All photos by Alexandre Anami

The Search For Meaning

PROPAGANDHI vocalist and guitarist CHRIS HANNAH is excited about the Canadian punk four-piece’s first album in three years, Supporting Caste. Chatting after a rehearsal for the upcoming tour, at the band practice space in Winnipeg, Hannah discusses their return to the spotlight and of the search for meaning in life—the albums core theme.

“To me, the record asks questions or makes observations about the struggle of meaning in people’s lives and what sort of repercussions the struggle for meaning can have on the greater society depending on how people choose to find meaning in their lives,” explains Hannah who is on the verge of losing his voice after a hectic schedule of interviews to support the forthcoming record.

In over two decades as a band, Propagandhi have become well-known for exploring social and cultural phenomenon in their music. As vocal activists the band has addressed and taken a stance against topics including capitalism, sexism, fascism and racism. According to the front man, Supporting Caste (G7 Welcoming Committee Records, Smallman Records)—the band’s fifth studio album, follow up to Potemkin City Limits (Fat Wreck Chords/G7 Welcoming Committee 2005) and produced by Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, The Descendents)—is a combination of the aforementioned record mixed with Less Talk More Rock (Fat Wreck Chords 1996), with a touch of, Today’s Empires Tomorrow’s Ashes (Fat Wreck Chords/G7 Welcoming committee 2001).

Elaborating on the theme, Hannah draws from observations of life in Canada. “… People are increasingly searching for meaning through religion, patriotism or outright war; connected to that is me wondering about there being too much certainty in people’s lives,” he tells, “People distil things down to oversimplified views of the world without complexity and I have a feeling that that is very dangerous… There’s not enough doubt in my mind about the prevailing orders that we’re born into.”

As a youth Hannah admits he once found meaning through the state, military power and patriotism—which may come as a shock to diehard Propagandhi fans given his strong anti-authoritarian beliefs he holds today. “That just fizzled when I turned fourteen or fifteen. I grew out of some infantile views that I was brought up with,” he says, adding, “I never found it [meaning] in religion, it never resonated with me. Just trying to live my values to some degree has been the most meaningful thing in my life so far.”

Hannah also finds meaning in his long-standing friendships with band mates Jord Samolesky (drums),Todd Kowalski (bass), and more recently David ‘the Beav’ Guillas (guitar). Asked about the greatest struggle the friends have faced as a group Hannah replies, “… We felt pretty marginalised from the music scene, from the punk scene that we were apparently involved in or were peers to, and we kind of went in to a seclusion around 2005 when Potemkin City Limits came out… I think it was our low point. Not because of the record, just because of our perception of the music scene at that time.”

With Supporting Caste dropping March 10, the band will no doubt once again be on the scene’s radar. This time the band is approaching things with a different outlook. “It doesn’t matter if we don’t have any bands that are peers or that we don’t belong to a certain scene,” Hannah asserts, “It’s almost a choice to feel marginalised by the actions of others, at least in a band. We’ve chosen not to care… I’m still in a band with my best friends you can’t put a price on that. As cliché and as sappy as that sounds that is the most important thing to us.”

http://www.propagandhi.com./