PipemanRadio Interviews Rock Against Racism at Aftershock 2023

0:04 Hi, you then too, censure, Wow, cra you why Coup of America. It's time for the Adventures of pipe Man on W four c Y. I'm com wis pom Beach is number one Internet radio station. Here's your host, the vipe Man. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures of pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with Christian Vancott from Rock Against Racism. Nice, I love what you do. Let's tell everybody else what you do. So here at Aftershock we are actually doing an activation which is the combination of visual art and music musicians who come out and support Rock against Race, which is very similar, almost identical to what the original organization did fifty years ago in the UK. Yeah. I was going to ask about that too, like, so do you feel that it's making even more of an impact now than it was then, because maybe now we might be a little more mature about this crap and stop hating everybody. I hope one day. I definitely think that the topic is more on people's minds just because news in general is so much more accessible. But the reason why

1:34 this organization was relaunched was because of what happened in the summer of twenty twenty and following the Georgia Floyd event and the summer protest, and we just you know, reached out into to the old organizers who are in their late seventies and it had gone quiet for a little bit, and we saw what they were doing then, which was grassroots, you know, grassroots organization using the voices of visual artists and musical artists in a way that seems to have not been around for a few decades or you know, maybe twenty years. And so we've done some cool stuff. We were at Bourbon and Beyond. We were at Louder than Life. At Bourbon and Beyond, we had a major painter come and activate at the booth. We pair them with musicians. The musicians and the visual artists work together create a painting. Miles Regis was actually the painter who was at Bourbon and Beyond. He's from Trinidad. His work sell for fifty to seventy grand and hang in the Getty and he was willing to come out and use his visual voice. I love hearing that. Yeah.

2:42 And then the following week in it Louder than Life, we had Prime, who's the og graffiti writer of La graffiti come out and do a activation with Corey Taylor Wow, and they created four panel painting based on Corey's album We Are the Rest. Corey got his hands dirty, grab some paint, wrote the lyrics and some other cool pieces of design onto the art itself and they'll be auctioned off to benefit Rock agnst Racism. That is so cool. So it seems like a lot of artists are really into this absolutely, and you know, that's what we're in a phase of is finding more and more artists across more and more genres of music. We love this genre here at Aftershock because it's a very inclusive group of people. We've got merchandise, they're wearing it proudly, they're taking stickers and sticking them all over that you know, their their stuff, and just a great crowd. And Danny Wimmer, you know, has been an amazing you know, supporter of what we're doing.

3:45 I think that's one thing first of all that's really cool about Danny Wimmer. I mean, puts on great festivals, but there's always these elements at the festivals that it's not just about the music, it's about being a human being and helping the world. Absolutely. I mean, he does it better than most. My god, I mean, artists for Trauma here, rock against Racism is here, punk rock and paint brushes has been here in the past. And you know, again, it's really about using the voices of musicians beyond what they sing to reach the public and tell them what, you know, maybe we should be thinking, not just singing along to And you know what bothers me is like, you have these people out there. I've heard it at different shows and stuff where they're like yelling at the artists because they're talking like happens a lot with Chad from mud Vain and they're like, judge pluy your music, Like, if you have the stage to be able to spread a positive, uniting message, why shouldn't you well, And you know, it's really funny because when we talk to artists, they really have to consider, you know, what they're saying, because with social media and the way people twist what people say, you know, so all of a sudden you're being held up in a way that you didn't mean. Right.

5:04 I really think it's the courageous artists, both you know, visual and musical, who don't care and they say this is wrong. I'm going to stand up for it. That's a great point. Yeah, And Corey Taylor has been amazing with that. He's a perfect example. He's exactly who I was thinking, because he's the type that like, he doesn't care what anybody says. Nope, he's going to be true to himself and his beliefs. He's got an amazing perspective on it. And you know, here at After Shock, we were really fortunate because Jose Pisea of Incibus, he's an artist. People don't know it, and he did a whole new color of a print that he had sold out years ago just for us to promote here. He autographed them yesterday. There's twenty available in the booth, limited edition. That's it, and all the money goes to supporting you know, education and music education and places where they can't afford it. Support music Cares, who does things, from musicians and their crew and everybody in bad times. When twenty twenty eight was here, they you know, supported musicians and their crew when they couldn't tour. So we really like, you know, support them right back. We need you. I'm in South Florida. We need you to come to Florida because of our idiot that he like promotes it not only racism, but anti Semitism, Like, so I'm a Jew and like we had a National Hate Day this year, Like what the hell world are we living in? And there were not Neo Nazis sitting outside temples in Boca Raton like

6:39 harassing Jews. Nobody did anything. It's crazy, I mean, especially in Florida. Right, Yah, I'm from the Northeast myself. You know, that's where all good Jews and Italians go, right Florida. It's weird because I'm from New York and New Jersey too, and I go to Florida. I'm like, what are wrong? What's wrong with these Jews here? Because it is funny. It's like something happens they come down there and it's like they don't even care. I've actually gotten into discussions with people and they don't want to get involved them. But you're the one that should get involved. And that's what you said. To your point, these musicians that are getting involved, they are courageous because listen, they could jeopardize their whole career over it, absolutely, you know, And that's a shame because in twenty twenty three, we shouldn't have to be talking about racism still well, and think about back to the time when you had Neil Young and Bob Dylan and all those great artists that were speaking out against war, and they were speaking out against every kind of thing going on. I mean, it's interesting because some of the artwork that's in our booth here at the show is from the original movement. And Sid Shelton, who's an eighty two year old photographer still alive, sent us a bunch of his work, a bunch of the posters from the magazine that they did in those days. And again it was visual artists and musical artists in some little bunker creating this stuff, raising a little money, making more, you know, posters and things to get out there and

8:09 get the word out. And you'd think fifty years later we wouldn't be here, but here we are, and thank god for people like Corey Taylor and the artists that you know are willing to put their voices to it, the you know, the painters, the graffiti artists, the photographers. It's amazing. And we have some of the original the Clash and Elvis Costello work that's not sitting there and it looks like what we're doing here today, So you know, something's changed and something's stay the same, right, And that's why the education is so important, because we teach hate. Like I have two grandchildren that are half Blahemian. Wow, they have no clue that they're you know, somebody's not supposed to be nice to them, or they're not supposed to be nice to somebody because of skin color. Yeah, someday they may get taught that unfortunately, which is why an organization like yours is so important because I hope my grandchildren can grow up in a time where they don't have to worry about that. Well, you know, I absolutely share your sentiment.

9:16 I have kids and they don't see color the way some of the older but they get it, taught it, and that is exactly the message. We want to teach something else. You know, let's teach something else, and we need everybody's voice to do it. Absolutely. And you know it's funny. I travel the world. You got other countries and there's like different viewpoints. I even have friends of mine that they're like, when I go to the UK, they don't see a colored man, they see just a man. Yeah, and then I come home and I'm getting harassed try and come back in my own country well, you know, And at some point, I think it has to do with economics, because when you're in countries that have social democracies and everybody has healthcare, everybody you know, has some support, it's not such a competitive landscape where you've got to put somebody else down so that you can survive. That's something I think this country has to work on, because you know, I mean, I'm Italian and just a couple of generations ago, my family couldn't get jobs in Brooklyn, New York, you know, And I can't imagine what it's like when you can't hide behind your ethnicity, can hide behind the color of your skin, but when it can't, then you're really, you know, fighting a fight. And to be blunt, I'll say people are actually stupid because I'm an Italian Jew.

10:39 And you know how many times in my life people will say, you can't be Italian, You're a Jew? Like what is wrong with you? That even crosses their head? Just blows my mind. I know, I know, And we are supposed to be the great American melting pot right right exactly, but we've got walls up. It's corners of the country now, you know, once you're in da da da dah, it's I don't know, but I am hopeful for the future. I am hopeful that we can make a difference. I think this younger generation, like I take my youngest daughter, she's the example of that generation that hate no one, love everybody, none of that crap. And hopefully that'll stick because it seems like that generation is just so fed up enough with the rest of us that they're actually being loud about it instead of getting subdued. And you know, I think about you laugh, the hippies or the sixties are now the boomers, absolutely, But we want what we need from these kids, though, is we need them to be getting into politics. Like if you look at politics right now, I don't see anybody under the age of sixty five. I talk about this all the time. Oh my god, I can't vote for any of them. I don't care as what they do with what party, what.

11:58 There's a seventy eighty year old person have any relevance to now or to future tomorrow. I know, and you know, the way I think about it, I think like I'm voting for my condo commando president, Like do I want that person as president of the country. Like it's I even say, even my age isn't even appropriate. I think the perfect age right now for a president would be thirty five to forty five period. Yep, forty five I'll take because at least they've been around a little bit. I mean, I saw this kid out in the pit out here at this festival and he had a shirt on, one of those classic voting shirts and it says I'm voting for and then it said anyone under sixty five, and I was like, oh my god, that's hysterical that we're actually printing these. Oh I would wear that shirt in that hearts out man, you do. It's I just don't even know what's going on right now, Like, how did this happen that all of a sudden you have to be seventy plus to run for president? Well, because you know, there are things in place that prevent people who should be there to be there, right they don't want to let go of what they have, but you know what, you're not going to be here well exactly. And all that they're doing right there right now is fighting against the other side. So if you're in power, the other side makes it so you can't be effective, and then they win. And then the other side goes back and says, Okay, we're not going to let you be effective, and who suffers? But the American public absolutely one hundred percent. How do people reach out to you besides coming to a festival,

13:30 connect with you, help the organization do their part everything. So we have a great Instagram site at Rock Against Racism, which is a great place to find out what we're doing, where we're activating, and items you can buy or music you can listen to that supports the organization. Also, we have a website, rockagainst Racism dot com. Look for us out there in the world at music festivals and art festivals and online. Well, I love that you're doing. We need it more than ever, and we need more than ever people to join forces with you and help Let's rock against racism. Let's rock. Thanks for being on the Adventures pipe Man, Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipemin on w for CUI Radio.