Reigate’s Socialist r’n’b revolutionies Thee Faction are inspired by the works of Gramsci, Marx, and G.D.H Cole, this seven strong battalion of like minded musicians emerged in the 70s “burning a hole in the bloated pomposity of prog and paving the way for punk, Thee Faction come hurtling pell-mell into a 21st Century musical climate ripened for agitation by economic gloom and crushing banality. “
Their album of earlier this year ‘Up the Workers!’ is far from a dry set of tiresome eleven tracks of stodgy sloganeering, instead Thee Faction deliver a rip snorting, love-able ratting thrill ride inspired by the sounds of early 50s blues, Dr Feel Good, and to these ears at least the incendiary sound of the MC5 with more than sidehelping of tongue in cheek wit and a well thumbed copy of the socialist worker. ‘Deft Left’ boogies on down to the proletariat disco with Sartre, a soundtrack of northern soul, while ‘Ready?!’ ‘Angry’ and ‘Join The Party’ delivers urgent fuzz scorched rhythms while Billy Brentford’s howling banner raising commands get you up and grooving to the protest! ‘Marx My Main Man’ is part love letter to his works, part swaggering Trex-esque stomper. While the humorously tuneful singalong closer ‘Capitalism Is Good For Corporations; That’s Why You’ve Been Told Socialism Is Bad All Your Life’ is remarkably apt in a week where a report revealed top chief executives take home obscene wages and those at the bottom struggle further.
With union strikes set for the 30th here at GIITTV thought it was time we gained further insight into the sound and messages of Thee Faction, as they take a stand for the workers in a new video for their song ‘Angry’. So we talked to Baby face aka Chris Fox Thee Faction’s Welsh guitarist!
How did THEE FACTION form? Was there a military coup?! Or was it a meeting of brethren in a common cause?!
A meeting of brethren in a common cause. Or rather, a meeting of some schoolmates, and a teenage runaway from Wales. But you don’t need to hear our story. Constructing a post-hoc narrative out of the accidental coming-together of a bunch of working class people to play RnB is about as bourgeois an activity as we can imagine. Leave such nonsense to Mumford and Sons. No one ever asks how a team of people on a production line came together, or a gang of cleaners. But I bet they operate just as effectively, and with as much solidarity as we do. Just cos we make RnB doesn’t make that narrative any more interesting to anyone.
Your album Up The Workers is a fusing of 70s influences to these ears is that was ‘Socialist RnB’ is all about? And do you think that there are any echoes of the end of the 70s now?
Music emerges from a historical context. Always. You can’t separate culture from context. And context is driven, of course, by the economy. So, are the tensions within global capitalism similar now to in the late 70s? Yes, to a certain extent. Is that likely to drive musicians to create music that is broadly similar to that produced then? Yes, to a certain extent, thematically at least. Socialist RnB as a fusion of 70s influences? Not so sure. 50s rockabilly and gospel, 60s garage and the MC5, 70s punk, soul and RnB. But equally Socialist RnB is influenced by Marx, Engels, Gramsci and GDH Cole. Most of all it is fuelled by what Engels called the ‘dull compulsion of the economic’. In a way we believe Socialist RnB is the sound of the dull compulsion of the economic, combined with the vibrant tapestry of a vision of a better tomorrow. That’s Socialist RnB.
Many writers have made a lot of your overtly Political messages refusing to understand that great music and a message can go hand in hand. Do you find that frustrating that some media outlets ‘don’t get’ what you’re trying to do and try and write you off or worse still black you out because you’re ‘too political’?!!?
Frustrating? No, not really. It’s to be expected. The war of position has two sides to it and, let’s face it, if you look at who owns some of the magazines we’re talking about, it’s no surprise that they express scepticism about us. But the places that count: the Daily Mirror, the Independent, the Guardian, Louder than War, Socialist Worker, God is in the TV, BBC6 Music, Huffington Post and other places with a tradition for placing working class culture at the heart of what they do, all get us, endorse us and promote us. That’s the war of position. Gramsci told us that, behind the state, there is a powerful system of fortresses and earthworks within civil society, designed to protect the prevailing system. Its culture is part of that. We are just one part of a huge movement trying to take over the whole of that territory. When we’ve got it – when we have secured civil society – the rest will fall easily. It’s a culture war, and we all know there is no way that the entire bourgeois music press is going to endorse a serious challenge to ruling class culture. Why would they? It threatens the whole racket that keeps them going. We confidently expect Mumford & Sons to continue to get more press than us in 2012. But equally, we confidently expect to do far more damage to ruling class culture in 2012 than Mumford & Sons will do to working class culture. Their force is benign. Ours is active. We are winning the war of position. But we’ve not won it yet. That’s why ‘zines like yours are so vital. A network of cultural organs, from the Daily Mirror to the comrades at God is in the TV, along with the more radical parts of public service radio and a range of clubs and arts centres and community projects, form the best possible infrastructure for fighting and winning the war of position. We salute brothers and sisters like you.
I’ve heard your live shows are quite the communal experience is it live where Thee Faction really come into their own?
Where Thee Faction come into their own? Sounds like a pretty bourgeois, liberal individualist concept. No. Thee Faction never ‘come into their own’. But our live shows are definitely a deeply communal experience. A moment of tangible solidarity and hope. That’s not us coming into our own. It’s the class coming into consciousness. We play a tiny part in facilitating that. But it is an incredible thing to be a part of. Whether on stage or in the audience. We play no bigger part individually than anyone else in the room. But the sum of it all is astonishing. On our first album, At Ebbw Vale, you can feel it when you listen to it. Astonishing. We work hard at our live set because we owe it to the class to deliver. There is no dignity in shoddy work. The crowd recognise that. And when Billy Brentford asks them: “Are you ready for the revolution? “, right up in their faces like a serious interrogation, you’ve never seen such a crowd’s eyes express a vision of a better tomorrow more clearly. It fills us with hope and solidarity.
Angry is your latest prescient video. Why do you think a worker’s right to strike and protest in the face of unfairness is constantly questioned by the press and politicians?
The opening line of The German Ideology by Marx and Engels is clear: the ruling ideas in any epoch are the ideas of the ruling class. Now, this isn’t as simplistic as it sounds. But, in the last analysis, the prevailing orthodoxy will, for the most part, reflect the interests of capital – this being the capitalist epoch. Who transmits these ideas – who makes sure they are “common sense”? The press and politicians. Look at N30. Do we really think individual Labour politicians can’t see the righteousness of the struggle? Course they can. But they know that, to back a strike is to commit political suicide. So even the ideas coming out of Labour politicians mouths reflect the interests of capital, even when the politicians themselves, in their hearts, don’t believe what they are saying. That’s the hold capital has over folklore, common sense and ideology. That,comrade, is hegemony. Now, we can explain that the extraction of surplus value is a violent act as much as we like. It is. We know that, you know that. And we all know there is only one weapon worth using in the fight against it: the withdrawal of labour, across the class. Now it is obvious to any of us that questioning our right to withdraw our labour, on any terms we wish to withdraw it on, is tantamount to supporting slavery, or forced labour. But that’s not how it’s perceived. Why not? Cos the whole superstructure of ideas is engineered, in the last analysis, to support the interests of capital. Glad you like the Angry video, mind.
Marx My Main Man sounds playfully T Rex in its swagger. But what is if about Marx that sparks such devotion?
As an individual? Nothing. I bet he was epic to go drinking with, and a late night session with him would have been tremendous. But we’re not really devoted to him. We’re devoted to the analysis he offered us. Historical materialism. As he said, philosophers have only interpreted the world. The point, however, is to change. He gave us an unbeatable tool for analysing society and social change – historical materialism – and a clear route towards change: revolutionary socialism. No one’s done it better, so he remains our main man.
I hear you have a new Brass section?
Yes we have. The most exciting merger to have occurred within the genre of Socialist RnB. All-women horn section Brass Kapital have joined forces with us. They debuted with us at our club in London, the DDRofRnB, last month and blew the roof of the place. They’re with us again on December 2 at Blow Up, and then we’ll all be recording the new album.
Billy Bragg once sang “mixing pop and politics I wonder what the use is”. Are Thee Faction on a mission to provide the answer?
No. Cos we aren’t musicians who decided to mix politics into what we do. We’re socialists who looked at the terrain of civil society and recognised that our best counter-hegemonic strategy would be to do our bit in the war of position through RnB. If we’d had a more effective strategy some other way we’d have pursued that. We’re not churning out therapeutic crap, under the pretence of some kind of ‘calling’, like Mumford & Sons. For them it was a career as tortured souls with substandard folk songs, or investment banking. That wasn’t the case for Bragg. He’s an old school political troubadour. I can imagine him being concerned by such questions. Us? We’re revolutionary socialists who’ve seized on RnB as an effective medium of revolutionary action.
The alternate title of your album (and closing track)’Capitalism Is Good For Corporations; That’s Why You’ve Been Told Socialism Is Bad All Your Life’ should be a mantra since the banks crashed and were bailed by us. Do you understand why the occupy movement has risen up?
We understand the frustration. We deplore the lack of analysis. No, that’s not fair. We’ve agreed not to disparage other people’s protests. But this is not ‘it’. The movement has a very weak analysis of capitalism. They appear to want to rejig it a bit. They’re moaning about politicians. They’re the least of our worries. So we understand why it’s risen up, but we aren’t as optimistic about it as others. We’re much more excited about November 30th. That’s a genuine mass expression of class dissatisfaction. That’s what we’re looking to build on. All power to the occupy movement, of course. Good things may come of it. But it’s no substitute for traditional working class institutions. Don’t forget we’re Guild Socialists. That’s the route to socialism, and the blueprint for socialist society. When it comes down to it, the occupy movement probably doesn’t read enough GDH Cole. Few do. They should. Up the workers.
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