Absolutely Nothin’

[March 12th, 2008]

War is so 2003. But as long as the Powers That Be continue efforts in Iraq, there will be protesters to chant, cry and occasionally sing for change. Protests abound for the fifth anniversary of the invasion, and on the PSU Park Blocks this Saturday, those antiwar activities take a decidedly musical turn. Artists playing the PDX Peace Music Festival (a.k.a. World War None) are an eclectic group: from sharp-tongued revolutionary MC Mic Crenshaw to the circus-themed craziness of MarchFourth Marching Band. Before the festivities, we asked a handful of artists playing the daylong event to share their political hopes and frustrations with WW.

WW: What do you hope this concert accomplishes?
Barry Hampton (Triple Grip): Awareness that creativity can make us wealthier than oil.

Do any of the current presidential hopefuls offer the change you’re looking for?
Dave Rovics: No, certainly not. They’re all in the pockets of the corporate elite, which is bringing our planet quickly to ruin. Barack is eloquent and smart, though, and he says a lot of the right things.

Scott Killen (Triple Threat Quartet): Yes—none of them are W—and no: The two-party system leaves little room for progressive political action and/or change. [But] Obama and Hillary should run on the same ticket.

What’s your message for George W. Bush (in five words or less)?
John Averill (MarchFourth): You were the ultimate puppet.

Hampton: Assume the position...

Morgan Delaney (festival organizer): Jesus would work against you.

Mic Crenshaw: Die, vampire.

Would you call your music political?
Rovics: Would you call the Pope religious?

Averill: We [try] to appeal to the populace at large and transcend apparent political boundaries between neighbors (be it locally, statewide, regionally, nationally, globally, universally). Populist, yes. Political, no.

Do we really need another protest?
Averill: Can’t hurt. Historically, if people always stayed at home and never gathered to express themselves en masse, then we would never have had any change in this world.

Delaney: We need lots of things. Getting people out to see each other is a powerful experience. To gather. To share…reading signs, hearing voices and being able to walk down the middle of a street that is usually full of traffic kind of warms your heart.

Can music change the world?
Ben Darwish (Commotion, Ben Darwish Trio): Of course. Music has an effect that cannot be calculated. It’s an extremely powerful cure, and sometimes an unwanted burden.

Crenshaw: It is changing the world all the time. Everybody has a song or songs that affected them profoundly at one time or another. 6.5 billion songs.

Averill: God, I hope so.

What’s your all-time favorite protest song?
Averill: “Imagine” by John Lennon. It’s not a protest song, but its lyrical nature strikes at the very core of the belief system that is underpinning the current consciousness-paradigm of fear, separation, ignorance and greed.

Darwish: “The 4th Branch” by Immortal Technique, because he tells it like it is. Corruption, greed and media censorship.

Killen: Well, we are talking about putting a “dude jazz” spin on Country Joe & the Fish’s “Yippee, we’re all gonna die,” [“The ‘Fish’ Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag”], so I’ll go with that one.

Hampton: “Evil” by Stevie Wonder.

Delaney: 2Pac’s “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” One of a kind.

Crenshaw: Many of Linton Kwesi Johnson’s songs express what is best in anti-oppression music. Rage Against the Machine. Bob Marley. My life is a protest song.