Anarcho powerviolent hardcore punks JACKSON FIGHT and their recent I Believe I Can Fight record is a powerful addition to the buzzsaw sound of the classics of the harsh genre, but paradoxically, it’s not something this band cares about. The ideas brought in by these sharp minds circle around much more important issues and are intended to evoke thoughts that are worth identifying with. We caught up with them to talk about social activism, the battle with the state, solutions and alternatives for habits of capitalism, as well as real life actions in fight against attitudes based on discrimination and domination such as sexism, racism, homo/trans/phobia, speciesism, and fascism.
JACKSON FIGHT released their debut record “I Believe I Can Fight” in June 2016. The band is currently working on their next EP effort and a split recording, slated for a June 2017 release
Hey hey guys! How are you? How’s Le Mans doing this smogged warm winter? How’s 2017 been treating you so far?
Hi, I’m Antoine, I think I’m fine. But it definitly depends from the rest of the social facts that I can see around me.
You know, I really dont care for 2017 or just one more year. Cause everything is turning around. Capitalism is alive and stronger than ever, cops kill people, sexism/racism/homo-transphobia kill people too. 1% of the population holds half the world’s wealth. And in front of all this, people fall back on their persons. Nothing change in one year, but we’ve too !
No doubt. Like John Dewey said, politics remain the shadow cast on society by big business and a lot of us feel it is more and more upon us. What would you consider the origin of the rise in populist anger, social and racial tensions, illustrated by many referendas around the globe, and the rise of current leaders like Donald Trump in the United States? Do you see a common thread between what’s happening?
I don’t think it’s anything new, it’s more like something cyclical. History reproduces facts and systems. All dominations and oppressions are never ending. That’s the perversion of this shitty system, they re transforming and hiding behind some politicals/economicals & socials rules.
But for this times, medias does a really important job, destroying each brains and making you better when you’re with your fucking smartphone, computer or TV. This could be one of the origin for people who turn on theirself. People don’t try to search informations, informations come to them, so it’s really easy for some xenophobic ideas to do their job.
Education is a real problem too, cause it reproduces inequalities, there is a very classist power. That’s Pierre Bourdieu explains, when you’re from worker class the way to the famous school is really hard or impossible because of your money capital and your cultural capital.
Socialisation has to be change too, to destroy this fucking patriarchal society. Stop bying cars for your boys and puppets for your girls, what the fuck are you doing!
Like an anarchist, I could say that religions (in general) brings a war world with the help of capitalism too. They just keep people in a scarry life, they feel oppressed by each differents and new things (in France you could see for example this bastards from the right catholisism whor are against the gay wedding).
There is a lot of things to say…
Are there some inspirations that influence the way you see politics and social issues? How have your opinions and views on such subjects evolved?
You probably know that we’re anarchist ahah (because of our lyrics and fully diy spirit). But now it could important to precise that we try to be “real” anarchist.
I read some authors, search news from everywhere overtime, try to be connected with the reality. When I was young I was a pretty big fan of all this authors from tha anarchist movements like Bakounine, Kropotkine, Reclus, Proudhon. Just after, I discovered “The French theory”. Now I try to mix everything cause I can’t agree with one doctrine ahah. In the anarchist 1900′, feminism and animal liberation are forgotten, this is old school, and you can’t exclude women and animals for the anti system fight. That’s why now I try to read and understand more things and ideas from the “feminism materialism” (Christine Delphy) and the link between this fucking manhood and the fact to eat animals. Then in our farm we live with two girls (Anna our singer and Manon my girlfriend) very smarts and actives in the feminism and animal actions, so each day we learn that we have privileges and try to change it.
We try to live what we think, you know if you want a revolution you have to be on the both sides of the fight : you have to change your personnal lifestyle (eating vegan, acting for animals, talking safe, thinking to the others, non bying or just cooperative things, grow up your own garden etc…). That’s the first rule. You can’t cross every countries singing songs that you can’t be.
The second thing is really important cause it never works if you just apply the first.
You have to fight authority, fight the power. Try to create some autonom organizations without state, go fight cops in manifestations and more.In all the DIY scene you can see a lot of people wearing same things than the black blocks in some manifestation, but this is just appearance. It’s a big problem I think cause it’s deserves the fight. They just reproduce what capitalism want, thinking that they’re are against capitalism, what the fuck?
Is that part of why you moved to an autonomous farm? Please expound more on this idea and what led you to this decision?
Yeah that’s the main reason. We are not in self management for the moment but that’s the project in facts.
When we decided it we just wanna organized shows, meetings, in safe places without any kind of oppression. Then we decided to saved animals from refugees, to have our own garden (trying to be as far as we can than the capitalism society). Trying to put the acts on our words.
When you move to a bar , to a show (sometime the both) in the town there is a strange feeling. People are talking, moving for a demonstration, trying their new wears to show how DIY hardcore they are. Then after, they just move to their flat. You never see them in politicals actions. We never see them to our shows.
Now the project continue. We are thinking a lot of things to do.
For the moment we are three, and at the end of February we’ll be four (with one friend, my girlfriend and Anna our singer) in a bigger place. That’s completely lost in the countryside. As the beginning we’ll do some shows, discussions, vegan lunch, movies.But with more space, we are ready to be a host family for animals abandoned or beated. We’ll try the dog positive education.
This is everything to do, to think again, so we don’t have time to work, or be exploited.
Can you give me a general overview of the squatting situation in your area? Also, how would you compare squatting to your idea of running an independent living space and creative environment?
In our town Le Mans the last squatt was ejected last year, it was a sleeping squatt. So now there’ s just empty buildings.
There is some politicals squatts in bigger towns like Paris, Nantes, people from associations and anarchist movements open places for refugees. It’s realy needed cause they ve destroyed “Calais”, the biggest refugee camp last year.
There are some autonom culturalplaces too, but it looks like the situation in south Germany. The government just keep the wall and give you the place for few money, but they dont accept the fact “squatt”. So it’s bullshit, you’ve to talk with them. There is no resistance.
Last year we thought to open an libertar cultural center, but we are not so much, so we move our wishes to our own house. It’s difficult cause we are at 30km from the city, so we cant stay in this place.
Tha Squatts are more political, the fact to squatt is political you know. Everything you try against your government it’s political action. The only problem is that is short-lived, you cant build a big project, you move everytime, you spend a lot of energy.
In an independant living space you have time, you can change your environnment if you’re in the countryside. The only problem is that you’re “legal”.
Haha, I get you, but paradoxically isn’t this ‘problem’ a kind of solution actually? I mean, I may be wrong with the correct terminology for types of ‘squatting’ and other actions that could be mistakenly taken as squatting , but even being totally against violent evictions, it doesn’t prevent me from understanding some demands of properties’ owners that demand leaving their premises. Having said that, I understand that having your own spot and being able to develop it and legally transform into youth, art or community centre, may actually be one of the solutions. Isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s pretty hard for me to approve it ahah it could be a solution.
But I dont agree with the fact that it’s the only solution.
« La propriété, c’est le vol » (Proudhon), property is a theft (not sur for the translation and the real meaning). You can considerate the owners of properties as people who play the capitalism game. When you play, you have to accept consequences.
When you have something legal, yes you’ve time. You can talk with people, try to inform, share actualities, explainyour vision, it’s positive and non agressive. You hope you’ll be more and more, then you’ll gonna take the power back, only by the number.
It’s maybe pessimistic but capitalism is a biggest parasite which never existed. It’s ready to adapt itself to any system, alternative too, and he can control an independant cultural center for sure, just by acceptating a rent, or if you build an association to manage it.
Ok, so let’s talk about your noisy brand of hardcore and quite an interesting setting, with no bass and just one guitar. What led you to this specific form and how do you feel about it, besides being able to pack light? :)
We’re just three, trying to make something powerviolence, a few anarcho punk (historicly meaning).
We are thinking for a bass player but it’s not really hurry, cause when we go on tour we are a familly, girl/boys/friends come, our dogs come, so we dont have more space ahah!
Before, I played with a bastard, this guy looks like what I described in the others questions, hardcore poser without ideas, hypocrisis and more shits.
In Lille I met Thomas, awesome guy, we used to play fast so we decided to start something new.
Then I met Anna in some anarchist collectives, we drunk beers, we ve seen that we thought the same and it was really enough. We are really far away from all “the hardcore scene” that people could imagine. For example, we’ve never been to Fluff fest and that’s not our project, we’re not searching any street credibility shits ahah.
We wanna do something extreme, not only on the music, but for ideas. No compromise. You know there are a lot of hardcore bands now who buy their recording/mastering studio for an incredible money. All this money could be helpfull for a lot of militants causes. But no, same people that told you after that they are “engaged”, LOL.
So all this reasons made our shitty sound, that’s cheap, recorded in our autonom place with a friend for free. We dont want to evolve, never, not putting 1000e in a recording. We just do this project like a collective: you build, you fight, it’s over.
Ok, and how do you go about touring? You’ve done about 30 shows in 2015 and 2016. How about this year? Is the Shit Noise 7 the only appearance booked so far?
We’ll go on tour on September 2 or 3 weeks, we have to record something new this summer. Our drummer is far away from us and He’s touring a lot with his other bands, he told us that 2016/2017 were full for him. So we have time!
We’ll see with opportunities, but we are not running after for the moment ahah.
Alright, so thanks so much for your time and the initial introduction of the band. Is there anything you’d like to expound on before we sign off?
Thanx a lot.
Last words could be : Fuck all dominations and discrimminations, try to keep informed, go to manifestations , go to the shows, speak with people. Think of what you do everytime, try to be safe as you can !
Cheers !
Thanks! Good luck with all your plans for the rest of the year! Take care!
