Continued from page 34
Mosh: You start a European tour in
February and it keeps you busy through
March. When will you be touring in North
American again?
Lips: We’re looking at coming down to the
States in May and June of 2018 [at presstime
Anvil announced an April 8th appearance at
Reggies - Ed] because we’re probably going
to be finished in Europe at the end of
March. In the summer, we’ll probably
come through Canada and in the fall we’ll
probably go back to China, South America,
and Australia. We have a lot of work ahead.
It’s the beginning of a new cycle. We just
finished the Anvil Is Anvil cycle a few
weeks ago. So it almost gives you two
years of touring time, and we did over 200
shows for that album. So once again, we
have a hell of a lot of work to do, if you
want to call it work. I have a great vacation
coming up!
MOSH-WORTHY RELEASES: OZ Transition
State (AFM), Black Water Rising Electrified
(Pavement), White Wizzard Infernal
Overdrive (M-Theory).
MOSH-WORTHY…LIVE:
Black Label
Society, Corrosion of Conformity,
Eyehategod (House of Blues, 01/03),
August Burns Red, Born of Osiris, Erra,
Ocean Grove (House of Blues, 01/11), The
Skull, Bible of the Devil (Reggies, 01/25).
MENTION-WORTHY: Chicago’s prodigal
sons, Ministry, release their new album
AmeriKKKant on March 9. The album’s first
single/official music video, “Antifa,” is
pure Al Jourgensen commentary at its
finest. See Ministry at the Riviera Theatre
on April 7. GWAR will release a 4-issue
trade paperback, GWAR: Orgasmageddon,
which includes stories and art from a wide
range of creators, including GWAR.
Continued from page 12
deciding what’s true and what isn’t true.
And then, of course, I had to write some-
thing about Brexit, and really focus on that
with “Full English Brexit.”
IE: I’ll never forget the day I first heard the
absurd term ‘alternative facts.’
BB: I know. There used to be a phrase that
stated, “You can have your own opinions,
but you can’t have your own facts.” But that
seems to have been severely undermined,
because unfortunately they think that they
can create their own reality. It’s hubris.
Imperial hubris. And I have to say, it’s the
same in regard to Brexit, because the
Brexiteers – the Conservative party – kept
saying for a long time, “We will get a good
deal from Europe, because thy need us more
than we need them.” And that’s a really
arrogant thing to say when 40% of our
exports go to Europe, and only 13% of their
exports come to us. And to rely on someone
else to give you a good deal? They don’t
understand what a weak negotiating point
that is. You’re going to tell me that
Germany’s going to act in Britain’s best
interest and not Germany’s? Or China, too?
How stupid is that?
IE: But at least in China, they’re proposing
a ban on all gasoline- and diesel-fueled
automobiles.
BB: Well, they have to, because their air is so
bad. But they see what’s coming. They can
see that if they don’t change the way they’re
doing things, they won’t be able to prosper.
44 illinoisentertainer.com january 2018
Whereas in the United States, to admit to cli-
mate change is to accept responsibility for
your actions, and capitalism doesn’t want to
do that. But I think in the 21st century,
accountability is going to be the big issue. In
the United States, liberty only ever seems to
be the freedom to say what you want and do
what you want. Nobody seems to grasp that
freedom is actually made up of three very
important parts. The first is liberty, the right
to say and do what you want. But the sec-
ond one – equality, where everybody has the
right to say what they think and express
their views – that’s actively suppressed. And
the third component of freedom – and if you
don’t have it, you’re not really free – is
accountability, the ability to hold those peo-
ple in political and economic power to
account. Because if you can’t hold those peo-
ple to account for the things that they say
and do, then you’re not really free. And they
can’t do that in China, for instance. But the
biggest issue that we have to hold people
accountable for is climate change. And that
comes down to all of us.
IE: But – throughout all of this – you still
found time to write a book about skiffle
music?
BB: Ha! Well, it’s not really the history of
skiffle. It’s the story of how British pop
music went from being a jazz-based confec-
tion for adults to a guitar-driven music for
teenagers. So it’s a history of the first gener-
ation of British teenagers, and it involves the
nursery of the British Invasion of America in
the 1960s. And skiffle just happens to be the
key that unlocks it all.
Tom Lanham