“We’re a band that’s got a political conscience” – Highly Suspect

WORDS: SAM LAW

These rising stars have a lot on their mind…

In the new issue of Kerrang! you can read an exclusive chat with one of 2017’s hottest rising bands: Highly Suspect. They already have three GRAMMY nominations under their belt for their awesome music, but one of the things that impresses us most is that they’re a band who’re unafraid to speak to their minds. And no more so than when they called out Donald Trump on the Conan O’Brien show last year, starting their performance with frontman Johnny Stevens saying, “What’s up America? Anybody but Trump, please.” When we caught up with them recently, we thought it was time to find out where they stand on the relationship between politics and music…

YOU’VE NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO WEAR YOUR POLITICS ON YOUR SLEEVE. YOU’VE CALLED OUT TRUMP OVER TWITTER. HOW DOES THAT FACTOR IN TO YOUR MUSIC?
JOHNNY STEVENS: “Well, to be fair, we’re not a political band. We’re a band that’s got a political conscience. I don’t want to be labelled as a political band. Rage Against The Machine are a political band. We’re just a band that has opinions about politics.”

IS THERE A SENSE OF RISK IN ESPOUSING THOSE OPINIONS IN 2017?
JOHNNY STEVENS: “No, not at all. Because the people who don’t vibe off me saying those sorts of things aren’t the type of people I want coming to our shows in the first place. I want to help provide a voice for those people who don’t have one. For those people who aren’t even expecting support at this point. I’ve seen it first-hand, people from areas in what would typically be regarded as “red states” in this country, who don’t feel like they have anybody for them in their family or in their community. But at the same time, we’re not trying to be that political band. It’s just that we have opinions that are important to us, and it’s important that they get brought up with the platform we have. It could help – to some degree – to help sway the minds of people in this country, in this world, that’s going through some weird shit right now. But, again, it’s not like I’m trying to be some fuckin’ martyr or something. It’s not our number one goal. I don’t think it should be our responsibility. I’m not John Lennon. I just feel that we should express the opinions that are important to us, even if we don’t make it our crusade.

I think that people really are afraid [of airing their opinions]. Is it a commercial decision for a lot of bands? Absolutely. It’s 100% a commercial decision for a lot of bands. it’s less sales. Less ticket sales. And when you pick a side, effectively you alienate and lose half of your potential fanbase. Half of people like person A, half like person B. And when you say you don’t like one of them, it can be very difficult for people to separate that opinion from their music. Even for me. When I found out that Chris Brown hits women, I didn’t like Chris Brown’s music any more. So I understand when people take a stand and some fans find it difficult to stay with them. If you ask most musicians [privately] they’ll quite openly say they hate a lot of that stuff. But, when it comes to putting it on the album, they have to immediately understand that they’ll immediately be shifting fewer copies off the shelves.”

You can check out Highly Suspect’s Trump-baiting Conan O’Brien performance below, and don’t forget to leave us your comments!