Robyn Writes

Fight With Tools by soufex

Originally posted by soufex in 2009.

I was stacking shelves with my manager the other night, and Flobots’ Rise came up on my shuffled playlist. He said to me, “what are those kind of bands going to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, what are they going to write about now they have a new President?” And that kind of made me smile because it’s funny how the world thinks everything is fixed just because we’re in the Age of Hope and Change. Now, I am in no way slighting Team Obama’s battle to overthrow a global spirit of fear, because I think, and I always thought, that was awesome. But that we can just give up fighting our own personal, social, moral, civil battles because there isn’t a big bad man in power? That’s not what should be happening. It’s too easy to suddenly assume everything is fine now.

Things are not fine.

I still can’t marry my same-sex partner in Australia, people are still afraid to walk through their own cities at night, still being refused government housing because they ‘leave of their own accord’ when kids are putting bricks through their living room windows, Americans are still fucked over by health bills unless they can afford insurance.

As individuals and subcultures and generations of people we need to band together and drive through the message of change, we need to rally our best friends and bandmates and stand tall, and as the aforementioned Flobots say, fight with tools. We need to make our housing complexes and streets and neighbourhoods safer, fight for civil liberties it’s all too easy to take for granted. Clean up after yourself in town. Build an allotment. Organise self-defence classes, write to your representatives, vote when you are given the chance, the privilege. Play a charity show. Give blood because any biological male who has ever had sex with another biological male can’t. Sign yourself up to organ donation. Form support groups for mental illnesses (remember that sharing experiences and humanising invisible monsters brings light into the darkest of minds). Hold a vigil. Wheatpaste happy thoughts. Find a common interest. Make cupcakes. Help in the smallest ways to bring change.

Regardless of what the vox populi thinks, there is always something to sing about, there is always something to fight for. That’s what punk rock is and there is always a place in the world for punk rock, in our bedrooms and back yards, suburbs and cities. The smallest voice is still a voice. If you can use it, use it. We can’t make the world we live in a better, safer place with diffusion of responsibility- the world won’t change without you, without all of us, together.

further reading
the citizen’s handbook
the icarus project
voluntary resource information
got hope? (via causecast)

Interview with Matt Davies and Ryan Richards from Funeral For A Friend

TwoBeatsOff.co.uk’s first video interview with Matt Davies and Ryan Richards from Funeral For A Friend! Filmed at the Warwick University Summer Party on the 29/6/10 by Sin Popena and Laura Morris. Directed by Sin Popena. All other content by Robyn Hardman, Kate Cherrell and of course, the FFAF guys.



Sexism And Music by ninthandash

Originally posted by ninthandash in 2009

I’m not very articulate about certain issues. I get certain feelings and I have problems expressing them. Personal issues, I’ve never had a problem with, it’s been almost therapeutic for me to write them out. But ideas about right and wrong in terms of general bandom issues — feminism, sexuality, etc. — I find harder. Which is why I like reading other people’s so much — I sit there going yes, yes, that’s exactly how I feel but I’ve never been personally able to express it.

Anyway, that’s my explanation to why this article might be a little awkward. I have a problem with something I’ve seen but I’m not entirely sure how to express it. So instead of a well-formed opinion, this is more an informal article of a teenager attempting to work through the issues that she finds herself confronted with. I find at this age, more than anything, there are so many things that you feel you should have an opinion on, but the information just isn’t within your grasp. Combine this with the ever-present media telling you constantly what you should think and feel, and it’s difficult to form your own opinion. Sometimes, things just don’t sit well, but you don’t know why and there’s just no one around you to discuss it with and allow you to fully realise your thoughts on the matter.

So I was over on a music website today — this was pretty much the first forum I ever joined, and the first time I became a part of an internet community; I’m not so involved these days but I still visit it regularly and feel loyalty towards it and the people there — and I was clicking around and I came across the thread entitled ‘The Hottest People In Music’. I don’t usually contribute to those threads — my thoughts are usually people who may not be recognised as talented musicians, but who I find good looking — and these sometimes don’t go down so well on a site like this one, and I’ve worked hard on there to avoid the stereotype of the teenage fangirl.

But I was looking through it anyway — because, hey, who am I to deny myself some hot people in music — and all was well. But then I saw this post and I was like, “wait – what?”

Basically, it had three photos of a girl in music, I’m not sure who, and ended with the line ‘I thought I’d make it fair and put live/pro photos. She should just quit the band and model I think…’

She should just quit the band and model I think.

Something about this just didn’t seem right to me. Some inherent belief ingrained in that just hit a nerve, and I found it offensive. You know, I’m probably overreacting to this but I kind of couldn’t believe it. First off, if someone was saying that about me? I’d be kind of really pissed off. I can understand enjoying someone’s looks more than the music they make and it’s probably inevitable that it’s going to happen sometime. Sometimes good looking people made bad sounding music, I get that. Seriously, I find people hot and probably can’t stand their music at all.

But I don’t think that person should stop doing something that they enjoy in order to, what? Model?

I have issues with modeling, personally. I’m not going to pretend that my opinions apply to everyone — they don’t. As with most things, my opinion is what I personally feel. And modeling is something I could never do. Forget about the lack of self-confidence in the way I look, that’s not even my biggest problem. What it comes down to is that you are, essentially, making money from the way you look. It’s a shallow business, all about aesthetic perfection, and I’m not into that.

Also in modeling, if your face gets damaged, if you have any kind of disability or imperfection, it’s near on impossible to make it. I want to make it in an industry where it doesn’t matter what I look like because it’s about a talent that isn’t to do with my appearance. That’s a personal thing. I realise I’m probably projecting a lot of issues onto this person that they didn’t originally mean. I’m using their post as a starting point, and I realise that.

It just seems like such a stupid statement to make. I think X is hot, therefore X should stop what they’re doing in order to please me. In these situations I like to think about what would happen if the genders were switched, if a girl said ‘hey, X is so hot, they should be a model,’ and I can’t imagine it. Maybe it’s because of my own opinions or maybe it’s because I’m used to the girls in bandom who are, in my opinion, usually more mature and intelligent than a lot of the fans you get outside of the internet or in different places.

I’m comparing this situation in a context I understand and that could be the problem. I initially tried to imagine someone saying, ‘Hey, Frank Iero is so hot, he should stop playing music and model.’ And I can’t imagine that. I tried to work out why that was and I think it’s because everyone knows how much Frank Iero enjoys music and everyone that knows what he’s like on that stage can’t imagine him without that. But maybe that’s the difference, maybe this poster barely knows this girl. In bandom I do realise we are more involved with the musicians than perhaps we might normally be.

But in the same way, I can’t imagine showing a photo of, say, Frank Iero (MCR, Leathermouth) — using him as an example here — to anyone and them going, ‘Wow, he should be a model.’ But I can imagine that more if I showed them a photo of, say, Vicky-T (Cobra Starship). ‘She should be a model.’ But — and here’s where it gets complicated — I think, if it was a girl, it would definitely be meant in a different way. (I realise I’m stereotyping here and there are a lot of boys who would also mean this in the same way, I’m just generalising in order to explain this to myself.)

If a girl said, ‘Wow, she should be a model,’ it would be meant as a compliment. Maybe more along the lines of ‘She could be a model’, just, she’s really pretty. Whereas if a boy said ‘she should be a model’ they would mean it a lot more literally. Also, it’s less assumed that boys are models. When someone says ‘gorgeous model’ or even just ‘a model’, the person that springs to mind is usually female.

None of this is particularly important though, because the poster didn’t say she should be a model, they said she should quit the band and be a model and that’s what gets me the most. “She should quit the band.” Why is it his place to say that? It’s based on absolutely nothing except for the way she looks. If he had something to back it up, I don’t know, if he thought she wasn’t talented or the band wasn’t particularly good then I could understand it a lot more. It wouldn’t necessarily justify it to me but it would make more sense.

In conclusion, I would hope that my music would be taken seriously enough for people to concentrate more on that than my looks, and that they wouldn’t want me to give it up to concentrate on something else. I feel that if we let these kind of statements slip by without comment, we’re just reinforcing the patriarchal society that we live in, and it makes it OK for guys to say these kinds of things. The way we speak can, arguably, affect the world around us, and I don’t want my world to be determined by someone else’s opinion of what I should or shouldn’t do.

Review: Fake Problems – Real Ghosts Caught On Tape


When it comes to the new Fake Problems release, Real Ghosts Caught On Tape, there are two questions to ask. The first question to ask is this: is this album a Fake Problems album? The answer would be yes and no; it’s by the band named Fake Problems but it sounds so very different. The second question is: does this matter at all? The answer – hell no.

Real Ghosts Caught On Tape is not a typical folk punk offering. You’d probably struggle to find the folk or the punk in it. What is there instead is a ridiculously slick, well rounded record constructed of pure genius. Despite purist cries claiming otherwise, I’ve thought that Fake Problems have been heading in this direction quite naturally, so for all the haters, you can’t say you didn’t see it coming. That said, I fail to see how there are any haters at all because it’s just… So. Damn. Good.

The album opens on ADT, a wonderfully jangly affair which sets the tone for the rest of the album. They might not all be quite so wistful sounding – there are some pretty dark tracks on here – but they’re all equally fantastic if not better. Farren’s recurring line “tap tap your feet, to your heartbeat” wrenches through the entire song and it truly is the little things that make this album; from that line to the soulful scream of “don’t leeeeaaat them in!” in 5678 and the guiro in Songs For Teenagers along with the standard drum beat. And that’s just the first three tracks, there are far more gems in there for you to discover yourself. No attention to detail is lacking and everything is carefully considered. Is that punk rock? Maybe not but who gives a damn at this point?

This may be a perfect summer album with a great variety of upbeat dancers, slow burning chill outs and generally bouncy guitar (which begs the question – why did it come out this autumn?) but as I mentioned, there is a lot more at play here. This album is Chris Farren’s best lyrical effort so far – clever, infectious and at times, particularly heartfelt. Soulless in particular is a highlight for me as a wonderfully upbeat love story with some of the best metaphors I’ve seen. If you think you’re a poet, chances are you probably ain’t got anything on Chris Farren.

This is one of those albums where I love every single track. My general reviewing technique is to go through each and every song but with this, I don’t feel like I need to; there is literally nothing to complain about. As for highlights, every track is a highlight. 5678, potentially my favourite for the awesome vocal effects and the fantastically groovy bass, let alone the lyrics, instantly springs to mind but I could do exactly the same for every other track. Everyone is on form on this record and it feels a lot more complete and together than other Fake Problems releases. Trust me when I say I’ve had this on repeat.

The one thing I’ve found is that it’s pretty difficult to place this album. I thought about it, then realised that I didn’t care because whatever it is, it’s incredible. I promise, you won’t hear a better release this year. Pick it up, stick it on your iPod (because it really is best listened to through headphones) and enjoy.

5 out of 5 high fives!

Interview with Tom Conrad (Empires) by ninthandash

In this interview, ninthandash asks Tom Conrad, guitarist for Empires, about his thoughts on the current music scene, the internet fanbase and how Empires are different to virtually every other band out there.

There’s been a lot of discussion over the past few years about the impact that the internet has had on the music industry, and the general consensus seems to be very negative. Especially with MySpace, it’s now so easy to be heard or to find new music that a lot of people aren’t bothering, and new bands are either generic, one hit wonders or people are just choosing to listen to whatever popular music is in the charts.

However, Empires have a very strong internet fanbase. Do you feel that the internet has had a positive impact on the music industry, and you as a band, or do you think that it’s still mostly a bad thing?

I would not say it’s negative, it’s just different than what we have known in the past. It is important for life to evolve and I believe the general state of music is in a transition period. Everything is so quickly and easily accessible because of the internet, so you really need to offer something different to stand out.

Also, the internet fanbase; it’s unusual for a band to build up such a strong community so quickly. The fans all seem very close-knit, and have taken gifts to shows to give you, or made lists of fans from all over the country to give you. Do you think your fans are different to a more mainstream band’s due to the fact you can still talk to them personally, and that one-on-one dynamic is important?

The five of us have been very lucky thus far. We try very hard to have direct contact with the people that care about Empires as much as we do. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is about sharing and hopefully sparking some sort of feeling in each other at the end of the day.

Putting ‘Howl’ on your website available for free download was a move almost like Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows. Coming back to the impact of the internet on the music industry issue, was this a response to that? Were you worried that no one would buy the hard copy of the album if you did this, or were you just happy to get your music out there, and this ensured that possibly more people would listen to it?

We released “Howl” online for free for several reasons. First, we did so because we could and not many artists can. The album was ours and will always be ours. Since the record was completely constructed by the band, we could do whatever we wanted with it. Second, it was important to us get our music out as fast and as easy as possible. We knew this way anyone in the world could grab it and we could know exactly where from. Third, we loved the idea of this being our
introduction to everyone. Knowing we initiated our relationship with you by giving away something we spent a lot of time and energy on is a great feeling. Now, we hopefully started a strong bond with the listener. “Howl” is the starting point for Empires and to me, feels like when the band truly kicked off.

Some of our readers have been asking about “Hayley”, and whether there’s a story behind it. Could you clarify this?

Sean writes all the lyrics for Empires. The story is true as far as I know.

Do you feel that being unsigned allows you a greater level of control? A lot of the reasons so many fans feel so strongly about you is that they feel a connection, due to the free download of Howl, and due to the way you can personally interact with them. Would you ever consider signing to a label, especially a major one, or do you feel that it wouldn’t be worth it for you in the long run?

The best thing about being unsigned is that our path is unwritten and unseen. Anything could happen. The downside to not having a home for Empires is that it does make things much harder for us and can be a cause for distractions while trying to achieve the main goal. I’m not opposed to signing with an indie or a major at this point but obviously whatever is in the best intention for Empires, we’ll decide to do. Max, Sean, Ryan, Alfred and myself do everything we can to make Empires as self-sufficient as possible and I don’t think that will change. It’s very important for us to be “hands on” with anything we do together. The more we can do on our own, the more accurate of representation it will be.

Your music is very different to most bands around these days and definitely stands out, especially the way all your songs have a different sound to them. Do you think this is important? What do you think about a lot of the bands that seem to have made it big these days, as some artists have labeled them as talentless and generic?

I think it’s important to be yourself and pursue what makes you happy, which is what “Howl” is to us. It’s not my place to judge or to call someone else’s work generic. Though I have been finding myself digging deeper through more experienced and educated artists to find inspiration lately. You need to have something valid to say to get my attention.