Political Punks

After releasing 2009's Supporting Caste as a joint release through Canadian label Smallman Records and the band's own G7 Welcoming Committee Records, Propagandhi opted to release their latest album on renowned California-based indie label Epitaph. When asked what prompted the move, Kowalski says it made sense logistically. 

“I guess we had a bunch of regional labels last time and the main one that was actually here from Winnipeg just folded up shop – they got better jobs or whatever – and we were kind of left in the lurch, and a couple of the other ones didn't really pay us or kind of stopped paying us or whatever and this and that and it just became such a hassle to try and do that,” he offers.  “We just needed something that's been around for a while and we had friends in some bands that were happy being on Epitaph so we thought we might as well do that.”

Supporting Caste was recorded at The Blasting Room, the Colorado recording studio helmed by Black Flag/Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson, but as Kowalski explains, the band opted to stay closer to home for the recording of Failed States.

“We just wanted to stay in Winnipeg and we have our friend JP [producer John Paul Peters] and we knew he could do the job.  It was just so we could come home every night and be more easygoing – just go in there, play, come home, go back, play.  It was just to stick around here really.”

Failed States sounds almost like a missing link between Propagandhi's earlier pop-punk sound and the technical-metal influence that has dominated their more recent releases.  When asked if the band was consciously trying to achieve such a sound, Kowalski is circumspect.

“I don't think so.  We're always just sort of playing, you know? I kind of purposely in my head try not to ever look back at the past to try to pull songs from.  I think we're just showing up.  We like to play fast, we like punk, we like metal but we don't really want to try and play stock riffs.  We're just, I guess trying to play fast but trying to be creative as well.  I don't think there's really anything conscious going on; as long as someone shows up and we like the riffs we're good to go.”

The opening track on the album, Note To Self, is a six-minute, sprawling, cinematic number that starts off slowly before kicking into more familiar territory a couple of minutes in.  Kowalski agrees it was an odd choice to open the album with, and admits if he had his way; a different song would have kicked off the album.

“That was more [guitarist and vocalist] Chris [Hannah] and Beaver who really wanted that first,” he reveals.  “I was aiming for a different song first.  I'm happy with how it is but at the time I was aiming to try to get a couple of other songs first, like I wanted Duplicate Keys first.  But those guys really wanted that one first and it's no real problem to me.  I think it's pretty cool in a way, just to do something different. Everyone expects the fast, aggressive songs to start so it's kind of cool to put something avant garde up there.”

Propagandhi are as renowned for their steadfast left-wing social and political beliefs as much as they are for their music, and when asked if he is frustrated that Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in power in his homeland, he is quick to respond.

“Yeah, the guy is a complete fool. Just to be here it's so frustrating.  To watch him cut ... all he cares about is big business and stupid things. Where my girlfriend works, she surveys whales and stuff up north and the departments and stuff that she works in... yeah, they've cut like hundreds of jobs and the people who do tests for crazy things in the water – they've just cut it all. 

“It's so frustrating and so terrible to watch. It's reasoning that doesn't even make sense. It seems like it's just to be negative and hateful. I just don't get it – it's more expensive to put a lot of people in jails than to have youth centres and stuff. The only reason you'd want to have the jails as opposed to the youth centres is because you have a negative, hateful streak in you, it doesn't make any statistical sense.” 

When Stress Press Australia spoke to Kowalski's bandmate Hannah prior to Propagandhi's last Australian tour, Hannah mentioned he had noticed conservatism had been growing globally.  Kowalski agrees, and believes it makes the band's message more important than ever.

“Yeah, I've noticed it.  It's kind of a depressing thing but I guess it keeps the tunes alive in some way in people's hearts. Whether it's real or not it's just a spark to keep people going through a crazy world where people aren't even trying to make sense,” he considers. “That's what I find now; people don't even want to make sense, like 'people rode dinosaurs' and stuff.  It's not based in science; it's not based in anything.  I guess people are just happy to see someone else has something in common with them, who knows.  Who knows what the future holds but maybe someone will get some inspiration from it, I've seen it happen a lot of times.”

Kowalski also acknowledges there is an element of hypocrisy in espousing some of the environmental and social beliefs the band believes in while simultaneously jet-setting around the world on tour.

“Yeah, for sure, it's a constant kind of paradox or irony I guess.  We just hope we're doing more good than bad. That's the only hope, is that something worthwhile is happening, or else it'd be truly kind of disappointing. I try to do my best at home to try to not waste any gas and not to waste anything and then you go on tour and it's a fucking free-for-all.  We try to cut back but it's a huge resource-waster, going on tour, that's for sure.”

Kowalski also admits it has become more difficult to solely subside from being in the band these days.

“When we're not on tour it's pretty hard,” he offers. “It's not as hard for me because I don't have a kid, I don't have a house to pay off.  I kind of got luck a long time ago in Winnipeg and bought a house when they were super-super-cheap and I could pay it off, then prices went way up.  If I was like Beaver in my band, or Chris or [drummer] Jord [Samolesky], yeah, they have a harder time [than] me, that's for sure... for now, who knows what's going to happen in the future for me.  If we're touring it's OK, but even our tours, we'll go on our second tour of the Eastern States and we'll make barely anything. But that's just the way it is, whatever, just keep going until you can't, you know?” 

Kowalski says although Propagandhi have no definite plans to return to Australia in the short-term, the last two tours exceeded the band's expectations and they'll definitely be back at some stage.

“We have no plans yet but at some point we'll get to thinking about that,” he considers. “You don't want to go back to a place too many times and just burn people out, we like things to be a little bit special.  We'll be back though.”