Punkster pioneering outfit Minas – Greek/Welsh producer & musician James Minas, alongside rhythm section the Davies Brothers – return with a call to action, in the form of new single ‘Protests’. We are pleased to premiere the video for the song today.
On the single James Minas’ spoken word-rap hybrid takes no prisoners, brutal honesty exposing racial inustices and the oft neglected issue of classism. He offers different points of view comparing and contrasting the perspectives from a police officer responsible for brutality; the pessimistic view from a passerby who views attempts at change futile; and Minas’ own feelings during a protest, while in the midst of it all.
Speaking of the track, James Minas – the angriest man in South Wales, onstage anyway – said, “After a while of repeating the same bad behaviour I was forced to sober up and face my demons…[The song] came about after going to the protest against South Wales Police who had been accused of the murder of Mohammed Hassan. The feeling of betrayal and anger that was in the air at the protest, as the police smirked and slyly joked amongst themselves while standing out the front of the police station, infuriated myself and many others present there. I failed to see how any of this was a laughing matter. I then attended the protest for Shukri Abdi which held similar emotions and I was faced with confusion trying to find a fix in my head for it all.”
Of the video, Minas explains: “We wanted to make a video that captures the anger of feeling more and more powerless in the face of the government. As they crack down on our right to protest in a time where there’s more and more to protest about, it feels almost claustrophobic and impossible to bury the rage toward it all. Rage as an uncontrollable emotion can consume and become directed internally. I felt all of this when writing the song so we pretty much made the video a mixture of these things.”
Protests follows on from the release of previous tracks ‘Fight One’, ‘Payday’ and ‘B&R’, from debut album ‘All My Love Has Failed Me’, released 11 November.
Minas along with Aderyn and Sage Todz this month are announced as a Triskel Award recipients. The Welsh Music Prize initiative – funded by Help Musicians – offers finanical and practical support to promising new and emerging Welsh artists.
