Yesterday Taz brought you an account of desis representing at the immigration protests here on the West Coast. SM tipster “Mann” let’s us know about some desi representation on the East Coast in the form of some “rebel music.” The band Outernational was playing a protest in NYC. Sonny Suchdev (pictured right) plays the trumpet, vocals, dhol, and bongos for Outernational. I get the impression that conservative blogger Michelle Malkin wasn’t feelin’ the t-shirt that Sonny wore to the protest. According to her sources they “…provided music, including a song dedicated to the Muslims who rioted in France last year called ‘Riviera Uproar’.” Here is a clip which appears to be recorded from Monday’s concert. Alternet.org has a profile of the band who sat down to be interviewed by Naeem Mohaiemen in March:
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Suchdev wearing a shirt on Monday that reads: “America is scary” |
I’ve been following the band Outernational — with their fearless melange of punk, rap, ska, bhangra and afrobeat — since 2003. While still not a household name, the group began to make waves at 2004’s Republican National Convention protests in New York. That’s where they played (at the “Axis of Justice” concert organized by Tom Morello, formerly of Rage Against the Machine) to a large crowd of pissed-off activists, many of them Critical Mass bike riders who had just watched the NYPD target and arrest scores of their own (the Bloomberg administration claimed that “anarchists” had infiltrated the group bike ride). The repercussions of that day’s mass arrests and police mistreatment continue to reverberate in Outernational’s NYC home base.
Even before Outernational’s breakout performance at the RNC protests, they had fans — like me — regularly attending their shows for a political floor-stomping fix. In 2000, as the New York Times pondered the possible death of “protest music”, older anti-establishment voices like Consolidated, Public Enemy, Fugazi, and Negativland were dimming, and fans needed something new. Into the gap stepped Outernational, which came together in late 2003 with a heady mix of radical politics and furious beats. [Link]
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p>Sonny describes how he got started with the band:
I had been an activist since I was a teenager and had been playing the trumpet since I was nine, but I had never found the right group of people to combine music and politics in a band. One day that fall, I was at dinner with some friends after a meeting (about post-9/11 detentions of immigrants), and Jesse [the bassist] was also there. He commented on the Skatalites T-shirt I was wearing, and we of course started talking about music. He told me about his friend Miles [vocals, lyrics] and how they were getting together and jamming with different people in the basement. I asked him what kind of music they were into, and he replied, “We’re on an outernationalist rebel music tip.” I had a good feeling about this. [Link]
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Did anyone see them at the protest on Monday? The band’s website has both music and video clips you can check out, as does their MySpace page.
“america is scary” reads his t-shirt.
Typical left-leaning pesudo-liberal anti-Bush type nutcase. If he thinks America is scary he should try his brand of pesudo leftwingism in Saudi, Iran or North Korea.
What a dork. The schtick is tired and old. We get it. Marx is awesome. America is the root of all evil. These same muslims in France overwhelmingly hate gays, jews, and their fellow french. Real standup people. This was cool when Rage Against the Machine did it. Now it looks lame.
they are playing in LA next week. “Outernational is also performing in Los Angeles this month! On Thursday, April 20th, ON will be playing the Warped Tour Pre-Party at the Key Club. Look out west coast!”
Hmmm, I hope it’s better than Billy Bragg’s Internationale. Ok, that was lame. So sorry.
Shiva and Vikram, I agree, it’s not exactly rebellion, is it. How can an artist rebel in this day and age, when it’s all been done? I remember watching this interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker and they said that they looked at South Park as a way to be irreverant and counter-culture, when counter-culture is automatically the culture, if you know what I mean. Anyhoo, if it’s any good I’ll take a listen, but I’m afraid the last time I took a suggestion from SM it was to listen to MIA and, well, I still don’t get it.
PS: the most counterculture kid I knew growing up talked, acted, and sounded like ‘Fred’ from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And it wasn’t an act, it wasn’t some kind of Swingers 90s stuff, it was real. How cool is that?
I do not understand this line of thought. Just because the condition of civil liberties is worse in Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea or anywhere else doesn’t mean that we should not protest the eroding of civil liberties in the United States. I agree that the situation in the US is much better than it could be, but it’s definitely much worse than it should be.
How exactly are the civil liberties of people being violated? If you are referring to the people in guantanamo bay who are not under constitutional jurisdiction then you are wrong. And even those people will have rights after Rumsfeld v Hamdan is finished. And when you say its much worse than it could be, that’s a specious argument. If we wanted we could have no government intrusion in any aspect of civil life. As for Sonny Suchdev, I think the point Shiva and I are trying to make is that people like him point only to the US as the root of all evil. Just like Noam Chomsky refuses to this day to acknowledge the Sbrecenica massacre, becuase doing so would vindicate American involvement in the Balkans. They are all charlatans just their clown counterparts on the America can do no worng right.
Typical right-wing pesudo-conservative anti-free-thinking type persons. If peoples think America is so great they should try this brand of pesudo rightwingism in Saudi, Iran or North Korea.
its not always either or. last time i heard, democracy meant/allowed criticism of government as well as mainstream thinking as well as institutions.
The grey areas of real world do not provide enough dramatic effects for such people. they just end up becoming the mirror-images of those whom they oppose (ie. the “America is the greatest god-given gift to mankind” people). But at least Noam Chomsky made his millions doing that; he for one, is a true capitalist.
Yeah but they have a trumpet playing lead singer and they do ska – who cares about their politics? Their tunes are funky mariachi-ska-cool. And as long as they rub mirchi on the haemmoroids of tight-ass right wingers (see above) they serve a good purpose! 😉
Now THAT is a music review 🙂
The style of music is like Junoon or Indian Ocean coming from the west, they have created good music; for me “Her Word On Me” – is the song.
I second what Abhi said 😉
Vikram:
I agree with you. Although I don’t agree with you on one point. I do not think the US should have gone in to bomb the Serbs based on what the Liberal spin media would term ‘the right thing to do’.
In India, the pesudo Liberals (Congressi typs) and their pals at NDTV etc are the worst culprits.
i third abhi and cica!
America is indeed pretty scary for a turbaned dude. Put on a turban for a week and then come back and tell me whether you find America scary.
Disclaimer: Not suggesting that America is more scary generally than any country. Of course it was way more scary to be a turbaned dude in Delhi in 83 or Lahore in 47. It actually might still be more scary to be a turbaned dude in a lot of countries in the World. This however takes nothing away from the fact that America is indeed a scary place for a turbaned American.
The music video on their web page reminds me of this one…
There were Sikhs at the protest on the east coast too… http://flickr.com/photos/sunmits/126741141/
Hmmm… produced by Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello, eh? Another band that I like, despite the simple lyrics (wear purple?) – but worth seeing for the fun factor! Thus, I fourth Abhi’s vote.
I also gotta give PropaMcGandhi props for making a note about my pet peeve: Just cuz it’s alot worse somewhere else, doesn’t make it okay to stand by and take shit here.
america is beautiful, but it aint funny when someone’s bjorking your pudendum with a rhubarb shoot.
didja tell you i got the sourpuss on the border this time and he gnomed me for having a beard – really. david suzuki wrote that when WWII broke out, his pops went out and got a crew cut – why not, cos he knew he’s going to get reamed anyway – might as well look like the enemy jap.
but keep on trucking you all, i’ll watch your asses – at least the cute rounded ones.
um…right…well…i’ll go to say that there are amny countires that are scary, but america certainly in not one to be pardoned out. the people in this country who try to push all their ideas on you, and also want all their sleezy sexy stuff…please. anyhoo…wow…two singhs in one post. kewl.
very well put. also, scary for anyone who doesn’t fit american so iety’s wack job standards. it can be a great country, but it can also be a downright frigtening country.
go sonny! i will tell you this–these boys are the real deal. outernational has a great energy… and they’re our BK neighbors, to some extent. chak de veer, dhol vajao.
Dig the political, skalicious tunes.
Vikram,
Sonny Suchdev is a Sikh, not a Muslim.
jai jai jai… u r wasting ur time mate… for some people, the sky is green no matter what u say…
they sound promising
Jai & dude, I think Vikram was refering to the Muslims in the song that Sonny sang about and not to Sonny.
sounds like a real man to me… mind if i turn on/ the radio
yeah they do. cool!
I wonder the singer would feel if i wore a “khalistan is scary” t-shirt
he’d probably agree…
Perhaps these poser “rebels” can conjure up some lame lyrics in defense of this illegal immigrant poster boy…
They are about as convincing as rebels as Robert Van Winkle was as a “hardcore gangsta” rapper…
i grew up with sonny and his brother, he is a good kid who is extremely nice. he has his beliefs, and although most may not agree with him, he stands up for himself. Go sonny…but learn how to spell your last name man
HAHA! That’s RIGHT! I agree with Abhi and cicatrix… tight-asses.
Been to a couple of Outernational shows and they rock! Their energy is amazing, particularly Sunny’s as he switches between a range of instruments, sings and dances all at once.
To those who diss without cause – prefixing anything you automatically dislike with “Pseudo” is really convenient, all the more so when the judges of authenticity/sincerity are self-appointed. Outernational is worth listening to precisely because they try to depart from all that is Pseudo. Reach for the BoyzIIMen cd on your bedside table if you don’t dig!
You all might be interested that Outernational is playing at CBGB’s on Saturday May 20th. They are headlining, so it will be a good opportunity to catch the full show and see what they’re all about… advance tix at http://www.ticketweb.com.