Question everything
Punk trio Bobot Adrenaline, still politically active and skeptical of powers that be, returns to rock Old Towne Pub
By Bliss 11/12/2009
The last time we spoke with Pepper Berry, frontman of the politically conscious punk trio Bobot Adrenaline, he was promoting a Bands Against Bush show downtown, part of an International Day of Action protesting then-President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
“Look how good we did!” wisecracks Berry. “He’s gone.”
At that point in 2003, Bobot Adrenaline was one of the very few acts, along with Zack de la Rocha and Green Day, to have released an anti-war protest song. Now, of course, hundreds of protest songs have been released, Bush is out, “no drama” Obama is in, and the urgency felt and expressed by many artists during the last administration seems to have faded into oblivion along with Dick Cheney.
So what’s a political band to do when times turn more hopeful? If they’re like Berry and his bandmates, bassist Corey Mac and drummer Bryan Panzeri, remain vigilant. And skeptical. Berry sounds almost cheerful in his cynicism.
“Bobot is always going to be political,” he asserts. “Everyone thinks everything’s great, y’know, fixed because Obama’s in there, but I was no great fan of Obama when he was in the primary. I voted for him, and I hope he does a great job. But now’s the time to be even more urgent to make sure he doesn’t screw up either. Both sides can screw up.
“Some people have asked me, ‘What are you gonna talk about now?’ All the same stuff! Sure, he says he’s going to shut down Gitmo, but he doesn’t say anything about all the prisons still going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He does what he does for the camera, and a lot of stuff is still going on that we’ve gotta make people aware of. Our work is still cut out for us.”
Last year Bobot Adrenaline self-released “Unfurled,” an EP popping with sharply barbed salvos like “Radio Tikrit,” “Hey Mr. President” and the deliciously sarcastic “School of the Americas.” Produced primarily by Tommy Stinson, it also included a couple of tracks recorded and produced by Joey Santiago at Pasadena’s Mower Studios. This year, Berry and band have been focused on making “Dumb Bomb,” an 11-track album slated to be released in early 2010 by Basement Records. The title track — “probably the fastest song we’ve ever played,” Berry says with a laugh — is directed at Obama and America. Other songs include “Bombastic,” about the US naval bombing range in Puerto Rico, “Wasted Youth,” the GOP-tweaking “Life is Okay” and “My Mom’s in Baghdad.”
“It’s based on an article I read about there being 16,000 single moms that are serving over in Iraq that had to leave their kids either with grandmothers or distant relatives or boyfriends they just met,” Berry explains. “The song’s from the perspective of this kid who’s just left behind with people and he has no idea who they are.”
“Dumb Bomb” will also include the anti-death penalty “Penalty Box,” probably Bobot Adrenaline’s best-known song thanks to its inclusion in a Tony Hawks video game. The album also finds Berry writing about homeless and working-class characters.“You’re getting almost a whole history of Bobot Adrenaline on this new album, from start to finish,” Berry says. “And you see the message hasn’t changed at all.”
That message, roughly distilled: stay informed and involved, and diligently hold authorities to account. From the beginning Berry has remained remarkably well informed, posting exhaustive lists of links where fans could read about legislation, the Constitution and various governmental actions. But the band also minds bassist Corey Mac’s admonition: “We’re entertaining people first, and politics second.” And Berry’s no longer posting regularly to his Citizen Alert blog.
“Maybe with Obama,” he allows, “there is a little less to write about than I was all mad about before. …
I have to dig a little deeper than I did with the Bush administration. But not that deep. Not much has changed. Except the optimism. I enjoy the optimism nowadays.”
He devotes a lot of time to maintaining the band’s online presence. The proliferation of social networking sites may be a headache, but they’re business reality.“When I first set up [our page on] Facebook, there were [already] songs on there from our first compilation that you could buy, and I have no idea where that money’s going to,” he says. “I didn’t put that up there. … I think Twitter is goofy, but I grabbed our Twitter account as soon as I started putting all this stuff together because I want to be the one controlling it.”
He’s looking forward to Bobot’s gig at Old Towne Pub Saturday; they haven’t played out since May.
“We all have our jobs, we all have our lives. We just now got a record deal. I doubt we’re ever going to go on some big US tour, unless some things change down the road. We decided years ago, ‘Let’s just be the best regional band there is.’”
Bobot Adrenaline plays Old Towne Pub, 66 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, with the Ex-Gentlemen, Battle Flask and Plexikill, 9 p.m. Saturday. More information, call (626) 577-6583. myspace.com/bobotadrenaline.
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