Vic Bondi was in Articles of Faith. Also in the band are former
members of Jawbox, Burning Airlines and Kerosene 454. The band is on the
same label, Alternative Tentacles, as 16 Horsepower, whose album I previously reviewed. I
think that is why I received an email about a week ago informing me
that Report Suspicious Activity was doing some rare live shows in my
area (I live near Baltimore and D.C.)
I quickly set up this interview to capitalize on the election.
I am writing this to you two days before a historic election. Do you have any thoughts on the election?
Vic: I'm a bit terrified. McCain and Palin are so obviously
wrong--it's like they're distilling the rancor, bad faith and sheer evil
of the last 30 years into some transparently vicious concoction. They
have nothing to run on. No economic agenda that hasn't been firmly
discredited; no foreign policy that has any measure of reasonable
outcome. It's pure resentment now, and bile: they don't really want to
win, and don't have an agenda for victory. Nothing meaningful.
They just want Obama to lose. And their supporters share that. They
hate Obama. There's nothing positive there. In a way, the best thing for
them is for McCain to lose; they get to keep their resentments that
way. If McCain wins, they won't have an object for their resentments,
and they'll still have nothing positive by way of policy or plan. But
they'll take the rest of us down with them. So bad, win or lose.
Can you explaining the meaning behind the song titled "Bush is Brezhnev?
Well, you know, in the last eight years there were so many invidious
(if merited) historical comparisons made between Bush and people like
Hitler or Stalin. He's not really like any of them; he's the type of
homegrown American greedhead unique to our culture and our moment. So I
thought, don't glorify him by comparing him to Hitler; compare him to
Brezhnev. Like Brezhnev, he's a grotesque; he's a hack. It's a bit of a
joke--You'd have to know who Brezhnev was to get it. A lot of people
don't.
What was the reasoning behind the name of the band and the name of the album?
When Bush was appointed president, it was as if a light turned on for
me. I hadn't written very much music during the Clinton years--just the
one project with Morello. But when Bush came in with that endless array
of criminal misadventures, I felt so hopeless. So it was back to
protest songs, if for no other reason than that I felt like screaming.
Originally the band was a solo recording project, but things gelled
so well with J, Darren and Erik that it started to feel great to play
again. I think we were all just thrilled to be playing some fairly
aggressive rock, especially at our ages. So now, the band has a very
unique vibe and something of a life of its own. On the new record we
actually wrote several songs together; J wrote some songs; and we all
started swapping lead vocals. It feels pretty good.
The name of the band came from traffic signs I kept seeing when we
did the first record. My parents live in Northern Virginia, so I stayed
with them when I was recording, and on the way back and forth to
practice and record in Baltimore I used to see that sign on I-90: Report
Suspicious Activity. It seemed appropriate.
As you have gotten older have you mellowed? In what ways?
I suppose I've mellowed. I like to think I'm not quite the arrogant
prick I was--I certainly don't know as much about the world now as I
thought I knew at 21. I'm a father and a husband, and both change you in
so many profound ways. Maybe I'm more attuned to just how fragile life
is. But that makes me twice as angry at the villains out there
cheapening life and dehumanizing the culture. They're destroying my
daughter's world now, too. So, naturally, I'm pissed.
What have been the high and low points in your musical career?
Most of it has been pretty great. I wish I could have made a living
with it. It would have been nice JUST to play music. But I've managed to
have quite a career nonetheless, and there are some real strengths to
never having to compromise what you like doing to make money. What is
it--eighteen albums now; four bands; thirty years of music. It's
gratifying when people write me and say they knew about RSA but not AoF
and vice versa--and then they discover the back catalog and they're
thrilled. Hopefully it says that the music holds up over time.
If you were not a musician what do you think you would do
with all of your energy? How would you describe your band's music to
someone unfamiliar with any of your bands?
Madnessrackedguitaragressopolticoranting.
Do you expect the country to change much after the election or do you think the changes will be more cosmetic in nature?
Obama or McCain are not really the point--the point is and was the
people. There's an article of faith on the left that somehow the last
eight years has been a fake or a con--as though the people out there are
genuinely confused or misled. But I think a lot of folks know exactly
what has gone on. They approve. They're probably not the majority, but
there are a lot of them, and they'll still be here after election day.
Determined to wreck it all.
What should people who come see you live expect to see?
Foreheads popping to the point of aneurysm. And a lot of sweat.
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