Anti-Flag - A military-free zone

Punk… who or what is punk? Well, if you’re a young Australian Idol viewer you might be roped into believing the answer can be found in the colourful and safely packaged Lee Harding. Others would say punk’s ideals could be traced back as far as folk hero Woody Guthrie. In any case, the argument about where and when punk began is as old as the genre itself. Recently I had the pleasure of talking to the authentic punk, activist, drummer and founding member of Anti-Flag, Pat Thetic

After starting out in the mid-nineties doing shows in abandoned buildings, Anti-Flag have graduated to sharing stadiums with the likes of Green Day. How does a band stay connected to the fans of the early days? Pat explains, “We still do a lot of shows without barricades, we are still able to engage with fans up close”.

However, success for Anti-Flag has meant some difficult decisions have had to be made, one of which was signing to major label RCA (a division of Sony). Pat is prepared to discuss the pros and cons of such a signing, but won’t accept blind criticism, scoffing at suggestions Anti-Flag has “sold out”.

“We have been able to say some really important things on a major label, things that even people on independent labels won’t say!” he declares.

When asked to give the “elevator pitch” for what Anti-Flag stands for Pat declares “Broadly, it’s about respecting people”. Anti-flag does this by supporting a wide range of issues from PETA to ending the war in Iraq. One of the ways Anti-Flag works towards ending the war is through Military Free Zone, an anti-war enterprise Anti-Flag launched as a response to the US government’s aggressive and sometimes questionable tactics in signing up young defence force recruits, “They can’t have a war if there’s no-one to fight it,” Pat scoffs.

Given the opportunity to sit down with George W, what would Pat ask the world’s most powerful man? “I’d ask him if he has he thought through the end result of the decisions he’s made,” he says.

Anti-Flag has embraced technology as a tool to reach out to as many people as possible. Inadvertently their MySpace profile has become a platform for young people to discuss serious issues. Pat is thrilled by this.

“You are able to communicate directly with your fans 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It’s a very powerful tool, especially for activism”.

For recording their latest album For Blood and Empire, Anti-Flag engaged Rick Rubin protégé Dave Schiffman (System of a Down, Thrice, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Audioslave), to co-produce with them. So what’s it like to co-produce an album with the band that Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) calls ‘The most important emerging band in America’? “Anti-Flag do not play well with others!” laughs Pat when asked about how they interacted on the album with this top shelf producer. “Dave tried, but it was a battle,” he laughs again.

"Most of the time the band prevailed when issues about song choice or structure came up. Dave’s input was mostly relegated to “mixing and the sounds of the different instruments.”

For a band that is breaking internationally, running its own record company and is involved in a host of issues and causes, how does one find the time to fit it all in? “It’s very difficult,” sighs Pat “But we have a fantastic community of people helping out”.

All too quickly our time runs out and I need to bid farewell from across the world. Hanging up the phone I recall something else Tom Morello had to say “In desperate times like these, the world needs a band like Anti-Flag to set shit straight.” Damn right.

For Blood and Empire is out now. Anti-Flag will be in Australia in Spring 2006, watch out for tour date announcements on their websites.

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