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Have Nots
—Proud
This is “Proud”, from our new record, “Proud.”
Income Inequality 2 by Bob Lefsetz
…Have you thought about this? Didn’t the labels say that Napster would kill all incentive to make music? There’s more music than ever before. It may be an indecipherable landscape, but the main flaw in the sphere is not monetization, but content. Who wants to follow people kissing the ass of corporations who are beholden to bucks themselves?
Think about that.
A hit means less than ever before. Britney Spears couldn’t even sell 300,000 albums. Radio’s a joke, going on the Cee-Lo track months after it’s a hit online. But Rebecca Black illustrates that you can achieve national consciousness overnight. She did it with train-wreck. Could you do it with quality?
It really comes down to power. The rich use their money to gain power and keep it. But their power pales in comparison to that of music. Music can reach more people and make more change than a dollar ever will.
Yes, we’re ripe for revolution.
Because no one’s got anything.
Talk to recent college graduates. You can’t get a job. Stiglitz asks if what happened in the Middle East can happen here… OF COURSE IT CAN! If a fruit vendor can topple monarchs in the Middle East, imagine the power of a musician, tapping into this same distress and unrest of the proletariat.
In other words, don’t tie in with brands, RAIL AGAINST THEM!
Take a stand. About moral injustice, about financial inequality. Don’t worry about pissing people off. If you’re not pissing people off, you’re not doing it right.
Look at it this way… You can get musicians to fundraise for Japanese tsunami relief, but you can’t get these same people to lower their ticket prices so the poor can see them perform. You can’t get these so-called artists to take a stand for health care reform or education improvement or just about anything that might piss a section of the public off. Come on… Do we really live in a completely homogenous society, when Britney reaches 275,000 people in a land of THREE HUNDRED MILLION?
This is the issue of today.
Don’t get confused and line up with the Republicans. Because they’re owned by the corporations. Can you say KOCH? They get people to vote contrary to their economic interests by focusing on social issues like gay marriage and religion. They’ll have you believe the economy has been toasted by TEACHERS!
Only independent voices resonate. Only people not beholden to special interests. That used to be musicians. It can be again.
Take a stand. Against the baby boomers who remember Woodstock but want to relive it on DVD in mansions behind locked gates. Against college graduates who go into finance for the money. Against rich people who spew disinformation about taxation of the rich hurting the poor.
In the sixties, music blew up because it was on the right side of the Vietnam War. I.e. against it.
Music will triumph once again when it’s on the right side of economic injustice. That’s the unifying issue of America today. What’s all this hogwash about needing personal guns to combat a wayward Administration? Guns played no part in Egypt’s revolution. It all took place in the mind. Where music exerts its greatest power.
We don’t have great music because there’s not enough money in it. Study economics, you’ll get it. And it’s not about finding more ways to make musicians rich, it’s about righting the injustice of economic inequality so that the best and the brightest will see music as a viable career path.
All it takes is a few talented figures with motivation. Just like that fruit vendor in Tunisia
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
Have Nots Record Release Weekend in Boston!
We tossed around ideas for a while about what to do for the record release show for “Proud.” It’s really hard these days to find a venue in Boston that’s the right size and can accommodate all ages shows. In the end, we decided it’d be a blast to do two shows at our favorite tiny little club in town, The Middle East Upstairs. So here it is:
SAT MAY 7 – The Middle East Upstairs – 9 PM, 18+
Have Nots
Razors in the Night
Side Effects
Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One
SUN MAY 8 – The Middle East Upstairs – 1 PM, ALL AGES
Have Nots
Brunt of It
Burning Streets
TBA
The Middle East Upstairs. 472 Mass Ave - Cambridge, MA. www.mideastclub.com
It’s been almost a year since we played a headlining show in Boston, so let’s fucking rock out with some of the best punk bands around for an awesome weekend!
Keep an eye out for ticket presale info soon!
<3
HN
Alternative Press just did a piece about touring musicians and their “real” jobs. Sheds an interesting light on the lengths that we go to in order to continue doing what we love. Steve is in there talking about his job as a sleep disorder technician. Check out the full article at:
http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/dont_quit_your_night_job_musicians_moonlight_at_regular_jobs/
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Have Nots
—Louisville Slugger
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
So, Steve asked me to write a little something for the ol’ blog explaining what this song is about. The cheap, quick, and easy answer is that it’s about dealing on some dude with a baseball bat cos he beat up his girl, but in reality it’s about NOT dealing on a dude with a baseball bat. I’m sure most of us have known (or will know, at some point in our lives) a girl who’s gotten mixed up with the wrong guy (or vice versa, or a guy who’s gotten mixed up with the wrong guy, or a girl who’s gotten mixed up with the wrong girl, whatever), and sometimes that guy is REALLY the wrong guy, and pulls some really fucked up shit, and it seems like the right thing to do to is go beat the ever-loving shit outta that guy. BUT, the reality of most domestic abuse situations is that taking actions like that is only gonna perpetuate the cycle, and, ultimately, it’s not your decision to make. So despite the fact that every bone in your body is telling you to go beat the guy to a bloody pulp, taking a step back and trying to be supportive is a better first move. Trying to talk your friend into breaking off the relationship, reporting the abuse, and seeking counselling is a good place to start. Social services aren’t perfect, and they’re understaffed and losing more funding every day, but at least they’re trying. So before you grab that bat, or tire iron, or whatever, stop and think for a minute about the ramifications of your actions. I despise the tyranny of the strong over the weak, and I’m all about advocating violence towards men that beat women, but only after all other options have been examined and exhausted. So yeah, I guess that’s what this one is about.
Cheers, Jon&HN
LYRICS:
Tomorrow she’ll put make-up on the bruises, tomorrow she’ll be making up excuses, but I’ve known you since we were three, what makes you think you can lie to me, and I’m trying to respect your privacy, despite the fact that it’s killing me…
You say you love him but I don’t know why, he beats you up, he don’t provide, so you’re stuck working doubles down at the local dive, dodging dirty hands for a petty wage but you bottle up the rage cos you gotta survive…
I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, make the call and I’ll be there by your side, hey girl you don’t have to take that shit from anybody…
That sticky summer night in his backseat, he made you bleed, planted his seed, now you’ve got not one but two more mouths to feed, I know you wanted your kid to have a dad but name is not the same as deed…
I know you know there’s more to life than this, taking the blame, the pain, whenever he gets pissed, nothing stronger than a mother’s love for her only kid, except for maybe her battered bones, bruised by blows from his father’s fists…
I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, make the call and I’ll be there by your side, hey girl you don’t have to take that shit from anybody, got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, say the word and I’ll make him fucking cry, you are my friend I will defend until the end…
What happened to the girl that I once knew, I remember way back when, when nobody could tell you what to do, now you just sit there and let ‘em turn the screws, hey girl I’ve said my piece, the rest is up to you…
I got a Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, hey girl you gotta decide if this is how you wanna live your life, trapped like a rat in a bad situation, frozen by feelings of fear and frustration, Louisville Slugger in the back of my ride, it’s yours for the taking, your rage more than justified, seeing red, black and blue, and you know that it’s true, yeah you know he won’t stop til you’re through.
Download the song for FREE at HaveNots.BandCamp.Com
San diego
HAVE NOTS - “PROUD” COMING MAY 3RD, 2011 ON PAPER AND PLASTICK RECORDS
We are stoked to announce that our second full length record, “Proud” will be released May 3rd 2011 on Paper and Plastick Records!
Head on over to ABSOLUTEPUNK for a free download of a brand new song, “Louisville Slugger!”
Why the name “Proud?”
Proud is the title track to the record. Jon wrote the song ‘Proud’ about his dad, who passed away fifteen years ago. It’s about growing up, and being who you want to be, and the roads you take to get you where you are. When we were trying to decide on a name for the record we tossed around a couple of different things, but ultimately decided that, since we were proud of this record, and of the work that we’ve done as a band to get us where we are today, Proud would be a fitting title.
THEN, we realized that the randomly picked release date of this record, with the title track about Jon’s dad, featuring a picture of him on the cover, falls on the 15th anniversary of his passing…how fucking cool is that?
So go check out LOUISVILLE SLUGGER and let us know what you think. Keep an eye out for more new music, etc over the next couple weeks, and check us out on tour right now!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. WE LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND OUR MINDS ARE BLOWN BY YOUR SUPPORT!
HAVE NOTS - “PROUD”
May 3rd, 2011 via Paper and Plastick Records
1. Proud
2. The Brink
3. Louisville Slugger
4. Secret Machines
5. Freedom Of Recession
6. Anywhere But Here
7. Dead Man
8. Where In The World
9. Farewell Show
10. Jackson Dawn
11. Some Of Mine
12. All Or None
13. The Years
