Mark Berube, a Canadian indie musician who performs folk-inflected indie with his group, Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few, discusses his perspective on music and politics. This is the third in a series of interviews with musicians discussing political perspectives.
What role do politics play in your music?
Politics in modern music can very easily have the tendency to be preachy. I avoid this sort of statement as much as I can, unless I really want to put some balls behind something. I prefer subtlety, like “Ojala,” by Silvio Rodriguez, probably one of the most potent and subtle statments made in a song against Castro.
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few – “Flowers on the Stones” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/08-flowers-on-the-stones.mp3]
What role do you think music should play in politics?
Music has always been a reference point for society to bounce itself against, or it has been pure escapism. Most of the time it fills an entertainment quota in politics … you only have to look as far as Palin’s use of “Barracuda”. (more…)
