The Mighty Mighty Bosstones toured Australia in July with their ska music combined with hard-core punk rock — "ska-core" — and a single reaching for the top of the mainstream charts. Green Left Weekly's LIAM MITCHELL spoke to the Bosstones' saxophonist, TIM BURTON, about the anti-racist, anti-hate themes taken up in the band's lyrics.
Question: Are the Bosstones becoming a more accepted band?
Well, we did it on our own terms. We've basically been doing the same things we've been doing for 10 years. When we started, there were no ska-punk bands out there; it was all Guns and Roses then Nirvana, grunge and whatever else, punk rock.
It's like the mainstream has finally recognised there is a really cool scene out there, a punk rock and ska underground, and it's been a really supportive scene. We've done really well in it for a number of years. Now its like a band starts to make it, sells a few records and everybody goes, "Oh my god, ska's really huge". We've been going really well in the United States for a long time, just not in terms of record sales. It's amusing how the industry judges things.
Question: But it's not unusual for punk bands to be taking up ska or reggae.
That's true. We're as much influenced by The Clash, which mixed reggae with punk, as we were by The Specials, Bob Marley or whoever.
Question: And both genres, reggae and punk, have been taking up progressive issues. Punk was a reaction to the negative side of politics that was developing.
And the negative side of the music business, too.
Question: The Clash appeared in a number of anti-racism concerts and a lot of ska bands have also had that reaction to racism.
I think that was the main thing that appealed to us about ska and the hard-core punk rock scene in Boston during the eighties. It was a scene that was really youth oriented, a do-it-yourself scene, young kids putting on shows, putting out fanzines and it was a real unified scene, unity was a real thing.
It included all different kinds of people and I think we saw that same kind of attitude in ska music, which, at the time, to us, was a pretty new thing — The Specials and the whole two-tone movement. So we were really into it for that reason and I think that's naturally why we picked up on it.
Question: The Bosstones have been part of the anti-racism movement and the title song of your latest album is very much an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic track. What do you see as the role of music and of bands like yours in building the fight against these problems in society?
What we try to do is lead by example. Some bands can go out and make a more definitive political statement, like the Dead Kennedys, and sing about nuns getting raped in El Salvador or something. Other bands have a more "fuck society" attitude.
I think we may be somewhere in the middle. We try to lead by example, we try to show that we're eight very different guys, well seven now [one saxophone player left the band before the tour]. We're from very different backgrounds, not only racially, ethnically, but also socio-economically, and we have been able to create something really positive and be a better band, a stronger band, through incorporating our differences and the various strengths we have.
We try to do the same thing at our shows — try to create an atmosphere where you don't have to be a metal guy or a Rasta. We try to create an atmosphere where all kinds of people feel comfortable coming together, having a good time together and seeing that there are strengths in differences and that everybody can get along.
Question: We can see the far right getting stronger here in Australia. People are reacting to that and a lot of these people are starting to look towards some of the political bands here for opposition to the far right. Do you see yourselves as part of creating that political section of the music industry?
I think we're just a part of punk rock. That's what originally attracted us as individuals to punk rock and that kind of lifestyle. In a way I think punk rock finds you, rather than the other way around. Some people were born to be punk. I think that's why we got into it. I think that's why we like that segment of society. We like that kind of artistic expression, where we may be different to the mainstream.
Bands should take the opportunity to say something if they have an audience, make a positive message. I don't think you necessarily have a responsibility to do so, but I think you're kind of lame if you don't. You're not very creative or original, certainly not an artist.
Question: Do you have many messages for young people who might be starting to think about these issues?
Get involved, take a stance. Decide which side of the line you come down on.
Young kids that come to our shows, they receive so many negative messages at home. Maybe their parents are racist, they have racist attitudes or are closed-minded. You get racist messages through the media.
You get so many negative attitudes that I think a lot of young people get confused and I think that groups like Resistance and the group we work with in America, Anti-Racist Action, give kids a simple opportunity to come down on the right side.
If they sign up to be a member of Resistance or go to a march, it's a simple act of saying "I am anti-racist", making that statement. A lot of times 16-year-old kids or younger have not had the opportunity to do that.
Get involved, speak out. It is not uncool to be political or smart. Stupid people, jocks etc., will make it seem like it's uncool to be smart, to be intellectual, to be knowledgable. Don't fall into that trap.