Punk Rock band Rise Against just ended the first leg of its European tour 2012. The band has been promoting ‘Endgame,’ its latest album, released by Interscope records in March 2011. Toonari Post had the pleasant opportunity to meet frontman Tim McIlrath in Vienna, Austria on March 20.

The Rise Against vocalist and guitarist talked about the band’s albums and tours, as well as about society, discrimination, and the current and past music scene. This is the first part of the two-part interview.

Toonari Post (TP): Your latest album ‘Endgame’ sends quite a dark message about the world situation, giving the feeling that it is too late to do anything to change the current negative state of the world. A similar state of mind is also present in some of your previous work, as the line “Is it too late to reverse what we’ve become?” in ‘Chamber the Cartridge’ well expresses. Is ‘Endgame’ the deeper exploration of that kind of fear, or is it what you actually think? Is it really too late?

Tim McIlrath (TM): ‘Endgame’ was kind of a way for us to sort of talk about the same problems that the world is still experiencing, but in a different way. We didn’t want to come writing another record talking about the same exact things over and over, we wanted to do something different. At the same time you’re sort of faced with reality: the world is still facing the same problems that it was when you did the last record.

There are still issues worth thinking about, even if it seems repetitive. So, ‘Endgame’ was kind of our way of approaching them as not problems that we’re facing, but as problems that we faced, and lost; and what the world would look like after you lost, sort of like if we were to lose the battle of trying to save the earth, what life would have looked like.

I guess we’re just sort of attempting to paint that picture for the listener, and show them: here are the repercussions of our actions, here is the future that we’ll be looking at, and I guess the attempt was that hopefully that would trigger a response. That’s where ‘Endgame’ came from.

TP: Do you actually think we lost and we are never going to resurrect again?

TM: No, I’m hopeful, definitely. And I think it’s partly because I get to play in this band, I get to play in front of lots of people who care about the direction of the world; that leaves me pretty optimistic. But more people need to get on board, and I think that we’re part of that struggle; we’re doing our part to open people’s eyes.

TP: What’s the role of the current music scene in this vision of the world? Do you think that nowadays music, in general, serves the purpose of creating awareness? Or does it serve the exact contrary purpose, keeping people sort of medicated?

TM: Right. I think that music can exist for both reasons. I don’t think that music needs to be political, or that music needs to be active in terms of social justice. Music can be an escape; I listen to music as an escape sometimes too. I think, what makes me happy is as long as there’s a good balance between the two. There are bands and musicians out there who recognize that through rock history, artists have always played a role in social change.

If nothing else, music should be a mirror of the culture, of what’s happening in the culture. Now people are asking a lot of questions, and looking for musicians and artists who are asking the same questions. I feel like now more than ever in my lifetime, that type of art is needed, because that type of art can sometimes distill the conversation in ways that nothing else can.

I think it’s really important for musicians to say what they feel. If it’s not what they feel then, that’s cool too, there’s a place for music that doesn’t say anything at all.

TP: So you think that there are many bands and artists out there sending a message? When talking about the current music scene, very often you’re considered the exception.

TM: Well, there are not enough popular bands like us that are saying it, so I guess I can see why the media would be saying that. But a lot of bands are talking about the direction of the world, not enough popular bands, I guess, are doing it. They are not getting enough attention, enough press.

TP: Among other issues, in ‘Endgame’ you also address homophobia. With ‘Make it Stop’ you make a statement in support of people who feel judged and excluded because of their homosexuality. Do you think homosexuality is a problematic issue for Rock? Do you think that Rock has sent a message against homosexuality?

TM: Yeah, I do. I think Rock is one of the last sort of sanctuaries for homophobia, unfortunately. I think that indie rock is very progressive and open to any sexual preference, but when you go to heavier rock music you get a lot of that male stuff, you know, it’s just “bros,” sort of narrow minded sometimes, and there is kind of a lot of it.

The heavy rock that you hear on the radio, and on the stage too, is just sort of bands that don’t wanna be caught there talking about homosexuality, because it’s not part of the image they want to portray. So, I think that in a lot of ways we’re in a unique position, to be putting water where the fire is. Because we speak to the audience and we are a band in that world where homophobia can unfortunately exist and, it does exist.

You can see it in our crowd sometimes, unfortunately, you can see if we post something about ‘Make It Stop’ or ‘It Gets Better,’ on our website, or facebook, or whatever, that the response is very narrow minded as well. There’s still a battle ground and we’re still fighting for a change, and awareness.

TP: Why do you think rock bands have this great fear of this image? I mean, past succesful bands, like Nirvana, fought for this despite the stigma. They should have served, at least, to make other rock bands feel safer.

TM: Right, and there are a lot of bands like Nirvana. They were a band who was very progressive in that sense. Nirvana came from a scene that was influenced by Fugazi, and the Melvins, that very alternative kind of underground scene where people who didn’t fit into regular, mainstream, society would go to, and find a place where they belonged. At some point Nirvana was part of that link that made this music really popular; and you had a lot of the mainstream society embracing that identity, in a “Halloween costume” kind of way.

What happened was a lot of bands borrowed from the sound of Nirvana but left the guts of it behind; they left a lot of what Kurt Cobain was talking about, it all got lost. The same people that used to beat up Kurt Cobain when he was a kid were now in front row, in the audience, and were going to start bands. The bands that got popular after that were bands that had nothing to do with the message behind Nirvana’s music.

Click Here To Read Part 2

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Punk Rock band Rise Against, composed of frontman Tim McIlrath, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Zach Blair, just ended the first European leg of its tour for this year. Not to worry though, the band will be back in Europe in June, and in the U.S. next month already.

The band has been promoting their latest album ‘Endgame’ with an extensive series of live shows since last year, after the album’s released in March, 2011. Rise Against plans to continue touring to support the record during the whole of 2012, as Tim McIlarth told Toonari Post.

This leg of the tour ended with a concert at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria; the show was presented by Skalar Entertainment GmbH. As for the European tour this time around, the band was supported by post-hardcore band Touché Amoré, and by metalcore band Architects. Touché Amoré deserves a special mentioning for giving an astonishing performance.

The band was able to bring the mix of melancholy and extreme energy that characterizes its music to the stage in a very elegant way. Each member showed to be in perfect harmony with each others’ act, resulting in a smooth and very intense performance.

The Rise Against show started with the displaying of images of awful things currently happening in the world, which set the audience’s mind on the main message contained in ‘Endgame’: the failure of human kind to respond to and relieve the suffering we inflict upon each other and to the world.

Rise Against then played a set of 18 songs, faithfully sticking to the setlist of the tour. The performance started with ‘Survivor Guilt,’ a track from the latest album, and then went on exploring several of their records. The band picked some of their most successful songs, such as ‘The Good Left Undone,’ and ‘Give It All’, as well as new material from ‘Endgame.’

Vocalist Tim McIlrath had a cold but it did not prevent him from giving his usual energetic performance, playing guitar while belting out the songs and engaging with the audience. All Rise Against members seemed to be in perfect shape, with bassist Joe Principe and guitarist Brandon Barnes jumping and running on stage, merging with the whirl created by the band’s music.

Towards the end of the show, the band also performed the track ‘Make It Stop,’ which is a statement against homophobia. Rise Against also supports the project ‘It Gets Better,’ which aims to give aid and support to victims of discrimination due to sexual orientation.

The show ended with McIlrath telling the audience “without you, there is no us, and that makes you our saviors,” just before the band played and extended version of the concert’s last track ‘Savior.’

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Here is the second part of the interview with Scream, one of the core bands of the hardcore punk scene that developed in Washington D.C. during the ‘80s. After their split in 1990, they recently reunited, releasing, in 2011, the EP ‘Complete Control Session’, and touring both the U.S. and Europe. Toonari Post met Scream in connection with their concert in Vienna, Austria.

Scream’s music is available for purchasing in the major digital platforms.

Toonari Post (TP): The name of one of your records is “No more Censorship”. There has been much talking lately about laws and agreements like ACTA, which are presented to protect intellectual property rights, but that indeed restrict the possibility of expression of people, as well as their general privacy, due to strict control: what is your opinion about that?

Pete Stahl (PS): well those are pretty complicated issues, and I’m not familiar with the legislation. They should protect people’s art, finding a balance, without giving governments access to people’s information and be able to track them. I don’t mind someone using our songs to create something else, but I wanna be credited, and if they’re gonna make money out of it, I wanna be paid.

Our music is like a picture that you can cut out of a magazine and make a poster out of it, it’s fine. I think there are some other things that could be done out of a legislation. So I’ll leave it up hopefully to politicians.

TP: So your position is against free music downloading.

PS: I come from that era when we traded tapes, but it’s different now. It’s much more disposable. I think there is a whole generation of kids that doesn’t even value music the way we did. Music is not treated with the respect that should be. I don’t think the whole downloading thing is good for artists.

It’s hard enough for a musician to make a living, and now it’s even harder. Now the only way you can make a living is by touring, or by selling your music for commercials, and something like that. You could make a little bit of money out of selling your music, but now this generation doesn’t feel like they have to pay for music, even though it costs money to make it. You spend your whole life doing it. Now people are going online and try to raise money for it. I think people should be paid for their art.

TP: You said that you think a lot of kids nowadays do not respect music…

PS: I don’t think the new generation values music the way we did, it is just a different timing.

Kent Stax: There are people that do, just not in general.

PS: It’s not just music, I just don’t know if the kids of today are as much involved; I don’t know if there’s interest in the world, politics, art, as there was in our generation and the generation before. They’re more interested in wearing that kind of hairstyle. It’s cool to go to a protest just because your friends are there. They’re not really doing anything.

TP: Don’t you think that if a band, or an artist, makes a good record, people will buy it anyway?

PS: I think that people that care about music would feel obligated to pay for it, but I just think in general it is not like that. People grow up expecting music to be free; “I don’t have to pay for that, I can just get it here, why would I pay for it?” It just creates a culture like that; that might change. We don’t have much; all we have is music.

Skeeter Thompson: I’m with Pete in this. It’s bad that the industry is doing this to artists. A lot of people are taking music, and musicians, for granted. It’s not like we play for being the best or something, we play because it is a passion. It’s different when you’re doing things out of necessity, or you’re doing it just for whatever; and that’s how it goes now, like downloading.

People now don’t even wanna play the whole song, they just play a part and then skip to the next song. Back in the day we would be like “check this, man!” put on the music and listen; now when people put music on, they start talking, texting…

TP: Do you think that the music industry respects music?

PS: I think there are a lot of people involved in the music industry that are the same people involved back in the days, come from the old school, and have respect for music. They treat music as a craft. Ultimately it is a business. Every era has like top 40 and pop music that is for everybody.  Most people that are in the music business are there because they love music.

TP: But we are the first era with talent shows…

PS: I don’t think there is much difference now. It’s just that today’s media is integrated in our lives in every minute. Before there was not like ‘Euro vision’, the entire world was not watching these. There are just more people watching TV, and now TV is like the church. It’s so crazy, because kids wanna be like that, and what’s more important to the people that want to be in the show is, like, losing weight, or dancing, or whatever. They don’t wanna be that fat person on TV, and that is sad. All you wanna do is be that one on TV. This keeps everyone kind of medicated.

TP: Where do you see Scream in three years?

PS: I don’t know, I really don’t know. I hope we’ll make another record. The most important thing was to get back together, make some music, and say something now. During the shows we play the old stuff and the new stuff. I wanna keep playing music for the rest of my life, in one way or another, that’s for sure. Music is my life.

Clint Walsh: I think there’s a really good reaction to the new songs, and to all the songs. There is a broader range of age; there are more kids than, speaking for myself, I would have thought.

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The Washington D.C. hardcore seminal band Scream recently returned to the music scene, after breaking up in 1990. Considered one of the benchmark bands in the history of the D.C. hardcore music movement, the band told Toonari Post that they thought about reuniting for a long time, but due to organizational problems, as the band members are dedicated to their families and live in different parts of the U.S., the project was on hold.

Finally, in 2009, Scream came back together with a live performance in D.C. and in 2011, the band released the amazing EP ‘Complete Control Sessions’, produced by Side One Dummy; they then started touring the U.S. and Europe.

Scream expressed the hope of releasing a new album, in ‘LP mode;’ although they have already started working on new material, there is no time frame for the release of a new album yet.

The band is now composed of the original line-up, frontman Pete Stahl, guitarist Franz Stahl, bassist Skeeter Thompson, and drummer Kent Stax, with the addition of a new guitarist, Clint Walsh.

Toonari Post had the chance to meet with Scream in Vienna, Austria, during their European tour.

The show brought on stage the spontaneous energy and positive attitude that has always characterized the band; the set-list mainly focused on the first two albums, ‘Still Screaming’ and ‘This Side Up’, both released in the ‘80s, with the addition of the new material from 2011.

Scream’s music is available for purchasing in the major digital platforms.

Toonari Post (TP): Your lyrics have always had strong political and social connotations. What is the bottom line message you hope to send with your music? Has the way you see the world changed in the last 30 years?

Pete Stahl (PS): Ah well not really, as a lot of songs right now have still kind of the same themes and subject matters. In a way, our music is always about being positive about life, being aware of what is going on around, and then having a good time in your life.

TP: In one of the songs of the new EP, “The Year Bald Headed Singers Were In”, you have a line about punk rock being dead again in 2011. What do you think about the state of rock in general in this moment?

PS: I think there is a lot of great music out there, but I don’t think there are a lot of bands that really care about what they stand for, or that really have anything to say, other than be really musically talented. They express it that way, which is fine; it’s just not where I come from as a singer. ‘The Year Bald Headed Singers Were In’ is a funny song, but it means something too, in a humorous way, and it is a good hardcore song.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s really important to music today. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it, but I think that the amount of ways available to people to communicate to each other seems to make things more superficial, less important. It is unfortunate, because I think that all the powers that control this world like people to be more preoccupied with something else; like that, the world can turn the way they want to.

TP: Which role do you think music covers nowadays in the society?

Skeeter Thompson (ST): Well, it has always been a cry for freedom. It has always been awareness, and communication.

PS: I think the main thing about music is communication. People communicate with each other; it’s a way for musicians to communicate their feelings and their ideas to people. It brings people together. It’s a language that goes from the musicians on stage and back.

ST: It’s how people actually see things; I mean their feelings, their emotions, and people’s problems.

TP: The last Rock ‘revolution’ took place 20 years ago, with the raise of grunge. Do you feel that nowadays there is a community growing with a strong identified approach to rock, as happened for you in D.C. in the 80s with hardcore punk, and as happened for the last time in Seattle, with grunge, 20 years ago?

PS: I think you always have new explosions here and there in music. I mean it’s not like grunge was some new way of playing rock and roll. It was more a reaction to hair metal, and a new access to rock; but it suddenly turned into Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains, which is kind of the same thing, just dressed down.

I’m sure there will be one, you just never know where it comes from. I mean, people are making music these days by exchanging files, and I don’t think music is made by exchanging files. Rock ’n’ roll is basically three chords, and melody, and melody; I think there will always be someone who will reinvent it, and touch people’s hearts and minds. That always happened.

TP: Being Dave Grohl’s first professional band, you are often associated with Nirvana and Foo Fighters. How do you feel about that, as you play a different kind of music?

PS: It’s just the way it is. We were very lucky that we found Dave, and he played drums for us, and he was very lucky to play with us, or he wouldn’t have had Nirvana. I don’t have a problem with that; it also helps us out, like people know about Scream out of their success. We come from a very small scene, a very small gender.

The D.C. hardcore scene it’s a very cool scene; I’m proud of being part of it and Dave is part of it. The only thing that bothers me is when people just don’t know anything about us, and just want to hear of Dave when talking to us. We were a band before Dave was in the band, and he would be the first person to tell you that.

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Punk rock band Rise Against, composed of frontman Tim McIlrath, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Zach Blair, has been wooing its fans during the last year with a series of extremely successful concerts, to promote their sixth studio album ‘Endgame,’ released in 2011.

Upon its released in March 2011, the record debuted at second place on the U.S. Billboard 200, sold 85,000 copies in the first week, and entered the UK top 40 album chart; a first for the band.

Endgame has been well received by critics and widely acclaimed by both old and new coming fans; on the record the band seems to have evolved its style, although staying true to the original musical soul. Endgame enters directly into that high energy level that represents Rise Against, but with a slightly darker finish in comparison to earlier records.

In a music scene often accused of bearing the talent but expressing little content, Rise Against is one of the bands that are really able to stand up for something. Their music delivers a strong identification with endearing social issues such as unfairness, social division, and self denial in an uncaring society. Endgame takes the band a bit further this time with the point of view that it is too late to escape what is wrong in the world.

Frontman Tim McIlrath explained in an interview with Lonnie Nemiroff, “Endgame was a way to talk about the world in a different way than we have before. It is talking about the world from the perspective that it’s too late to recycle. It’s too late to drive a hybrid. It’s too late to decide whether you believe in global warming or not because global warming has devoured the planet.”

To promote the album the band has been touring South America, Canada, Europe and the U.S., having been supported by Bad Religion in concert during the latter, a band which is a well known influence for Rise Against’s music.

Rise Against just ended the first leg of their U.S. tour with a concert in Fairfax, VA, and are about to head over to Europe. After the extreme success of the American tour, Europeans will have the chance to enjoy the punk bit of the Chicago band starting in Brussels, Belgium, on February 28. The tour will go on for about three weeks, touching several European countries, and ending in Vienna, Austria, with a performance at the Wiener Stadthalle on the 20th of March.

After a stint back in the U.S. for the second leg of the American tour, Rise Against will return to Europe in June, headlining a number of festivals, starting with the Download Festival in the UK, together with Black Sabbath, The Prodigy and Metallica, among others.

Rise Against are well known for bringing to the stage all the passion and energy that their records reflect. Your can say that they ‘live’ the show to the fullest and carry the audience through a musical spiral that unifies band and fans into a unique energy explosion. For this reason, the European part of their tour is easily predicted to match the American success.

Image Courtesy of  Marms RTT

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