Det är hårt. Det är vegan. Och det är straight edge. Självklart vill vi alla veta lite mer om Kingdom. Här kommer en glimt. Missa dem inte när de kommer till Sverige i slutet av juli med sin nya skiva A rage that guides!
Where do you find inspiration lyrically and what ideals do the band stand for?
I take inspiration from my own life-which when I was younger was... let’s say “rough”, and more so, how my own struggles relate and intertwine with the suffering and oppression of the world over. I also take heavy influence from my favorite authors (Derrick Jensen, Robin Morgan, Leslie Feinberg, Noami Wolf), and on our new record I was heavily influenced by the great Emily Dickinson.
We’re a vegan and a straight edge band. We’re anti sexist, against homophobia, against racism. You know... the usual. Hahahah.
In what ways are you striving for these ideals?
Other than promoting our ideals through our songs and taking them every where we possibly can, we are each, in our own ways, outspoken, but also working - now I’m talking sexism, racism, and homophobia here - to rid ourselves of these things. I think it’s a common misconception in hardcore/punk/activism to think that once you’ve said you’re against _____ (some shitty thing) that you’ve rid yourself of it, but we all are growing up in and living in a culture that instills these hatreds deep inside of us, and it takes constant work and self evaluation to, as Strike Anywhere once so eloquently put it “kill the sleeping cop” in ourselves.
Is it only through the band or are you active in other ways as well?
The shitty thing about being in a full-time touring band is that it’s just about the only thing you can do. When we’re not on tour, I’m setting up the next one. It’s hard, and I’d like to be more involved, but I think (or I hope rather) that the breadth of people we reach and the impact we have is a worthwhile trade of my time. I think that it is.
What do you think is the most crucial argument for veganism?
That there is absolutely no reason, living in the culture we live in, not to be. From an environmental perspective? No argument. From a health angle? The choice is obvious. Worried about human rights? Check out slaughterhouse employee treatment. And of course, what can be said to the most important question:
Why would you willingly condemn innocent creatures to a life of tortured imprisonment and to an end of a brutal, anonymous killing... when you don’t have to?
Do you see straight edge as political statement or as a purely personal choice?
For me it’s personal.
Do you think DIY is important to the hardcore scene? Why/why not?
Obviously! If the DIY ethic is taken out of hardcore, it’s not hardcore anymore. It’s like taking the orange out of the rind, or taking the bones of out of a person. It’d look the same on the outside, sure, but there would be no substance inside, nothing to hold it together.
