Anti-Everything: Let’s All Decolonise Punk Together!

Anti-Everything are making music we should all be hearing. Fast and energetic punk songs that condemn corrupt political systems and roar out with a Caribbean twist against racism, inequality and colonialism.

Formed in 2000 in St. Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago, Anti-Everything were all still teenagers at the time and the band name was chosen to emphasize their uncompromising attitude of speaking up against authority. They got inspiration from the DIY ethos of hardcore punk and instilled it with elements of dub, ska, reggae, calypso and other genres in a quest for a shared post-colonial identity. Punk is not just a music but a powerful tool to spread personal and community resilience for marginalised and oppressed people across the globe.

What was the reason and motivation for creating Anti-Everything? What stands out in your mind when you reflect back on where you started and where you are now?

We were just a bunch of teenage friends who loved punk rock and wanted to start a band. We had no idea what we were doing, and still have no idea what we are doing! For us, it was always about just having a voice to share our feelings and thoughts. In the Caribbean, the local alternative music scene is small, and the punk scene in particular is almost non-existent. So music for us was about creating our own space.

The thing that stands out is that the music has inadvertently become a sort of archive where we can see how we have grown both musically and personally. Different albums have become timestamps of where we all were in our lives, what was happening around us, and what were our influences. So it’s really cool to be able to relive those moments and reflect on them.

You have recently released your latest record called COAGX, which is a four-song EP inspired by the 10th anniversary of the album Children of a Globalised World. Do you consider that 2011 album a turning point for the band in some sense? What influenced you writing the new songs and what issues do you deal with lyrically?

Children of a Globalised World was sort of a concept album. It was our second full length album and we really put everything into it emotionally. That album was quite emo in that the themes were very existential, and also dealt with science and math because we are also a bit of nerds. We like to call that style ‘Human Resource Hardcore’. We tried to also experiment with production techniques and stick to the DIY punk ethos. Randy (guitar, trombone, steelpan) learned to play trombone just to play on the bridge of the song “Crime Minister”. One of our favourite memories is also going into a really grimy abandoned underground water reservoir to record our own reverbs. In the end it doesn’t affect the sound significantly, but we know what was behind it and love that we were able to bring our own ‘heights’ in every way possible.

It was a turning point in the sense that we realised that we really had the freedom to do whatever the fuck we want. Play punk, be emo, be a nerd, be on heights. Do whatever. It just captured a really important time in our lives.

Since that album, our musical approach has changed a bit as overtime we became more focused on combining hardcore punk with Caribbean vibes. So for the anniversary of it, we thought that we’d go back and celebrate that style, but still incorporate our current vibes. The song “Sacré Sucre” on COAGX was our reinterpretation of the song “Ste. Madeleine” on the Children of a Globalised World album. It’s kind of like this is what this song would sound like had it been written ten years later.

Can you talk about the political situation and the problems people of Trinidad and Tobago face nowadays? I guess militant Islamist groups, political corruption, violent crimes, homophobia, etc. are still issues in the region. Is the band mainly a personal vehicle, or something more political?

Trinidad and Tobago is a unique place with a lot of contradictions. It is very multicultural yet xenophobic. It is a developing country relative to the world, but more developed than most of its Caribbean sister islands. It is very proud of its identity, yet like much of the Caribbean, it suffers a sort of internalized sense of inadequacy. Perhaps a lot of the problems are related to these contradictions.

Like everywhere in the world, there is a terrible political corruption. This feels particularly pronounced as the country, in theory, should be very rich given its resources. The political system is also very much based on engineered racial divisions. Violent crime is terrible—we are among the top countries in the world in terms of homicides per capita. But this crime has roots in poverty and economic inequality, so it comes back down to the political bullshit.

On the social level, we are a relatively conservative country, which is inevitable when you are small. Homophobia is a major problem on top of racial tensions (which we insist are engineered by politicians). Most recently, there is a lot of xenophobia towards Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Things have been changing with the new generations though, so we have a lot of hope for the future.

Our scene is both political and personal, as these are inseparable. For every national general in Trinidad and Tobago since we’ve been making music, we have released an EP criticising the absurdity of the political situation. Last year we did the third of such EPs, Fowl Fete, and we realised that we were singing about the exact same problems a decade earlier.

Sometimes the feelings of being stuck within such an ominous system in a small island is overwhelming, hence the emo vibes at times. But overall, for us, what we do is an outlet, whether it be political, personal, whatever. We don’t impose any limits on what we want to express. Iz all ah same vibes.

What does the phrase post-colonial hardcore punk mean to you? Do you also consider yourself anti-colonial and how did the Black Lives Matter uprisings in the past few years affect you as individuals?

When you are from this part of the world, the history of colonialism affects the way you see the world (and see yourself) in ways that take your whole lifetime to understand.

To understand the social and political problems of our space, we need to understand how these issues have roots in colonial history. To be from the Caribbean is to be anti-colonial (even though there are lots of islands here still under European administration).

But at the same time, out of this history emerged so many beautiful movements rooted in resistance. We love incorporating these things into our music also—like ska, reggae, and steelpan. Caribbean music is punk as fuck. And so this is what the term post-colonial means to us. We aren’t only anti-colonial in that we are against the system of globalised capitalism which reinforces old colonial power structures. We are post-colonial because we embrace the culture that has emerged out of that. And so again, we feel like Caribbean vibes is punk as fuck. Teenage punks shout ‘Fuck the System’, while Rastafari shout ‘Bun Down Babylon’. Iz ah same vibes—using art and culture as a tool of resistance.

We stand in solidarity with BLM and the diverse movements fighting for justice and highlighting the experiences of marginalized people all over the world. It’s been fascinating to observe how the global conversation on social justice issues has changed over the last years.

These movements manifest in different ways in different parts of the world, and it’s important to make sure that all marginalised people have a platform to share their experiences. Here in Trinidad, there was a very important Black Power Revolutionary Movement in 1970’s. Although that is more than 50 years ago, as a society we are still understanding its significance, and those sentiments still echo throughout the anti-establishment artforms.

For all of us in the punk scene, we need to remember that we need to balance making art with activism whether that be through education, direct action, or protest. And of course, every revolutionary or protest movement needs a soundtrack, whether that be hip-hop, reggae, or punk.

In the past you said that you’re the only punk band in Trinidad and Tobago, is this statement still true to this day? What does the underground scene in Trinidad and Tobago look like?

The underground scene in Trinidad and Tobago is small and closely knit, and there is so much amazing talent here. Most of the bands play some form of modern metal, as metal is much more popular than punk. There are however a few artists who play a sort of pop-rock style which has some punk influences. But punk rock as a movement and culture is not really a big thing here. As such, although our sounds are very different, we sometimes feel closer to the spirit of calypso music and dat kinda ting.

You have a great animated video for the song “Two Parties” and your albums are widely available on most of the major streaming platforms. Where do you stand on having a high online profile?

Since the scene in Trinidad is small, opportunities for live performance are limited, and the audience is generally small. We don’t have many venues or record stores dedicated to underground music. So we realised long ago that we just need to keep on writing new music and putting shit out no matter what. For more than a decade, we have been putting out something new every year, whether that be a single, a video, or an EP. So in that sense, the digital world gives us a space that is simply not available in the physical world. At that same time, we are pretty shitty with our online profile. We just release shit, and sort of fail to advertise and promote it widely.

Of course, overall, the whole online and social media world goes both ways. On one hand it totally democratises the entire arts and entertainment scene, but at the same time it has a tendency to be co-opted by assholes who care more about ego, image, and hype than actual art, culture, and creativity.

The Caribbean is a large and diverse region, made up of many countries and different languages which differ from one another in many ways. Do you have any connections with hardcore punk bands in any other countries in the region, for example I know the band The Bolokos from Guadeloupe?

We’re very anti-nationalist in our outlook. We much prefer describing ourselves as being ‘Caribbean’ rather than ‘Trinidadian’. Again, Trinidad and Tobago has this contradictory identity. To the international world, we are a small little unknown place. However, in the Caribbean, we are a large capitalist dominating state. So to us, Caribbean unity is a theme we really try to incorporate and push.

The Bolokos are awesome—we don’t know them personally (yet), but they seem like really cool and fun people. We are really close with the punks in Suriname and Guyana, and we work with that crew on a few projects. Be sure to check out Luguber from Suriname, and Creole Rock from Guyana. We love those guys.

In the wider Latin America space, we hope to collaborate more with our friends Desacato Civil (Brazil) and Mar de Rabia (Venezuela). We became good friends with both bands when we played together a couple of times when we were all on tour in the EU in 2019.

Do you think that what we’re doing in the underground music scene has an impact outside of our own communities? Is it possible for punk to keep innovating and not become stuck in a specific musical or ideological framework?

These missions definitely have an impact outside of our communities! What is amazing about punk is how it has been pushed and pulled in different directions all across the world and over time, but still maintains its ethics and values. I mean, we like some forms of metal music which influenced us early on, but punk just has this system of values which makes it much more than a form of music—it’s a culture and a movement. The innovation is there, both in terms of philosophy and music. We just need to be sure to give it the platform it needs. This is why zines, blogs, and DIY shows… these things are so important. At the same time, of course, we all need to understand that sometimes it takes time to see an impact.

Let’s all decolonise punk together. Let’s show the world that this is not a movement that belongs to US-ians or Europeans. Let’s hear more punk from more parts of the world. Let’s hear more voices of traditionally silenced groups. Decolonising punk is one step to decolonising the global media.

Such a great message, thank you for the interview! Anything else to add?

Don’t forget your roots, and never be afraid to explore new ideas. Being punk is about being open-minded as much as it is about telling the establishment to fuck off. Remember that the establishment changes over time and so do we. Punk is the only true youth culture where age, gender, and ethnicity really do not matter. Be kind to yourself and others. And never stop being yourself. Also, fuck nazis, fascists, homophobes, and racists!

Find Anti-Everything on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Download the entire discography up until COAGX EP for free following this link.

Source: diyconspiracy.net