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Category: PE Web Zine

New issues, deadlines and other items related to Profane Existence Magazine

0 UP FOR NOTHING: In Trance: EP

February 8, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

Up For Nothing - In Trance

UP FOR NOTHING have been around now for over a decade and just keep putting out great songs and the quality never wanes. You get some nice tight punk rock with some great woah-ohs, bouncing bass, driving drums, great guitar leads and snotty, but strong vocals that all add up to some kick ass punk rock on the first song “This Moment”. The great thing about this EP is that they just don’t stop with the great punk rock on this EP, they just keep the quality going. This was produced by New York Hardcore legend Ernie Parada from TOKEN ENTRY, GREYAREA, and BLACK TRAIN JACK, it was recorded and mixed by Pete Steinkopf from THE BOUNCING SOULS and mastered by Stephen Egerton from THE DESCENDENTS, so you know that this had better be a good fucking collection of songs, and it sure is. The band is tight, the vocals are top-notch and I really recommend this EP. (Rick Ecker)

https://www.facebook.com/UpForNothing

0 SLENDER LORIS: Live @ Doors Pub May 24th 2012: CD

February 8, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

Live @ Doors Pub cover art SLENDER LORIS adopted their name from a small creature indigenous to Sri Lanka that was once reportedly hunted by voodoo tribesmen for its tears and now it’s a post hardcore noise band from Hamilton, Ontario. Five short songs drenched in feedback and punk rock goodness and mixed together to bring a glorious noise fest that brings back memories of the more experimental bands from back then, but still keeps everything in the here and now. You get some fuzz guitar, screamed and clean vocals that are both crazed and melodic, drumming that bashes away, and some bubbling bass that made the band pretty catchy. You actually have a well done live album that really captures the band in its natural habitat, playing loud, furiously and really well. If I only still lived in Hamilton, I would be at your shows. (Rick Ecker)

https://www.facebook.com/slenderlorismusic http://slenderloris.bandcamp.com/

9 Effective Activism & State Repression: An Interview with Jake Conroy on how the SHAC Campaign nearly bankrupt one of the largest animal testing labs in the world

February 7, 2013
by Comrade Black
· Interviews

Interview by Comrade Black

How do we shut down a multinational corporation?

500 animals per day die in the labs of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), one of the largest contract testing companies in the world. Beagles, primates, rabbits, mice, rats, cats and other species are burned, cut open, or injected with poisons all while alive to ensure products like Viagra and diet pills will make it to the shelves of stores around the world; as well as GMO crops, pesticides, fertilizers and house hold cleaners. A small handful of dedicated activists started a campaign that nearly brought the giant to its knees as over 500 companies quit doing business with HLS, including their insurance company. Activists also managed to get HLS dropped from the New York Stock Exchange, eventually stopping their stocks from being publicly traded altogether.

Jake Conroy was one of the activists involved in Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign (SHAC) in the USA, helping to run the website, and lead demos. For this, Jake was sentenced to 4 years in jail.

PE: How did you get involved with animal activism, and more specially the SHAC campaign?

JAKE: I’ve always had strong feelings for the underdog throughout my life. It didn’t really occur to me until I was 19 that some of the biggest underdogs in the world were non-human animals. I had spent a long time thinking about the issues and reading books and pamphlets I picked up at hardcore/punk shows, and watching videos wherever I could find them (which actually was pretty hard to do in a pre-YouTube era). But I was somewhat on the fence about making that leap to get involved.

I was living in Seattle at the time, walking downtown to school, when I passed some folks protesting against the circus as they paraded the elephants for miles through the city. I passed them and didn’t say a word but it sat heavily in my mind that I should. So I turned around and walked back and asked what they were doing and who they were and how I could get in touch with them. They simply replied, “We’re in the Yellow Pages”. Sure enough, under Animal Rights, there was one listing – The Northwest Animal Rights Network. I called the number and listened to the info about the upcoming circus protests, and I went down that weekend by myself to join in.

The next 5 years I would participate in civil disobediences, run successful campaigns to close fur salons, help transform Seattle into one of the most animal-friendly cities in the country, and be arrested (with my current co-defendant Josh Harper) for engaging in the first whale hunt sabotage in US coastal waters by piloting a boat between whales and hunters.

In 2001 I had been working locally on the anti-HLS campaign in the Seattle area, when I got a call from a friend asking if I wanted to move out east for a few months to help start the office for this group, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA. I had nothing else to do, so I packed up my belongings, put them in storage, and headed out to Philadelphia. I became so excited and inspired by our first 3 months that I never went back. I would spend the next 5 years helping run one of the most exciting campaigns of my life.

PE: What can people learn from SHAC, and from the repression you faced?

JAKE: I think the most important thing people can learn is that their activism needs to be strategic, smart, and creative, while being thoughtful, careful, and calculated. We shouldn’t rush in head first because that’s the way it’s always been done; rather prepare for all outcomes, be ready to accept them, and not fear them. We need to realize that we are under a microscope, so our actions need to be significant and have a focus on duration and long term strategy.

PE: What do you think made SHAC so successful?

JAKE: Bobby Seale, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, once said that in order to be successful you have to capture the imagination of the people, and the anti-Huntingdon Life Sciences campaign and SHAC USA did just that. It began in North America at a time when national welfare organizations started to dangle paychecks in front of grassroots organizers, when they began shifting the debate away from liberation to welfarism, and when they made you feel like you were doing your part by voting every couple of years and sending in your donations to cover their expanding paychecks. They were disenfranchising the animal rights movement and getting folks to fall into line. But deep inside, we all wanted more.

SHAC USA sprang into action quickly and furiously. It said loudly and proudly that we weren’t going to sit back and accept bigger cages, and we were going to hold everyone and anyone accountable for their actions and support of animal cruelty, no matter when or where. We were happy to push the envelope and support radical ideas and tactics when others wouldn’t. We believed in people power, horizontal and autonomous organizing, and supporting and using every tool in the toolbox to enact change. Within months, we managed to gain victories as an all-volunteer organization of 4 where huge national organizations couldn’t. We captured the hearts and minds of activist communities and the general public, and we were off and running, bulldozing anyone that got in our way.

Full page ad that appeared in New York Times during the time of the SHAC 7 trial and amendments to the AETA was being discussed in congress

PE: SHAC centers on vivisection, specifically contract testing for consumer products like viagra and diet pills. Why focus on vivisection rather than fur, circuses, or the horrors of the pet industries, food/meat, or other areas of animal exploitation?

JAKE: There are so many atrocities perpetrated against the earth, and the animals, both human and non-human, that live on it. It’s very easy to fall into a pattern of trying to save the entire planet all at once. But we need to be strategic about our campaigns and smart about how we go about them. There had been a campaign against HLS since the late 80’s, with some amazing actions, but it just wasn’t getting the job done. But the late 90s saw a perfect storm of sorts in England. Activists had closed Consort Beagle Breeder, Hillgrove Cat Farm, Regal Rabbits and they were closing in on Shamrock Primate Farm and Newchurch Guinea Pig Farm. Energy was extremely high and victories were coming in swiftly. Meanwhile, Huntingdon had two undercover investigations released against them in the UK and the US, and it had almost bankrupt them. They were a huge target, teetering on the brink of foreclosure, and they needed a firm kick to push them over the edge. It would be a gamble, but it was part of a larger overall campaign strategy that was proving to be successful. HLS is the third largest contract research organization in the world and they were on the brink of being brought to their knees by grassroots activists. The time was just right.

PE: Do you still think that the SHAC Campaign can succeed at this point? What is the relevance of the campaign today?

JAKE: Martin Luther King Jr said that the arc of the universe is long and bends towards justice. And to add a footnote by Becky Tarbotton, “sometimes we don’t see it bend, sometimes it feels like it flattening out. And other times we can see that arc perceptively bending towards justice.” We didn’t close down Huntingdon Life Sciences according to our timeline, but I still believe the campaign can and will be successful. It’s suffered some major blows to it’s infrastructure, but like all good things, it keeps moving forward, it continues to bend towards justice. People are still active all over the world in the quest to shut it down for good and HLS is still financially hemorrhaging.

I think the relevance of the campaign is that it represents the tenacity, passion, and drive we as a global movement has to see justice served, no matter how long that might take. The tactics the SHAC campaign used were innovative and powerful, and they continue to be replicated by a broad spectrum of movements around the world to fight back. That alone is a testament to the relevance of the campaign and how successful it was and continues to be, regardless of the outcome of our explicit goals.

PE: How can activists today become more effective?

JAKE: Effectiveness and success is going to come by studying our collective histories, working hard and being creative today, while keeping long term future strategies in mind.

As activists today we have a unique opportunity to still talk to and learn from some of the greatest revolutionaries of decades past. These folks are still involved decades later and they want to sit with you, to have you learn from their mistakes, and understand their successes. We need to take advantage of these opportunities any chance we get before it’s too late.

We need to recognize that we are living in one of the most oppressive times to be an activist. Our targets wield more power than ever before and are getting away with using every tool in the toolbox to silence and imprison us. We need to take their lead and fight back in kind. We as activists need to realize that perhaps our old ways and tactics aren’t going to work anymore and we need to start thinking outside the box; to be more creative and look for other ways around the blockades before us in order to reach our desired goal.

Finally, we need to be smart. We can no longer rush in head down, into brick walls. We need to pick our heads up and look forward and see how we can strategically plan not just for this year but the next generation. We need to look deeper and with more thoughtfulness into how we are making change and how we can make it lasting.

PE: Are you still involved with animal activism now that you are out of prison?

JAKE: I’m involved with animal activism as much as I can be. I am currently finishing my third year of probation (out of 3), which puts restrictive conditions on you and your actions. Your whereabouts, employment status and financial records are all monitored by the federal government. I have a list of 30 or so rules, some very specific, some very broad, that I am required to live by. If I violate any of these rules, the probation office has the right to yank me off of probation and put me back in prison. So while they can be lax about certain things, getting in trouble doing animal activism is a sure way to end back in prison.

However, I still do as much animal activism, prisoner support, and outreach that I can. I am also employed by a non-profit environmental organization that uses non-violent direct action and pressure campaigns against global corporate targets to affect change. In a sense it’s much like SHAC, minus the radical aggressiveness that landed us in prison.

PE: If we truly want to be effective in our activism, it seems like in today’s atmosphere we should get prepared for the very real possibility of prison. Do you have any advice on how to prepare or was there anything that helped you get trough it?

JAKE: While I think activists today need to be very aware of the repression going on around the globe and learn how they can fight back, I wouldn’t say that prison is a very real possibility for a large majority of us. In the grand scheme of things, very few of us have actually been imprisoned for the amount of actions and campaigns that have been going on. Unfortunately, while the number of folks in prison right now is rising, it doesn’t mean that we all are going to end up there some day.

The SHAC7 case was a perfect example of that. Thousands of people in North America alone participated in the campaign in their own way and it came down to a half dozen of us in court. The odds are in your favor.

If you are in the small minority of people facing prison time, I would highly suggest turning to those who have been or are currently incarcerated, for advice and counsel. Prison is a place like no other; nothing can possibly compare to it. It’s a place filled with bizarre rules and expectations and nothing can really prepare you for it outside of the experience of others. I spent a lot of time leading up to my incarceration writing friends that were serving time as political prisoners, asking them every thing I could possibly think of. We would write tomes back and forth. But ultimately nothing can fully prepare you for the experience.

Ultimately, prison is a dark and lonely and depressing place. And one of the few things that can put a smile on an inmate’s face is a letter. It is what makes the experience survivable. So I would encourage everyone to look through the lists of political prisoners and find a couple that resonate with you, and write them. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy diatribe on your political beliefs (its better that it’s not), rather, write them about your day, the last back packing trip you took, the last meal you made. Send a photo or a postcard. Anything will brighten their day. Take the time to foster a relationship with them and help them get through their experience. What may seem like an insignificant 20 minutes to you writing a letter, it can be a total life saver when on the receiving end while in prison.

PE: How much dose having a terrorist enhancement effect your life? And how do you feel about being considered a terrorist in the eyes of the government?

JAKE: Just to be clear, none of the SHAC 7 received a terrorist enhancement during sentencing. We were, however, classified by the Bureau of Prisons as domestic terrorists. This meant that during our stay in prison and our time on probation (and I’m sure afterwards), that label followed us around wherever we went. In prison, for me, that meant all of my phone calls were monitored and recorded, all of my incoming and outgoing mail was opened, read, and photocopied if they desired, and my ability to have my friends come visit me was drastically reduced. It also meant that I was put onto a ‘high visibility inmate’ watch list inside of the prison. I was one of 10 to 15 inmates that the administration said posed the biggest security threat to the institution, in a population of around 1300 inmates incarcerated for murder, rape, bank robbery, high-level gang activity, etc..

PE: Could you please recap what the charges against you were, and what you were accused of doing?

JAKE: Kevin Kjonaas, Lauren Gazolla and I were found guilty of 6 charges based on our direct involvement and so-called “leadership” roles with SHAC USA. They were one count of conspiracy to violate the 1934 Telecommunications Harrassment Act, one count of conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Protection Act (now called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act), one count of conspiring to commit interstate stalking, and 3 counts of interstate stalking.

Essentially we were found guilty of running a webpage that advertised and editorialized events, actions, and strategy; that published write-ups of those events and actions after the fact (much like an online newspaper); that shared ideas, and supported the thinking of controversial ideologies. By doing all of this online, we crossed state lines to enter into a conspiracy with essentially anyone who had ever used the internet. By simply publishing and editorializing ideas and actions, we were encouraging anyone who accessed our webpage to go out and do the same things.

It was a far-fetched (yet successful) attempt at criminalizing controversial, yet legal, forms of demonstrations, supporting radical and controversial ideologies like non-violent direct action, and the sharing of ideas.

PE: Can you talk about the role music & subcultures can play in Animal Liberation and other activism?

JAKE: Subcultures and music has played a very influential role in grassroots and radical movements. The first time I was introduced to the idea of black power and the Black Panther Movement was after buying the album Fight The Power by Public Enemy when I was in junior high. As a white, suburban kid growing up in New England, those radical ideas didn’t make it into our classrooms. Soon after I would be introduced to hardcore and punk rock, which would open the doors to a do-it-yourself subculture, the straightedge philosophy, and veganism. Bands, ‘zines, and literature acquired at record stores and shows filled my imagination and passion with big ideas about grassroots organizing and direct action; the idea that we didn’t need large organizations and governments to enact the change we wanted to see in the world. That change was something we could bring about on our own and on our own terms. This idea wasn’t just mine – this self-empowerment and introduction to direct action through music communities was shared by 5 of the 6 individuals in the SHAC7 case, and direct action legends like Rod Coronado and Keith Mann. It introduced a whole generation of young people in the mid 90’s to veganism, activism, and direct action, that would eventually shape the entire animal rights movement.

Jake Conroy is available to speak at public events and will be speaking at Camas Books in Victoria BC (Via skype) Feb 16. To contact Jake about speaking in your community go to http://aidandabet.org/roster/from-activist-to-terrorist/

To learn about the ongoing campaign to shut down HLS today check out the SHAC website (includes videos, lists of companies doing business with HLS, and other campaign materials)

http://shac.net/

To learn more about the repression of activism and the SHAC 7

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/

http://www.shac7.com/

0 OPPOSABLE THUMBS s/t CD

February 7, 2013
by backwoodsvegan
· Reviews

Damn! This cd is just so raw and energetic from the second you hit play. These guys play a sort of timeless rock and roll driven punk that draws from 70s acts like MC5 and THE STOOGES, while at the same time I can hear bits of DEVO stylings in the rhythms. Their set up is a basic five piece complete with a keyboardist that really adds a nice bit of dimension and depth to the over all sound. The guitar is slightly overdriven, but not very distorted and is played in a way that it’s percussive at times, but not in a way that interferes with the bass. They work in great harmony as the bass rumbles and climbs through each riff while being pushed forward by Andy’s creative skin banging. OPPOSABLE THUMBS have created a great sound for themselves out of the blueprints of great rock acts, but at the same time are not mimicking anyone. From the opening track, She Roll It, straight through to the tenth and final track Miss Represented, they roll like a train car that has derailed and it on a crash course to oblivion. The recording sounds like it was done “studio live” which gives it more a gritty feel that adds to the overall character. Besides the live shot on the back and a little drawing on the insert, the artwork is minimal. Under the disc tray is a picture of what looks like somebody’s parents. Kinda sweet, but not sure if there’s a connection that I’m missing. Either way, these guys play some fine rock and roll. (Jake)

Gubbey Records / PO Box 7481 / Louisville, KY 40257

http://www.gubbeyrecords.net

1 STATIC RADIO: One For The Good Guys: CDEP

February 7, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

Seven short blasts of hardcore that is catchy and fucking rocks out. This EP goes by too damn fast, great hardcore played with heart and conviction, with a ton of melody and it made me want to get up and jump around my living room…you know it has to good to do that! I kept thinking about when I leave the house later on and throw this on in the car and crank it up with the windows down. These songs are played really well with the guitar just blazing, the bass rocking, the drums smashing away gloriously, and the fantastic vocals that made me want to sing along with the album. I am really sorry that these guys just called it quits because this is a great shot of their music and they really should have been huge. Grab this one and play the shit out of it! (Rick Ecker)

http://theblacknumbers.com/

0 ROCK,STAR: Inamorato: CDEP

February 7, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

A very cool punk album with a little poppier sound that was originally recorded way back in 2000, but it still sounds fresh today, matter of fact, better than some bands plying this field of music. Lots of melody on these nine songs, and boy are they ever catchy too, every one of them has hooks galore. The song that really grabbed me was “Rock, Star” with the great guitar work, the pounding drums, the bouncy bass, and the great vocals. This album has great playing and the production makes the band shine with the crispness and clear sound that is on here. It’s a damn shame that the band only has this out because I would love to hear more from them, they have a great punk sound with a ton of talent that made this album a real pleasure to hear. (Rick Ecker)

http://theblacknumbers.com/

0 PURPOSE: Discography 1994-2001: CD

February 7, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

This CD collects all of the songs from melodic hardcore band PURPOSE, with twenty-seven songs that encompass two seven-inch releases, two full length albums, seven demos, a cover of “For Want Of” by RITES OF SPRING, and one unreleased song, talk about a comprehensive collection! The first six songs have great production, the next four are muddier and flat sounding, the next four are hollow sounding and a bit flat, the next four are a bit of the same, the demos sound like demos, the RITES OF SPRING cover is nice and clear, and the unreleased song is a bit muddy as well. Now that we have the production covered, lets talk about the music itself shall we? The band goes from melodic hardcore, to hardcore, to punk rock, and finally some post hardcore all on this collection, mostly because there were a total of twelve different people in this band, so you can hear what influences and styles that they brought with them. The band is really adept at all of the various styles on here considering all of the changes in the band. They were a really good band that had a lot of potential to be bigger than they were, it’s a shame that they never achieved a larger following, but with releases like this, hopefully other people will get into them, better late than never. (Rick Ecker)

http://theblacknumbers.com/

0 THE REVELING: Tributaries: CD

February 7, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

Ten tracks of punk rock that has a fair bit of pop in it, but isn’t pop punk. This is the debut album from THE REVELING and they sound like they’ve been doing this for a while with the great performance that they give on this album. This album has a ton of melody and is full of catchy songs that will get you up and jumping around the room to. Lead singer / guitarist Sean Morris has a great voice, not too snotty, he actually sings and gets the emotion of what he is trying to get across to you as well as playing the hell out of his guitar on the album. The band has great chops as well, the drums carry the songs along at a great pace and the bass bounces all over the place making for a fun listen. They really got a great job on the production with everything nicely mixed, but not too polished so you still get the punk rock feel that is important. The songs are all straight forward and rock out pretty damn good on this album, the song “Plaster Saints” had a bit of a WEEZER feel to it, but was still a great song as well. (Rick Ecker)

http://theblacknumbers.com/ https://www.facebook.com/reveling

1 Freedom Bookshop (UK) Firebombed

February 2, 2013
by damieninbred
· Features · News

From The Guardian:

A long-standing anarchist bookshop has been badly damaged in a suspected firebomb attack.

Police investigating the blaze at the Freedom Press bookshop in Whitechapel High Street, east London, are treating it as suspicious. Firefighters were called to the premises at around 5am on Friday and spent two hours extinguishing the blaze. No one was injured.

Around 15% of the ground floor suffered fire damage but the flats above the shop were unaffected.

Freedom Press, which owns the bookshop and publishes a monthly anarchist newspaper, is asking for donations to repair the damage as the premises was uninsured. “We’re all absolutely shell-shocked,” said Jayne, a member of Freedom Press who did not want to give her surname. “What’s particularly annoying is that we couldn’t afford to renew our insurance and it ran out last week.

“There’s a lot of fire and water damage, which doesn’t go too well with books. This wasn’t an accident. Somebody had to lift up a mental shutter to break the window to start the fire. We do get this kind of trouble sometimes.”

A post was uploaded on the Freedom Press Twitter page which said it was not yet clear whether its newspaper archives had been damaged in the blaze.

“Not sure yet whether archives survived – we had one of only a few sets covering almost the entire printed history of the paper boxed in shop,” it read.

Further tweets stated a clean-up had been arranged to take place at the shop from 1pm on Saturday and a donations page was being set up.

Freedom Press was founded in 1886 by a group of friends, including Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin, and describes itself as the “largest anarchist publishing house” in the country.

It claims to stock thousands of books, newspapers, pamphlets along with magazines, periodicals and newsletters from major anarchist and radical groups.

A Metropolitan police spokesman said: “Inquiries into the circumstances of the fire are under way but at this early stage it is being treated as suspicious.”

No arrests have been made.

For more information and fundraising efforts, please go here.

0 JUST BECAUSE: Self-titled EP: Download

February 1, 2013
by harleytexas
· Reviews

Photo: front ...new ep 2013...lancement le vendredi 1 fev a lalizee mtl!!!!!!

A great gritty punk rock album from these guys from the province of Quebec in Canada. These guys blast through five punk songs that range in almost hardcore speed, punk rock and almost pop punk, but they are all really good songs. The playing is tight, the vocals are a little gruff, and suit the songs perfectly. They just put out an album at the end of 2012 and they already have some more songs ready to go, I love that, no long waits between releases. These guys really are good, lots of hooks, good lyrics and the songs are not super short, just a good length where they don’t over stay their welcome. (Rick Ecker)

https://www.facebook.com/JUSTBECAUSE2004 http://justbecause1.bandcamp.com/album/just-because-ep-2013

Page 30 of 74

The legendary crust classic is now available once again!

We are happy to announce our next new release

WILT – “Self Titled”

Here is a track from the upcoming LP

“Sermon for the Bootlickers”

Category: PE Web Zine

0 UP FOR NOTHING: In Trance: EP

0 SLENDER LORIS: Live @ Doors Pub May 24th 2012: CD

9 Effective Activism & State Repression: An Interview with Jake Conroy on how the SHAC Campaign nearly bankrupt one of the largest animal testing labs in the world

0 OPPOSABLE THUMBS s/t CD

1 STATIC RADIO: One For The Good Guys: CDEP

0 ROCK,STAR: Inamorato: CDEP

0 PURPOSE: Discography 1994-2001: CD

0 THE REVELING: Tributaries: CD

1 Freedom Bookshop (UK) Firebombed

0 JUST BECAUSE: Self-titled EP: Download