Interview with Propagandhi - Podcast 93

We're back, Sound Scene Revolution, following up our amazing last podcast with a new one, which is at least the best since our previous podcast. So that's two weeks in a row. I'm pretty excited about that. This week, we have an interview with Chris Hanna, I think is his last name. I don't know, maybe Chris Hansen. Who knows? But he's from the band Propagandhi. Maybe you've heard of him. They're a little band based out of Winnipeg, Canada, about three years ago, maybe? For like our fifth or sixth show, like way fucking early. We interviewed Jord from Propagandhi. This was a long ass time ago. Like it was right after they released Potemkin City Limits. They were playing in Santa Cruz, I think. So this was a long fucking time ago.

And so I think Sound Guy and Airman's looking it up. But I don't know if he can find it. Nope. Maybe if you fucking spelled the name of the podcast right. I'm just fucking with you. I'm just dicking with you. He spelled it right. But a long ass time ago, we interviewed Jord. And so I'm really happy to come back and get Chris. And it's right on the heels. It was number eight? Fuck. So that was done in December 13th, 2005. So that was like 18 years ago that we did that. And since then, it has been four years and we have done another 15 podcasts. So pretty stoked on that. But yeah, so it's right on the toes of their release of the supporting cast, which came out or it's coming out. I don't think it's. Well, as of this recording, it's not out.

Maybe by the time we finally post it, it's out. But it's coming out on Small Man Records, G7 from North America. I think it's being done by Grand. I can't think of the name of it. It's Grand something hotel in Europe. But it's super good album. Really a lot of positive reviews from the people who have illegally downloaded it thus far. So I'm assuming those are the guys who don't buy albums. They know if shit's good. So enjoy that. But part of this text was already posted on Punk News. But we're going to bring you the audio. And there's a bunch of shit in the audio that was not in the text. Because fucking transcribing is hard. And I am lazy. And I get carpal tunnel. Because most of the time when I'm on the computer, I'm only using my right hand.

Because I operate with the click method. And the left hand is preoccupied. So I'm not used to all this typing. So a lot of streaming videos when I web surf. Not a lot of actual typing. And I only do it for like three or four minutes at a time. Because I mean, if you go any longer than that, I'm really impressed. Everything you write is copy and paste from YouTube descriptions. Most everything I write. And most of the time I'm just amazed, you know, at the amount of porn on the internet. And that's mostly what my computer is used for. It was years before I found out I can even use MySpace from it. And now I use MySpace instead of porn. What's up, 14-year-olds? So, um, God, um, Chris Hanna, Propagandhi. We don't have anything to give away because I don't even have a copy of the album officially yet.

So, you don't get shit on this one. But we are still running our 1-2-3-4-Go Records contest from Stevo. Um, you can listen to that interview to learn how to enter. Here's some of the interview. Um, be sure to check it out. Sorry, it was a phone interview because I'm not fucking flying to Winnipeg to interview these guys. And they're not coming to California until, like, next summer. So, enjoy that. Learn their tour schedule. And, uh, we'll be back. Bye.

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So, um, I guess the easiest place to start is you guys have been pretty busy since your last album came out. Um, and, like, years past, you guys have been pretty dormant in between albums. Is there any particular reason that you've been more active recently in the last four years? Um, well, speaking from my point of view, from 1997 until early 2008, I was working at G7. Mm-hmm. Uh, the record label. Yep. Here in Winnipeg. And, uh, I, essentially that took up 11 years of my, of all my extra time. Um, February 2008, uh, I got the people from Smallman Records to do the, uh, I'm free just to be able to work on the band. Mm-hmm. With all my time. And since January, it was not spent on the band. Well, I know a lot of people will be really, really excited for that.

Um, you mentioned G7 and how, uh, you guys actually went kind of dormant this year on that. Um, what was, was there a particular reason behind that? Um, for me, it's, uh, left standing. At G7 Country. Oh. And we tried to run the label with him there, me here. We kept it, you know, we tried to normalize that. But after, after a few months, it just, you know, it wasn't fun. I'm sitting there doing data entry. There's no jokes.

But for now, we're using the G7. We're not putting out anything else besides.

Fair enough, fair enough. Um, so, yeah, I was going to say you guys had moved to the digital music medium. So, those are all still available, of course. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, everything in the back catalog that, uh, a lot of the... Okay, as long as, are you guys going to continue running that and distributing it through Smallman? Or is this just kind of an untell what you have left? Um, not sure. I think that's, uh, an internal debate between me and Derek. I think Derek would rather just become a digital archive for the old stuff. Mm-hmm. But there's, there's some stuff bringing it back.

Yeah, definitely, definitely. And I mean, I'm assuming you guys are still on good terms with, you know, the bands, even though the label isn't currently active right now. Um, I, I think so. I don't know, that was just kind of a thought. So, I don't know what that really had to do with much. So, eh, anyhow. Um, I was going to say, in the past you've mentioned that you don't consider propaganda to be, you know, the typical, the industry kind of record, tour, repeat, you know, kind of process. Um, has it been unusual to kind of, you know, up that in the last couple of years where it has been much more of the touring and now you're recording and now you're expecting to do a record maybe even in two years?

Is it unusual for you? I think, I think this year, I mean, other bands would laugh at us.

You know, we go out for like two weeks at a time and then we're not really into it. Now, I could see how that'd be kind of a bummer. Um, you guys didn't do a lot of touring, uh, in the USA last, uh, go around. You guys, because I know everyone in America wants me to ask, are you guys planning to do any more touring in America this round? Florida to Boston tour planned for, I think, March. And then there'll be like some Midwestern tour in the summer to the general regions of the States, yeah. Cool, cool. Yeah, because you guys have been playing a lot of, I mean, definitely off the beaten path, you know, countries. In the last year. And was that like intentional on your part, trying to get out there to places that, you know, may not otherwise get to see you play?

Well, Costa Rica, Panama, get to in our lives. And, uh, it's kind of interesting to go to a place like that. Mm-hmm. Haven't seen every band in the book, you know? Yeah. They're all easy, man. They act like they'll never see you again. That's probably true. So, it just kind of, it kind of makes it. Oh, definitely. I can, I've heard from a number of people that American audiences definitely seem like they're spoiled at this point. And it definitely, it's a different experience to go, you know, other parts of the world for sure. Yeah. Uh, was there, you know, was there any particular incidents that went on that, on that tour that you'd like to talk about? Anything unusual or anything that you weren't expecting?

I wasn't expecting crowds in South America, really, to be honest with you.

Uh, nothing's, nothing's jumping out at me in particular is like a crazy story. But, uh, I will encourage any band that's ever considering going to South America to definitely go to, to Chile. Yeah.

Cool. I mean, that, has it been, would you say that definitely helped with morale in terms of just getting out there and people in parts of the world you've never been to before who are just super stoked to see you?

Very cool, very cool. No, I, we went to Japan earlier this fall. Mm-hmm. So, it was sort of, you know, it was interesting, too. We were playing in front of, didn't really know who we were. Um, so I guess, real quick, talk about the new album you guys have coming out called, uh, Supporting Cast. Um, the typical question everyone wants to know is, I guess, really, what does it sound like and what has changed from the last album? It's a little cliche, but everyone asks.

Well, a simple answer, and I think there's... Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. And... So, yeah, I want to ask about that. You get a lot of people, I mean, you know, you look online, which is definitely, I guess, a very keyhole kind of view of it. I don't know if things, but a lot of people are like, oh, you know, I really like the first album. Is it, is it unusual? I mean, how does it feel? Is it frustrating that these people like something that you did 15-plus years ago? Or is it at least nice to know that they, you know, that that piece is at least remembered by people? Those people. I dig it. We still play songs from that record. You know, I still, it's still fun. I get a kick out of it. I mean, they seem like a new song. You know, like, there's a bit of it in the songs, but they're still fun to play.

They might hear that record, that recording, that moment in time. I think that's probably fair. Well, I mean, every one of your albums has been distinct, and I was just looking at it online. This new one's, what is it, 50-something minutes long? It is, it is 40-something, but there's a hidden track making.

Well, now it's not hidden. Now, see. Yeah, it's not hidden now. I'm sorry, we've given away the secret of the album. But, I mean, so I think that, I mean, in my view, it might have something to do with it, because you've got the kids who, they've been listening to a minute and a half to two-minute songs their whole lives, and now you guys are doing four-minute songs, and they're just, I don't know, their attention span doesn't seem to bridge that gap. Yeah, that could be, and I appreciate that, too. You know, I've been, as people have told me, Metallica's new record will sound like Ride the Lightning. You know, every time it's come out, I've went and bought the new record, and it doesn't sound like Ride the Lightning.

You know, and I get disappointed, but it's so. Yeah, well, at least you're forward about it, and you're not going to, you know, not tell people you're making the same album, which is nice. Yeah, we never do a, quote-unquote, return to form. Yeah, well, in that manner, at least, you don't have a form to return to if you're always doing something different. Makes it a little easier. Yeah. So, it's the middle section. I don't know where the middle is. Sound Guy Nairman kind of, I don't know, at his own discretion, puts it in the middle section. So, I don't know what we're missing, what's coming up, but we're with Chris Hanna. I think that's his name. I'm going to fuck it up. I'm going to get, like, four angry emails from kids who are like, It's not Chris Hanna, it's Chris Hanna-nan.

None. Hanna. Hanna. Hanna-nan. And I'm, I don't really give a shit. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to offend you if you are kind of, like, if I am saying it wrong, like, I'm sorry. I fuck it up. But if you're really going to take the time to, like, send an angry email over my pronunciation of some shit, dude. Or, like, sit there and, like, fucking, like, badmouth me to your friends because they're mispronounced some shit. But that's really fucking sad, dude. It's senor, dude. I don't give a shit. I don't, I don't really care. There's so much porn to look at at the internet. That's the best thing you have to do. Unless you're at work. In which case, it's really hard to look at porn online. Not impossible. But way more difficult.

You have to kind of figure that one out. But, seriously. I hope I'm pronouncing it right, but if I'm not, don't tell me. I don't, I don't care. I'm never going to meet the guy. I'm never going to shake his hand and be like, oh, Mr. Hannon, it's nice to meet you. And he'll be like, it's Hanan-an-an. And I'm going to be like, fuck! Hanan-an-an. Make him say, oh, Hanan-an-an. These are the things that go through our minds. So don't, dude, how sweet would it be if it was Hanan-an-an. And Master P, you just walk around with it everywhere. Who is this? It's Chris. Hanan-an-an. These are, yeah, this is what we do. So I'm sorry. But I don't care. So we're going to continue our interview with Chris. And, yeah, then we'll play some more music.

We got some more music coming up from Supporting Cast. Then we're going to play some more interview. Then we're going to wrap it up. So enjoy. And we'll see you guys in a little bit. That was sickening last week, by the way. What? What is going on with you here? That's not. What is this stuff going on here? We're hockey night in Canada and we're talking about saving the world and all that stuff. Let's talk hockey. That's the whole idea behind December the 25th.

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Again. That's right. Yeah. Well, was there just a particular reason you went with him? Just went really well last time? Well, last time we only did the mix with him. Oh, okay. And we were trying to mix the last record ourselves and we just got into this. We didn't know if it sounded good or not.

We went down there and we had fun with him.

Definitely. So was it different recording with him this time as opposed to just having to do the mixing? Yeah. They have a... We had never... Cool. So a good learning experience wasn't butting heads the whole time, which is nice. Yeah, totally. Excellent, excellent. I want to ask you guys, coming up, you're going to be playing at the Harvest of Hope Festival in Florida. How did that come about? How did you guys hook up with them? We've been talking about organizing this tour, contacted us, like the actual, not the festival. The cause.

Because, yeah, I was going to say, you guys don't tend to play a lot of the festivals or, you know, especially anything of that size.

Yeah, we had a... Very cool. And, of course, Harvest of Hope is a pretty good cause to be a part of, so that doesn't hurt us. Yeah, definitely. So, because, basically, it's most people, I think it's pretty even possible to separate propaganda from the political aspect of things. The big election that just occurred in America. I know you guys have been very anti the two-party system that we've basically, not theoretically established, we say it's open party, but practically it's two party. How do you feel about the way things have gone with the election? Well, election night, and we were watching as Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech in Chicago there, and he's feeling it. I mean, 110% African Americans.

He hasn't worn off yet, but... Mm-hmm. And then everything follows.

And I don't think any of Barack Obama's recent cabinet appointments or comments on, or non-comments on what's happened in Gaza, for example, recently, give any indication that we should be a promised land. So, yeah, I'm not trying to be a cynical guy who's just... So, you know, in that aspect, it's... What he represents is, it's good, of course, but not necessarily, you know, in practice, it may not work out so well.

It's my personal opinion, my opinion happens to be grounded in reality, that he is beholden to the corporate.

Those companies give money to certain.

And when... And that always happens.

Yeah. Those come second. Yeah. Fortunately. Yeah, well, just to take your honesty, I mean, you're a Canadian citizen. Was there a political party or a person running for president this year that you would have voted for? Here in Canada? Well, here in America or in Canada. Oh, yeah. The Canadian election got really overshadowed, unfortunately. In America, I've always said, you know, since 2000, I would, you know, I'd vote for Nader. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Against taking, accepting corporate donations, makes sense to me. Mm-hmm. Also would, probably would have endorsed maybe two.

Yeah, I know a lot of people have had issues with Nader in the past four years because he's no longer running for Green Party. So people are kind of, he's independent. So even if he gets the 5% in the next election, it may not make a big difference. So it's just, it's, it's another one of those fractions that's here in America. Thank goodness.

We, we try not to ever have anything that anyone can agree on for any long period of time. But I wanted to ask about the new album. I know it's coming out, Small Man in Canada. This is kind of a weird bounce back, but I forgot to mention it. Is Fat going to be doing the distribution here in America? Uh, Fat Records? Yes. No. No? Okay. So is it going to be Small Man altogether? Uh, G7 slash Small Man, yeah. Okay, fair enough. And is that just something you guys, where you can have a little more control over the whole aspect of it? So I, at least, uh, the people responsible for the record are within choking distance here in Winnipeg, so. That's, that's always a good threat. If you could choke the people who are, uh, responsible for it, it's always nice.

Cool. So, um, just a general kind of question. Um, I know, I think it was right about when the last album came out that Israel had, uh, relinquished the Gaza Strip, if such a, you know, term can work. And, uh, currently they're back under the offensive. Is this something that, I mean, it's kind of syncs up with your album cycle, it looks like, but, uh, is this something that even surprises you at this point? That they're, you know, back to attacking Palestine under what seems to be kind of false pretenses? On the planet, it's disappointing. Yeah, I mean, there's obviously no simple answer to the whole process, I guess. It just seems it's something that you guys have been very adamant about, you know, supporting for the last couple years, so.

Yeah, I think the, the simple answer usually just falls on deaf ears anyways, and, you know, and obviously there are complexities to the issue, but there are.

Yeah. Yeah, well, unfortunately that's, with their support in America, that just doesn't seem to happen. The same tactic throughout, overzealous.

Uh, looks like we're closing out on time, and I think you have somebody else who's supposed to call you soon, so I don't want to cut into their time. But, uh, real quick, uh, back to the music aspect. Even though you guys get lumped in a lot with, uh, kind of the punk rock community and all of that, I know you tend to be more, you grew up listening to more metal-type music, is that correct? Yeah, that's right. Is there anything that you would recommend that kids nowadays should listen to that you don't think gets enough interest? Uh, from the metal scene? Yeah, yeah. Um, well, there's, but, uh, bands like Voivod, who are still going, I think deserve, deserve more. It's hard to convince people to go listen to these old, obscure, older, obscure records, especially if you're an older guy telling them to.

Yeah. People have to kind of just, I think they have to discover. Well, hopefully they will. Hopefully, yeah. Open some ears. Uh, before we, uh, close out, anything else you'd like to add? Um, anything you'd like to push, advocate? Anything like that? Um, if I don't right now for some reason. Uh, I can't think of anything. Okay, well, fair enough. Uh, you guys didn't... Hmm? I'm unprepared for the question. No, that's, that's fine. I guess I blindsided you on that one, so I guess that's a point for me. Um, yeah. Uh, you guys, the new album comes out in March? That's right, yeah, March 10th, I think. Cool, on Smallman G7, and so hopefully people keep their eyes out on that. Um, thanks so much for taking the time, and hopefully, uh, it gets a little warmer than negative five up there.

All right, thanks, Rich. I appreciate the support. Oh, no problem at all. Thank you for taking the time. I know you guys got a busy schedule set up, so I appreciate it. All right, thanks, Rich. All right, bye. See ya. Bye. All right, that's the whole thing. That's the interview, that's the music. Well, we got one more song, but I hope you enjoyed it. Uh, it was, it was really nice to you. I'm not gonna kid you, I was really nervous about talking to him, because a lot of people know propaganda, you're very political, they have very, you know, strict, they have very firm, hard and fast ideas of what they consider right and what they consider wrong, and while that's very admirable, it's also really nerve-wracking if you're an interviewer that he's gonna be, you're gonna be on the phone with him or some shit, and he's gonna be like, is that, is that beef I smell on the other end of this phone?

Are you eating beef? Are those fucking leather shoes that I hear? You know, I'm, I was really nervous, because I've heard stories that they're very preachy, and they're very hard-line. Is that how you're naked? Yes, but it was not why I was playing with myself. That was, that was another reason altogether. So, I was really nervous about the interview, but he was really super cool, and so I'm really happy it went well. I hope you enjoyed it, I hope you learned something, I hope if you're in America, you're stoked that they're coming through America this year. If you're in other parts of the world, I hope you're stoked that they were really excited to play there, especially like other countries, Brazil, I think they said Chile, all sorts of places.

So, good guys. Hopefully everyone checks out the new album, it's really, really good. Hopefully everybody sees them play, and we can all learn something and join together in unity. Like I said, we have last week's contest with Steve-O from 1234 Go Records still running to win a copy of Nobody's album, Love Vision, Get Some Album, The Cosmic Rock, and The Ringer's album, Detention Hall. So that's three CDs you could win, and I did that all in one breath. I'm pretty stoked. So, listen to the end of that interview to learn how to enter to win, and we'll see you guys all next week. Please, oh, send us an email, soundseenrevolution at gmail.com, send us a MySpace message, we're really interested in what you guys have to say.

We hadn't for a long, long, long time gotten mail, and we started to get some recently. We got some at the end of last year, and we started to get some coming in, and I think it's because we didn't really encourage it, and, you know, we were like, what the fuck ever, because I did. I got tired of hearing people complain, but, you know, if you have feedback, like general legit feedback, or you have a band you want us to interview, or you just want to say, you know, I have this really funny story involving Chris Hananana that you guys didn't know, please send that our way. We're thrilled to hear from you. We got an email from a dude from Sweden back, I think it was in Valentine's, which was kind of dope that he was thinking about us on Valentine's Day, because I'm sure that's an international holiday.

It's totally not fabricated for the United States market, right? But we totally love hearing that stuff, and we love hearing what you guys have to say, so send your thoughts our way, and hopefully SoundGuyNairman answers most of those emails, and he's way nicer and more eloquent and more literate than I am. And so, like, if I was to respond, you would actually get a crayon drawing of a middle finger. But SoundGuyNairman has all these nice words to make it sound like he's complimenting you when he's totally talking down to you. Little side story there, little anecdote about SoundGuyNairman. But we're going to take you out by a song by Propagandhi off of their album-supporting cast. I hope you like it.

I hope you tune in next week, and let us know what you think. Enjoy. Bye-bye.

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