Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha recently chatted with Binaural during Glen E Friedman‘s “Burning Flags” photography exhibit in Barcelona, Spain. Amid the interview, the vocalist discussed Turnstile’s popularity and his hopes that it will help people rediscover hardcore’s roots.
de la Rocha said the following:
“It’s interesting to see this style resurfacing. I don’t know if it will have the same impact, but again, there are a lot of kids discovering it for the first time. And they do so through their first experience with bands like Turnstile. Then they start discovering Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Negative Approach, The Clash… So these bands occupy a really interesting place, like a kind of bridge. I hope that through them, people will turn their attention back to the original groups.
Glen is one of those figures who helped give visibility to bands that had never achieved that level of reach. He made it his personal mission to give them visibility and create that whole culture of resistance, that universe of materials and cultural expressions that ended up becoming a global phenomenon.
Personally, I don’t think a band like Turnstile could exist without something like Bad Brains. And I also don’t think Bad Brains would have achieved the visibility they have without Glen‘s persistence and perseverance in promoting them. Many people would never have discovered that band if it hadn’t been for him. He’ll tell you the stories himself; he has quite a few.
Over the years I’ve talked about this, and it’s always amazed at how much Glen‘s small, persistent actions helped bring bands like Bad Brains to the public eye. He made it possible for people to discover them, see them, hear them, and be inspired by them.
Well, I think music can become an interesting way to project the social antagonisms that exist beneath the surface.”
Friedman continued:
“An artist has to do what they want to do. And I think everyone should raise their voice to try to make the world a better place. There are too many problems. Too much is happening. You can’t just stand by and do nothing. And hopefully, these bands are playing… I mean, first and foremost they’re musicians, but they’re also activists. They pick up their instruments to carry out that activism and make themselves heard. So it’s complicated…”
de la Rocha added:
“When you look at the encampments here in Barcelona; when you see what’s happening in other places; when you look at what just happened in the streets of Paris; and when you see what’s starting to take shape in the United States, where a genuine anti-imperialist culture is emerging from within the belly of the beast…
Music has the power to become a kind of antenna, a vehicle that projects that antagonism, that fury. An understandable, dignified, and legitimate fury. And when you see new generations of bands observing what’s happening and wanting to incorporate all of that into their work, that’s where a truly revolutionary culture is born. For our generation, it was Bad Brains, Public Enemy, MC5, and other artists who were giving voice to what was happening in the world.
Yes, all of that is here, in this music, which conveys those messages so skillfully and powerfully. That’s why all of us, and Rage Against The Machine in particular, feel indebted to what’s happening right next door (points to where the exhibition is taking place).”
[via The PRP]
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