Hey Josh, the debut cd for 96 Brigade- Revolution For Dummies is due out next month. We have been getting a ton of good feedback from the sample songs we have been promoting and wanted to give you the chance to let everyone know more about the cd.
First can you tell everyone the meaning behind the name 96 Brigade?
Well, the 96 brigade was a volunteer unit in the revolutionary war. I felt that it was fitting to give homage to a more unknown group of the revolution. In my personal opinion, some of the greatest heroes of wars and conflict are those with the least written tales.
Speaking of which, the cover art is the Betsy Ross flag draped over a battlefield with dead soldiers. Can you tell us more about the cover and why you chose it?
Again, going back to obscurities. The picture is rather famous...its from the civil war. Many people don't realize that is a picture of four brothers who fell in battle less then ten feet away from one another. Combined with the colonial flag, I thought that it was a good representation of the concept of the album.
The lyrics on this cd are very patriotic, but instead of the blind patriotism of what America has become, it is a call to restore our country to the ideals of our founding fathers. Would you like to explain more?
Our governmental structure has been allowed wiggle room to continuously revoke freedoms from us. These are freedoms that were given to us by smart men. Men with foresight enough to draft a document that adapts to any generation.
I say in one of the songs "The best generation raised the worst". I hold true to that. Our most industrious, and ingenuous generation in history gave birth to the most lackadaisical, unmotivated generation yet. Its funny when I see 40-50 year old people complaining about the state of this country. Its almost as if they fail to realize that we are living in a pot of their filth. We are forced to reap policies that they allowed to happen,....because allowing the government to decide for them was easier then taking personal responsibility for things. I wanted to illustrate, that for the most part, our obstacles as nationalists really have less to do with the black, or the jew........our obstacles are/were created by the very people we put in charge to protect our country. And I believe that they have failed in doing that by selling out our interests for a buck.
The lyrics touch on many of the hot topics in America today including our right to bear arms being taken away as well as our constitutional rights in general being eroded, illegal aliens flooding our borders and amnesty, fortune 500 companies that pay off politicians, etc. It is easy to see how far this country has degenerated from what our founding fathers intended it to be. The left is determined to continue turning this country into their own demented idea of a Utopian society and use their control of the media and higher educational systems to infest Americans with their agenda. What would you say to Americans, and White European Americans in general about why we need to stand up and preserve our country as it was intended to be?
I would say that unless you intend to have to fight like our fore fathers, then you might want to stop the happenings now, before they get any worse then they already have. Companies are only as strong as they are because people spend their money on them. Politicians are only as strong as they are, because the people allow them to operate unchecked. Just because you vote a person into office, it doesn't mean that person is incapable of being selfish. I think that people need to demand the things that are given to us in the constitution. Nothing more, nothing less. They need to demand the rights afforded to us, and give back all the extras. Laziness has bred most of our issues. When the people became too lazy to ask questions, or to defend themselves...that is when the government was given more power then it deserved. Politicians are sneaky...they do things when people don't have the strength to be able to defend themselves against it. Look at our current situations. We have politicians pushing through policies en-mass during a time when the American working class is more worried about how they are going to feed their families. Our founding fathers knew that corruption could and would occur if not checked properly, and they wrote counter measures into our constitution for those events. The thing now is simply the question of whether or not the population will enforce them.
Recently an organization that has done good things for the anti illegal immigration side backed out of supporting Arizona`s laws. I found this particularly disgusting because the reason they did so was that a pro illegal communist group informed them that a white American who wants to preserve his heritage (they call these people white supremacists) was involved in some aspect or other. Because of this they cowardly turned on their ideals and let those who are diametrically opposed to what they stand for dictate their agenda. I know you support the tea party`s and the organizations that work for restoring America`s sovereignty and our rights as citizens, but what thoughts go through your head when these people will still run away from supporting activities that may or may not involve those who openly proclaim their pride as White Americans?
Well...there is a fine line there. I can't respect the idea, as a majority of their supporters are proud white Americans. I personally don't like the hyphenations of heredity. I`m American, my family were European. I have a proud lineage and family history, but part of that is the continuation of our blood line on American soil.
I can support the concept of those organizations. Their endeavors for the American people are priceless....but when they retreat before even really being confronted with anything, other then a report of someones associations, it makes them look weak and fearful.
I personally think that these organizations need to concentrate on the fact that they have support from Americans...regardless of what their political affiliations might be, they are Americans, and they deserve their voices to be heard. Our country was founded on the rights and freedoms to believe and practice what ever you choose fit. Disregarding their efforts in a conflict like illegal immigration is just wrong.
I also hear a lot of people say they aren`t against illegal immigration because they aren`t "racist", that they only oppose the illegality of it. They say that if they were made legal they could pay taxes and help strengthen our country. These quotes from your song Break In The Dam sum it up.-
we got cries of fuckin amnesty, excusing them for acts of war and setting all of them free giving them equal rights to vote, when Americans lost that right to felonies for defending their homes
they act submissive, and lower their heads for all the media cameras but when behind closed door, getting more then our poor they spit on this fucking country swinging sickles and hammers
A lot of White Americans don`t realize that Mexicans see America as their own land and are using immigration as a reconquista from the gringo`s who they say stole it from them. Along with the fact that "La Raza" thinks racially, can you explain to White America why becoming a racial minority is not in our interest
I can partially agree with both sides. The problem with amnesty movements is that these people have already proven that they don't desire to assimilate to our way of life. So what happens when they gain amnesty....we still have to cater to a mass of people unwilling to learn the English language, and unwilling to support American politics as they should be supported.
Politicians are only concerned with the voting numbers. They don't think about the over all problems...because in reality most of those are left to independent regions to have to deal with. The politician responsible sits on capital hill and claims a victory over the illegal population.
Now although it will probably rub people wrong, I am equally as offended by Europeans who come to this country under the radar and rape the services that we have. Now statistically the numbers are staggeringly smaller, but they are existent. That is where I can agree with the "I`m not racist, just don't like it" crowd.
Our existence in America is supported only by the population that lives here. If we have a subversive population of people that are given citizenship simply because of the fact that they are a problem.....well then we have just created a generation of people with absolutely no interest in the survival and existence of our nation. Our country was founded by Europeans...with European principal. What I mean by that is we were founded under the conditions that we would continue to support individual rights, the pursuits of technology and education, and the industrialization of the region. Those are European concepts because Europeans are the cultivators of those sciences and ideas. There is a reason that we have such a large flood from the third world.....those people have absolutely no interest in continuing sciences or technologies, they simply want to leach off the available sciences and technologies here now.
Aside from the lyrics, how would you best describe the music of 96 Brigade?
Its fast, mean, and aggressive. I didn't hold back any punches with any of the content. My hopes are that it might allow a young skinhead, or even just some kid somewhere, the ability to make a more educated decision on politics. If I had heard something like this when I was a young skinhead, it would have changed my perspective on things. I spent a lot of years just putting the blame where ever I saw fit. In reality, we were victim to politicians.........the peers of our grandparents. Minority interests are always going to be an issue in our society, because they are cash cows. These politicians don't give a shit about any of these people in real life, they are numbers on paper.....they make their budgets larger. As long as we have politicians that are more worried about their budget sizes, we are going to have corruption and will be faced with revocations of our rights as Americans. I did my best to illustrate those thoughts with every song on this album.
You actually touched on a couple topics in that answer I want to address. First I fully agree that we need to take responsibility for the actions of our own people. When we continue to blame everyone else we are deflecting the need for our own people to better themselves. Secondly you mentioned you wish you had heard something like this when you were younger. One thing I try and do with Label 56 is promote a more "mainstream" and positive image for our youth. There are many impressionable people out there and I do not want to put out something they will take to heart and then go do something that will get them put in jail for a long time. I also feel we need to find a middle ground where we can interact with those who may be on the fence, to get involved with "politics" and not completely alienate ourselves from the rest of America with symbols they can`t relate to and harsh negative rhetoric. The 96 Brigade cd does exactly that- it puts aside a lot of the stereotypical lyrical content and is a cd that any conservative American can listen to and enjoy and hopefully inspire them to become more politically minded. With all of that being said is there any advice you would like to give to those looking to get involved in our particular movement, whether it is a young skinhead or whomever?
I think that the best advice that i can give someone, is to just find what is most productive for them. Let me explain that a little.
Lets circumvent the fashion, lets circumvent the music, and lets even circumvent the politics. What do you have left? You have personality. A person needs to address whether their personality can even be applied to certain things. I think that in general, most of the skinhead scene has been saturated with people who's personalities never even fit the idea.....because not everyone is meant to be a skinhead. Its been popularized, though, by old men who sit in their homes and preach rhetoric....and even worst, its been pushed by federal entities so they can forge the next generation of inmates.
I don't think that I personally would have done anything different in my life, other then focus my concentration on more Volkish ideas, rather then what black or Jew was responsible for the decline of the world. I mean, retrospectively, being a skinhead was never an attempt to be the "social elite". We were a youth sub culture, and an answer to situations.
Recently, we have been seeing more mainstream politics that are answering powerful questions in society. And they are political moves that benefit us as a whole. I think that is important. I think that as a whole, the youth of today....especially the children of the white working class, need to become more supportive of the continuation of their homeland...rather then trying to recreate a mythical government, that in reality could never even work here.
I believe in fascist government......and I wish that fascist government could be implemented with a strong nationally minded leader. I know, in reality though, that is probably not an option...not now at least.
In my adult life I have found more productive methods of reflection. You said before, we suffered alienation as kids for what we believed in...I don't think that 90% of that benefited us, in reality it ostracized us more and more....and today we don't even have a voice.
Going back to what i said in the beginning, take time and decide where exactly you want to stand with things.....because let's face it, a father who teaches his children the importance of cultural heritage so they can teach their children, is far more valuable then someone who lands themselves in prison for the rest of their lives because they felt they had something to prove.
I agree. And yes I agree we have a long way to go in order to establish a governing body that would protect our self interests as a people. Looking at our "scene" now it`s easy to see it has really started to take a step into a more positive and constructive direction that can be built upon to do so. What do you see as still holding us back?
Look, we live in a deprived situation with our rights and freedoms.....not just as Americans, but as white nationalists.
Trust me, you can't go make a point with anyone concerning racial topics without your own political views being tied into it. I think most of it is due to these retarded ass dress up groups that run around trying to make themselves the face of the white nationalist.
There is more to the 14 words then just wearing a t-shirt that has them on it. It might actually be better for us as whites if half these people that call themselves "the master race" just didn't breed anymore.
If your a youngster reading this right now...and you want to know what you can do to help your Volk, and secure our future........DON'T BECOME A STEREOTYPE.
You mentioned earlier you support a fascist government. Fascism, just like the word racism is used in horror by those in the media establishment to demonize anything that doesn`t fit their liberal agenda. Because of that many only get a one sided view of such things. Can you tell us what a Fascist government means to you, and also why when they say they oppose it, that those in the liberal establishment are actually fascist with their own censorship of ideas.
Well its not hard to imagine why Fascism is used with such a negative context. Its the same reason nationalist, pride, white, and anything else you can think of that might show adversity to degenerative ideals is used in a negative context.
I think that most people fear a fascist government because they aren't able to choose their leader, and that leader will make decisions for the benefit of the nation.
The thing is, I`m realistic. And although I would love to see a nation led by a strong and capable leader, it`s probably not a reality for America. Honestly, it`s not the end of days....just something that I have to deal with.
The left in America is completely fascist, and it`s almost amusing how hard they throw the word out, but are guilty of the ideology. Their attempts at militaristic policy enforcement, their censorship of media outlets, and the perversions of information are all products of a over zealous fascistic mind. They do the things that unsuccessful fascist governments did. They were unsuccessful because they did these things without the benefit of the nation as a whole in mind...they did them simply for the improvement of one class.
Getting back to the band a bit, I have been asked by a couple people already when 96 Brigade will be playing a show?
Well, I produced the entire cd myself but I am looking for talented and dedicated musicians who are able to travel to do live shows. If any of you out there are interested send us an email at The96Brigade@yahoo.com
Aside from the guitar, etc., you actually play quite a few different musical instruments. Would you care to give us a background of your musical history?
I was fortunate growing up. I had pretty supportive parents with my musical adventures, and I started getting into the concepts of music at a pretty young age.
I have always been a fan of rock and roll..I actually grew up listening to guys like Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger. Those guys are true relics to rock and roll. Their music helped fashion my love for all of it. When I was middle school age, that`s when I really started getting into punk and hardcore.
I still find myself listening to classical music quite a bit....its all that plays in my car while I ride around. I can find a lot of influences for any of my musical projects from classical composition.
What about your involvement in bands. Have you played with other bands?
I have been really fortunate with some of the bands that I have had the chance to play with full time, or stand in with for a show. Music has been really satisfying for me.
I have been in quite a few mainstream projects. Some of them were somewhat successful, some not so much. But that's the beauty of music, its all just a learning game.
As far as nationalist projects I have done....I played with Patriots Call and Force Fed Hate. I have also had the honor of making stand in performances with Razors Edge, Chingford Attack, and The Blackshirts.
In our musical scene, it just depends on how motivated you are. There are a lot of avenues for people to take musically. I would encourage anyone to pursue any direction they find comfortable for themselves...and lets bring skinhead rock and roll back!
A special thanks to Josh and 96 Brigade for a great cd and interview. You can contact the band at The96Brigade@yahoo.com
Click on the links below for mp3`s from the upcoming 96 Brigade cd
Generation Of Sedation
A Break In The Dam
