Posted on 08/25/2004 11:06:49 AM PDT by ppaul
Their goal is to disrupt the status quo, and they usually do it without an invitation.
It takes mere minutes for the Infernal Noise Brigade to enliven a crowd on the steps of the Federal Building, in the streets of Prague, or surrounding a Starbucks in Pioneer Square.
The brigade has gained a reputation for providing a soundtrack for dissent in Seattle, but many might not realize how far the music spreads.
Unlike your average marching band, the Noise Brigade sets its sights higher than performing at, say, the Seafair Torchlight Parade. This week, the left-leaning group heads to New York to make some noise at the Republican National Convention. It will not be parading as a mainstream marching band, which would be perfectly at home at a political convention, but as a thumping voice of rebellion.
The collective of drummers, performers, singers and blowers of brass was created in Seattle in 1999 after an announcement that the World Trade Organization would be meeting here. The idea, its founders say, was to bring together a variety of people and music, and head to the streets.
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Since then, the 40-member brigade has traveled the globe to provide its political and musical backdrop. It has performed at the World Bank meeting in Prague; for masked Zapatista guerrillas in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas; for revelers in Paris and Sao Paulo, Brazil; and at last year's WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The INB creates a carnivallike atmosphere at otherwise dull events, and protesters make their appreciation evident, often by begging for more.
"Protests, no matter how well-intentioned, are often boring," longtime fan Jim Evans said. "My favorite part of any INB action is that suddenly people are not just watching, they start to dance, chant and smile."
Decked out for events
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They wore black and white for a Good Versus Evil parade in downtown Seattle; red, white and blue for a protest in San Francisco marking the first anniversary of the Iraq war; haz-mat suits for New Year's Eve at Pike Place Market, and next to nothing for a sex workers art show in Olympia.
No matter the outfit, a passion for music holds them together. Darryl Strasser, a drummer, describes their style as "post-folkloric esoterica" with African and Indian influences. Members have traveled to Pakistan, the Balkans and Morocco to study music. The result is percussion-heavy, borrowing from jazz and world-music themes.
None of the lyrics are in English. The INB does a Peruvian song about people struggling against the rule, a French freedom song, a Portuguese song about a guerrilla soldier and his lover having their last breakfast together, and a Czech folk song.
"We come from different backgrounds, and we all borrow melodies," said Alix Chappell, a 26-year-old vocalist.
"It's the kind of stuff you would find in a tape stall in India," Strasser said. "A guy howling in Hindi, with rockabilly guitar and a jazz melody from the 1950s. It's different kinds of music being misused."
The group practices at least twice a week, more if a big show is coming. There is no established leader. Members take on different roles from year to year, but all contribute ideas to the mix. They also contribute their own cash, paying for plane tickets, court fines, outfits and instruments. The group does not get paid for appearances.
Since its inception, the INB has recorded two albums. The second, just rereleased, is called "Live from the Streets of Cancun" and was made in a bar during the WTO summit.
"They create fun zones"
The element of surprise plays into the group's activities. Decisions on where to play are sometimes made only hours before. The group does an average of about 30 shows a year. Sometimes, gigs are announced on its Web site, and it's a sure bet to play on festive holidays like Halloween and New Year's Eve. Other times, it can be totally random.
"They are a step above most artists locally because they just show up and then transform a space," said Kurt Delaney, another fan. "They create fun zones and do it very successfully."
The group started with about 20 people who wanted to make a statement against the WTO. They put together their ideas, music, instruments and outfits and then spent months practicing at secret locations in Seattle. Their first public performance was at 6 a.m. on Nov. 30, 1999. "We wanted to be a massive surprise, and we were," Rosenthal said.
Members come from different countries and professions. Among their day jobs: stripper, engineer, security guard, professor, translator, taxi driver, photographer, carpenter, author, proofreader, barista and nurse. Most live in Seattle.
"Members must have a useful skill or at least be able to fake it," Strasser said. "If they don't play an instrument, we are willing to take a good motivator or an electronics genius. They just have to have the right attitude and be able to hang with us."
Members do not shy away from politics, but do detest the labels some of their activities generate.
"After WTO, 'anarchist' was on everyone's tongues," Rosenthal said. "We were thrown into a group of undesirables, and we've been called an anarchist band ever since."
A few in the group do consider themselves anarchists but say the mainstream media have made that a bad word. Many others don't, and say the music and what it inspires are what's important.
Members are united by politics that appear strongly anti-corporate, and seem intent on getting Americans to focus on global culture and policies.
"There is a lot of injustice and repression going on, and we would like to see that squashed," Strasser said. "We like to squash with music and elevate people."
Staging its own events
The group likes to perform in abandoned spaces under bridges and overpasses as well as organize its own out-of-the-ordinary events.
There was the Casaloraza in April 2002, where the INB had people roaming Seattle's streets chanting and banging on pots and pans in solidarity with the people of Argentina. Members held a faux auction at Westlake Plaza, where they "sold off" the rights to land and resources to local Seattle executives, and they created their own Department of Homeland Security.
"Sometimes we just go marauding into clubs," Chappell said. Reactions are mixed. They are likely to get kicked out of the yuppie Barca, but get a free round of beers at a joint like the Comet Tavern.
At the recent National Governors Association meeting in Seattle, members got a warm reception when they played a song for Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street. The chief, surrounded by officers, clapped along for about 30 seconds.
"Then he thanked us, smiled, waved and left," Rosenthal said. "The Seattle police are actually quite civil when they're not shooting projectiles or seizing our property."
Members said officers working at protests have purchased brigade CDs, and have been seen singing along or tapping their batons to the beat.
Leslie Fulbright: 206-515-5637 or lfulbright@seattletimes.com
Link to article & working sound links: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002014807_infernal25.html
Don't let them fool you. Democrats always disclaim any affiliation with their Party just before they make a fool of themselves.
Ahh, the new face of the Democrat party...
If there is one thing that will clinch this election for Bush, it is when the moderate to conservative Democrats and 'Southern Democrats' see what their party has become and who is really running it... (I know dozens of these dems who are supporting W because of the influx of new-hippies in their party's leadership..)
I hope the media plays these protestors over and over and over.. They will make the future of the Democrat party more fringe than the Green party is today.
Club them like Baby White Seals.
Club these little RATS before they breed and multiply...
Now there are some protestors to be proud of!!
Protestwarrior.com
LOL
All hail the Belly Girl photo!
Thank you !
Not only are Republican women the smartest, they are also the best looking!!
(Somewhere I heard the stat that most Miss America's described themselves as Republican..)
I'm certain that New York's finest has learned a few lessons from the Seattle days. That, and they remember when the twin towers still stood.
I predict violence, and probably a death toll.
Hello, you idiot, as an anarchist you should be happy when they seize your property!
The reason they are all red, is because they are all red!!!! :-) Just your typical Kerry supporting Marxist's.
Well, these guys do seem to offer something that a lot of DemoRats could use a lot more of, IMHO; a sense of HUMOR!
"Rifle Twirling", eh?
But I thought GUNS were EVIL!!??
Lemmie guess; AK-47s, right?
I've never seen anyone twirl one of those - they don't seem to be balanced quite right for it, for some reason.
I hope the NYPD checks 'em over real well to make sure that they ain't LOADED! (At least the "rifles"; I expect that the "Twirlers" will be!)
In a way, I'm kinda glad these yo-yos are showing up - lest anyone with two or more interacting brain cells take any of these leftist whackkos the least bit seriously.
I just listened to a couple sound clips of 'em; compared to the usual drum-and-hubcap beating morons that show up at your average "protest" demonstration, they ain't half bad!
Even sounds like they might have a bagpipe.
I play the fife in a Civil War Reenacting Fife-&-Drum Corps... but somehow I don't think I'd really "fit in" with this bunch! };^{)~
Intel has it that I have already been passed over for consideration for an invitation to join a local group of Folk Musicians, solely because of my "politics". Such a "tolerant" and "inclusive" bunch, eh?
So the "Brigade" does not sing any of their songs in English, eh?
Kinna Figgers, donut?
They'll need to bring Rudy back for awhile to clean up the streets of human debris all over again.
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