Author: Jeanette Nguyen
Date: 2009-08-05


Interview:
Drummer Pat Thetic of political punk band Anti-Flag was interviewed on The Vans Warped Tour. Read on as he candidly chats about veganism, the U.S. government, and the band's 10th studio release The People or the Gun.

How is Anti-Flag's new album The People or the Gun different from the last few releases?

This album was significantly different. We built a recording studio in our practice room in Pittsburg. We didn't use a producer or an engineer. We did it all ourselves, which was good because we didn't deal with any bullshit. We just wrote the songs, liked the way we wrote them and didn't have to explain to anybody else why we wrote the way we did and recorded them. So I think the record has an aggressive, in-your-face type of feel, which is what we are going for.

You had problems with producers in the past?

You know, we were lucky with our producers. They've all been pretty accommodating, but the interesting thing about that is even good producers who don't cause too many problems still have influence and still take the record in a different direction. That's what you pay them for - to take it in a different direction than you would originally.

I'm a firm believer that we know what we're doing. We've known for a long time and we don't need anybody else to be in the mix. We can do it ourselves. Who knows? Maybe next record we'll be like, "Eh, we don't have any good ideas. Let's bring somebody else in."

The band has recorded so many albums. It makes sense you would have a grasp on the process.

That's the way we recorded the first two or three records, too. It just felt good - 4 dudes in a room playing music we like and doing it because we wanna do it.

What is the meaning behind the album title The People or the Gun?

It means to me that every day people are making decisions in the world based on money, power, greed and corruption. I consider that to be on the "guns" side because that's not for the good of people. They're doing that for the good themselves, for greed and all that shit you don't wanna be involved in.

We all need to make the decision of which side are we on? Are you on the side of greed? Destroying the environment, eating animals and killing people in Iraq for oil? Or are you on the side of the people who are trying to make a living, have families and be responsible, healthy and happy.

This record doesn't have much of a theme as some of the other records did. Obviously, we were writing it as Bush was leaving office, so there was some mention of that.

There's also some mention of the economic collapse The Bush Administration facilitated with greed. There's a lot of talk about the economy suffering and dying. The fact that the capitalist economy - you're out for yourself and you don't have to worry about anything else: the environment, animals and the next generation. It's all about making as much money right now as you possibly can. Hopefully that has died. Hopefully the population and the majority of people realized that's not going to make us happier or safer. That's a lot of what the record is about.