. The US is an empire of refuse,
since the American Empire is based on everything
being expendable, quick, throwaway … including
capitalism itself, which never leads to long-term
good, it only leads to short-term ‘good,’ and that’s
a short-term good only for a small group of people.
So building an empire on junk is not good for anyone
for the long term.” The name then morphed into
Junkyard Empire from there. Mirroring Cox’s thoughts, Brihanu is clear about
the current state of affairs, and what he feels needs
to happen: “The number one problem I see right now is the
corporate control of the government. We cannot hope
to see any realistic change until we separate
private enterprise from the federal and state
governments. The public cannot compete with the
corporations in terms of money and power. The
political system we have can work only if it is able
to operate without politicians being allowed to
profit from their political decisions. The only
other way would be through a violent revolution and
I think no one really wants to see the chaos that
would ensue. However, I also realize that the power
elite will not let go without a fight, so it may
come to a traditional bottom up revolution in order
to create a more just society.” Brihanu began his activism as a student at Cornell
University where he pushed for fair housing and
culturally diverse programs. He has been involved in
the campaign for the release of Mumia Abu Jamal and
other political prisoners, in anti-poverty initiatives
and in the demand for education rights. The list of
organizations he associates with range from the Uhuru
Movement to Wellstone Action to The League of Pissed
Off Voters. He believes that activism is integral to
his life. Even as a public school teacher he tried to
engage his students in thinking critically about
society. Cox is a Sonoma State University graduate in
political science. He has earlier worked on Project
Censored, a group with the mission “to teach students
and the public about the role of a free press in a
free society - and to tell the News That Didn’t Make
the News and Why.” “My head was into political
organizing,” the trombone/keyboard/electronics player
told Truthout, “So for me, I didn’t want to play music
just to make a living, I wanted to get politics in
there.” In August, Junkyard Empire was invited to Cuba for
a rare opportunity to meet with Cuban arts
organizations and leaders and to perform several
shows. The Havana Times wrote of their visit, “The US
hip hop group Junkyard Empire - accompanied by
trombone, drums and bass - invited everyone attending
‘to sing against imperialism and to unite their voices
for freedom and equality.’ According to the host, they
represented good-hearted Americans who defied the
blockade to come to Cuba and offer their art.” 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 *** 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? The chorus of the title track reinforces the
thought: Rebellion Politik, the opposite of what you know
as politics 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 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. Comments 💬 التعليقات |