Music is often considered to simply be a form of entertainment. However, to many in the music industry, music is a valuable way to channel political messages and to motivate otherwise apathetic listeners to become politically and socially aware. As the November election draws near, bands and music-industry personnel are rallying to encourage the youth of America to get out and cast their votes.
The concert tours and CD compilations that have been increasingly invading concert venues and music stores around the country over the last few months tend to lean toward the left in terms of politically ideology. But a few, like Mike Park's Plea for Peace Tour, are taking a nonpartisan viewpoint. Park, who owns indie-label Asian Man Records and is the president and founder of the Plea for Peace Foundation, believes in letting people make their own decisions.
"This year's tour will take a nonpartisan stance and focus primarily on the power and importance of the electoral process itself," Park said in a press release. "The main objective is to get youth communities and young adults excited about voting, let them decide what is right for them and give them a voice for the future."
The Plea for Peace Tour will feature Cursive, Denali, Darkest Hour, Saul Williams, EE, Planes Mistaken for Stars and Park, and will hit D.C. on April 30 at the 9:30 club. Matt Maginn, the bassist for Cursive, which will headline the tour, also feels it is important to allow voters to have their own voice.
"For us to be a part of a tour like this, it was necessary for it to focus on education and empowerment of the individuals and not preaching," Maginn said in a phone interview. "We really want people to form their own decision. We didn't really want to be involved in a preaching situation. We didn't want the tour to be taking a political side. Other tours are doing that, but we weren't comfortable being the preachers."
Denali lead singer Maura Davis agrees.
"I don't want it to be the kind of tour that tells kids what they should be thinking," Davis said in a phone interview. "I hope people can come to the shows and figure it out for themselves."
One of the goals of the Plea for Peace Tour is to get younger people registered to vote through the celebration of music. Voter registration booths will be available at each show. But the goal is not just to get young adults to vote this November.
"The goal is ... to encourage people to educate themselves and voice their opinions on the issues, not just for this presidential race, but for everything that affects their local communities as well," Maginn said.
The desire to motivate the youth of American to vote is one of the major themes that tie all the politically minded tours together, regardless of their political stance. Fat Mike, lead singer of punk band NOFX, owner of indie-label Fat Wreck Chords and the founder of Punkvoter.com, has been taking a lot of action in hopes of mobilizing young adults to vote, specifically against President Bush. Mike's organization, Punkvoter, is "a coalition to educate, register and mobilize progressive voters," and was created by punk bands, musicians and music labels, according to its Web site. Punkvoter is currently sponsoring dozens of music tours across the nation, including the "No More Freaks Show" this Saturday night at the 9:30 club with NARAL Pro-Choice America.
The "No More Freaks Show" will feature the Lunachicks, the Butchies and D.C.'s own Washington Social Club, and is occurring in conjunction with Sunday's March For Women's Lives. Lunachicks frontwoman Theo Kogan hopes the show will remind people of how essential it is to voice their opinion.
"I know kids who are like, 'Oh, I don't know if I'm going to vote,' and it make me furious because I've always loved voting since I was allowed to," Kogan said in a phone interview. "There's a lot of voter apathy, especially in punkers now, where everything is store-bought and boring."
Kogan, who will participate in the abortion-rights march on Sunday, is against Bush, but would rather see someone vote for Bush than not vote at all.
"I think it's important for people to vote no matter what," said Kogan. "I don't want them to vote for Bush, but if the idea is to get people to vote, then it's just getting people to vote."
Saturday's show is only one of many shows Punkvoter is sponsoring in the next few months. Other shows include the Jade Tree United Tour on May 16 at the Black Cat, featuring Strike Anywhere, Paint It Black, From Ashes Rise and Challenger, and the Bouncing Souls and Avail's show at Nation on April 29.
Another of Fat Mike's recent endeavors, along with Punkvoter, is the Rock Against Bush compilation. The CD compilation, which features previously unreleased songs from bands like Alkaline Trio, the Get Up Kids, Rise Against and Anti-Flag, was released nationwide on Tuesday. Proceeds from the CD will benefit Punkvoter.
Rock Against Bush is a controversial release because of its liberal leaning and staunch political stance. Mike Inganamort, Eagle columnist and president of the AU College Republicans, notes that the compilation may be furthering the misconception that everyone who listens to punk rock is liberal.
"Not every person interested in punk music has to be liberal," Inganamort said. "I don't think there has to be a correlation between music preference and political ideology."
Inganamort said he does not take offense to the compilation, and commends the bands on their desire to motivate voters.
"If a band wants people to vote, good for them," Inganamort said. "I listen to plenty of groups that are probably more liberal than me."
For those who listen to punk, but may not agree with Rock Against Bush's ideology, Inganamort suggests visiting the Web site conservativepunk.com.
Aaron Biterman, founder of the AU College Libertarians, feels that Rock Against Bush is trying to take action the wrong way.
"The compilation hopes to encourage their fans to vote against someone for president instead of voting for someone else for president," Biterman said. "Voting against someone is a defensive vote, not an offensive one. When I vote, just as if I was going to play a game of football, I go on offense. I want to score."
Punkvoter and the Rock Against Bush compilation are geared toward those who listen to punk. However, even those who hate punk music can agree that encouraging voter registration is a positive thing.
"I think empowering people under 30 to vote is great," said sophomore Erie Meyer. "I think it's great that these bands I hate are reaching out to people my age. It's about time somebody did."
This year is not the first time politically minded musicians have used their music as an influence. In the late 1970s, punk rockers the Clash embarked on the "Rock Against Racism" tour. In 1993, Pearl Jam and L7 were featured on the abortion-rights "Rock for Choice" tour that received support from the Democratic Party and MTV. Last fall, Audioslave's Tom Morello and musician Billy Bragg went on the "Tell Us the Truth Tour," which was meant to raise awareness about the government's actions in Iraq.
MTV's role in politics has also been notable.
"MTV has been doing that Rock the Vote thing for years," said Davis, Denali's lead singer. "Getting kids that are into music into politics and caring about what's going to happen to the future. It's just so good to mingle [music and politics] together."
The marriage of the music industry and political activism is odd, yet ingenious. Biterman points out that music can be a uniting force that can facilitate change.
"Music is a good tool to motivate people politically and socially," Biterman said. "Even simple tunes like 'The Star Spangled Banner' can have an impact, a unifying force among individuals to set them into collective thought or action."
Because November's election will be a major determining factor in the future of the country, more and more musicians seem to be taking a stance. Park notes that this is because the upcoming presidential election will be partially determined by younger voters.
"It would be difficult to end [Bush's] term with just four years, but the youth will have a big part in this," Park said. "That's why so many people in music are promoting the importance of this election."
Cursive bassist Maginn agrees.
"I know this is going to be a big election," he said. "There's going to be a lot of voting and a lot of awareness, which is great. Though in each election there's a pretty big push with artists. They always tend to be fairly involved, at least the ones that have a very clear opinion and want to be heard. I think [music will] create awareness and it's just up to each artist to voice what their thoughts are"
