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Feb 28, 19

An Interview with Racetraitor: Extreme Music in an Age of Trump

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In this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we caught up three members of the metal influenced hardcore punk band, Racetraitor. The band originally formed in Chicago in the mid-1990s, influenced by everything from Earth Crisis to Riot Grrl and local bands like Los Crudos. Taking both the communal and confrontational aspect of bands like Crudos and various Riot Grrl acts that sought to challenge the audiences of hardcore punk, Racetraitor worked tirelessly to bring up topics of race and class in ways that few bands before them ever had, often to much controversy.

After a long hiatus, the band has now reformed in the age of Trump and returned with new material and more live shows. After first attempting to interview the band at the antifascist Black Flags Over Brooklyn Festival, we then decided to record an entire episode afterwards. During the interview, we cover a lot of ground, from the state of extreme metal, hardcore and punk, DIY spaces in the 1990s vs now, making music and art in the age of Trump, the concept behind the band’s new album: 2042, and also thoughts on veganism and straight age during a period of mass overdoses and an epidemic of chronic obesity.

Whether you love extreme rock music or hate it, enjoy the band Racetraitor or have never heard of them, we hope you enjoy this discussion about a group of people that for decades have attempted to challenge both their audience and society at large through their art.

Musical Soundtrack includes:

  • Racetraitor
  • xGatherx
  • Tears of Gaia
  • Dawn Ray’d
  • Dodstrit

Links to Racetraitor:

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It’s Going Down is a digital community center from anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movements. Our mission is to provide a resilient platform to publicize and promote revolutionary theory and action.

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