IRON DJ EXCLUSIVE: Prayers For Atheists Interview!
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
A few months ago, I got sick of the shiity San Francisco summer weather, and decided to go home to Rhode Island to visit my family and friends. While partying in Jamestown, I ran into by buddy Marco Aveledo who recently joined up with the political indie band Prayers For Atheists. I told him about Iron DJ and offered to do an exclusive interview with the band’s front men Jared Paul and Alan Hague. We also set the band up with a free Iron DJ network profile to host their promo tracks.
All answers below are indicated by letter: J = Jared A = Alan
What type of band are you?
A: A band that’s not afraid to put well-thought out lyrics over music that combines multiple genres.
Tell us the brief history of your band.
A: I found Jared through Craigslist. It was in the Personals section under the heading “Accomplished lyricist seeking politically-minded guitar player/co-songwriter to form a band that’s not afraid to put well-thought out lyrics over music that combines multiple genres.” I thought it was weird that they even have a category like that, but either way, it worked out well. Then, one night, we found Cousin Tom and Marco Aveledo trying to break into our tour van. We offered them the jobs of bassist and drummer respectively, and they reluctantly agreed.
Who is in the band and what do they do?
A: Jared Paul’s on full-time vocal duty, Alan Hague plays guitar and vocalizes, Cousin Tom plays bass and adds additional vocals, and Marco Aveledo plays drums.
Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
A: Musical: Bad Brains, Public Enemy, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Operation Ivy, Sage Francis (this list could go on for a looooooong time).
Non-musical: Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Carl Sagan (this list could also go on for a long time).
Who writes the songs, what are they about?
A: I write the music, and Jared writes the lyrics. Basically, like a traditional producer/MC dynamic, but with instruments instead of samples. Lyrically, the songs are pretty straightforward – some are political, some are personal, most are both.
As a political band what is the overall statement you are trying to make or change you are trying to promote?
A: That democracy isn’t some abstract notion best left in the realm of ideas. It’s something that can and needs to be practiced actively by everyone.
How do you promote your band and shows?
A: We do a good deal of online promotion, definitely. MySpace, Facebook, and all that good stuff. Also, Jared, Tom, and Marco each send out about 15,000 text messages for every show we do. But my preferred method of show promotion is walking around with some staple guns and some friends, leaving no phone pole untouched by a show flyer.
Describe your show, visual and musically?
A: Loud, aggressive (in a friendly, camaraderie-type way), and fun.
What do you think about downloading music online?
A: It’s not much different from recording a CD to cassette tape and passing it along to somebody. The music is able to reach more people. I’d be interested to see statistics to support it, but my hunch is that it helps artists pick up more fans than they might otherwise. Plus, I’ve definitely purchased albums after downloading a few songs from it first. If I really like what an artist is doing, I’ll support them.
Jared Paul and Alan Hague
Prayers For Atheists – Wrong Horse
IRON DJ / MP3 / VOTE
What’s new in the recording of your music?
A: That the lyrics aren’t secondary or unimportant. I get the feeling sometimes that with some artists, the lyrics are simply adornment, and they carry no real significance.
What sets you apart from all the other political based bands like Rage Against the Machine and Stanford Prision Experiment?
J: I don’t know that we are set apart, really. I haven’t purchased or consumed animal products in over 12 years; have spent multiple nights in jail for organizing; am a fanatic about buying regional/local goods; and try to keep up with the interlocking web of global counter culture movements (every member of the band has a list of progressive accolades). But we understand and appreciate that nobody bats 1.000. Not Amy Goodman, not Chomsky, not John R. Lewis, not Cynthia McKinney- not Kathleen Hannah, not Chuck D, not Billy Bragg, not Lauren Hill, and certainly not us. We all do our part in our own ways. With PFA, folks will get a band that pretty closely mirrors in real life what it expresses through its music: the honest belief that the fight is not over, that if we keep holding ourselves accountable and keep setting aside at least some substantial portions of our lives to work on the issues that mean the most to us, then Victory is inevitable. That it’s not complacent or weak to be hopeful. That it is important to recognize and celebrate when counter-culture victories occur. It’s all spilling over now, and though it would be disastrous to simply rest on the belief that things will change without hard work, organizing, consistency and sacrifice, the fact remains that the Labor movement is the Human Rights movement is the Environmental movement – along with the Marriage Rights, Voter Campaign Finance Reform, Animal Rights, Salary Cap, De-construction of Corporate Person-hood campaigns, and every other progressive movement out there. They are all the same fight. And people around the world are waking up to the facts and organizing for change. What we’re working for may not come within our lives, but if we push, all these movements will one day meet in the middle and we are honored to be a part of that process. Whether working with youth in Rhode Island group homes, organizing anti-war rallies and teach-ins, standing on pickets with Providence janitors and firefighters as they struggle for fair pay/treatment, calling our reps and senators, volunteering on local campaigns for working class candidates, as artists who produce independent journalism, poetry, and celebration in the form of song, or just being good neighbors and contributing members of the Providence community in general.
What are the biggest obstacles for bands?
A: Developing a unique style.
J: Making it through the storm in one piece; keeping a band together is harder than holding a marriage together. It’s like being married to 3 people at once. Being in a band is absolutely Polygamy.
What are your dreams and goals?
A: To make music for the rest of my life, and to contribute toward the education and general betterment of the world that are both necessary for the survival of the human species.
J: To get as many independent, progressive candidates elected to local office in Rhode Island as possible, to travel to Paris with my Mom and play scrabble outside the cafe of her choice, to be part of a successful movement for the implementation of a comprehensive and effective Recycling apparatus in my state, and to spend at least a full year working at an Equal Exchange co-operative farm.
Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
A: We hit the road on July 22nd in support of our self-titled 8-song EP on Strange Famous Records. We’re going all the way out to California and back, hitting all kinds of interesting spots in between, and you should be there to document our steady descent into uncleanliness (in a hygienic sense, not a moral sense). It’ll be unparalleled by any other previously touring band.
Prayers For Atheists – Coat Hanger
IRON DJ / MP3 / VOTE
BUY THEIR NEW ALBUM
MYSPACE
Big ups to all my 401 people
- KAPGUN
