changed a lot. How and why have
each of you expressed that change
in song and in other ways, such as
events and videos?
Jesse: We haven’t released any
new material this year, but we
have been trying to lift people’s
spirits by bringing friends and
strangers together, and point-
ing out the little beams of light
in our everyday lives. No matter
how dark the vibe seems to be at
this point in history, there is still a
whole lot to be thankful for.
Joe: I was just wondering what
happened to the Water Protectors?
Seems like it fell victim to the 24-
hour news cycle culture that ob-
sesses over the newest outrage for
a day, then tosses it like garbage
being shot into the sun. I don’t
write songs that are direct com-
mentary. It gets obscured by the
story I’m trying to tell, which is not
about a country at large or society
in general, but individual people.
Shades of things that are happen-
NJ STAGE 2017 - Issue 40
ing today creep in, like in ‘Knees,
Eyes, Hands,’ there is a line that
says, ‘Tragedy, they’ve been shoot-
ing people in the street/Makes me
wonder if we ought to leave/and
wave this town goodbye.’ I wrote
that line in 2015. It wasn’t a direct
reaction to all the shootings, be-
cause there have been so many
more since I wrote that in my note-
book and recorded it a year later.
It’s amazing how some lyrics gain
more and more meaning as time
goes by … and it’s not always a
pretty or a nice thing either.
Alan: We haven’t hidden the fact
that we are disgusted with and
appalled, ashamed and terrified
of the Trump presidency. Track 3
on our last release, ‘Axis & Allies,’
‘Mister Chump,’ is our funk-rock
tune and video about the evil or-
ange clown. Track 2 is a reggae
tune called ‘Ebolabama’ that satiri-
cally story lines the original fake
news conspiracy stories about
President Obama. What Trump did
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