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Strike Anywhere.
 Strike Anywhere are angry at the world that they see. They are ferocious and unrelenting and as I was about to find out, at least one of them is very intelligent and switched on. Before I even have a chance to ask Strike Anywhere's frontman Thomas any questions he promptly addresses me by name and asks what city I'm calling from. When I tell him I'm from Adelaide he tells me that it's fantastic since it would be the last date of their upcoming Australian tour and then exactly when and where the show would be taking place. He already knows more than I do.
"We had the best tour of our lives in Australia, and we expect nothing less from this one. I think towards the end of the tour, because there will be so many stories that can be told, we will probably have a bit more character on stage. We will probably have a little more banter and a little more fun," he explains breathlessly. "Since we are an angry political hardcore punk band it's probably hard to imagine that there would be an emphasis on fun, but if you can't humanise the experience and really connect with the people that have taken time out of their night to spend time with you and hear you scream at them, then you might as well have people just put in a record and hang out at their house and dance with their friends. For us playing live is not about entertainment: it's about connecting with people. People tend to open up and sing along when we play. It's something real," Thomas insists. "It's something we've been honoured with, travelling the world, playing our songs, having people jump on each other's heads and take the microphone and sing along with us. It's not just like an exercise, it's real. That's what we expect from the Adelaide kids and that's what they should expect from us.
"As far as being professional, we're not giving a scripted event. We try our best to be as technically proficient as we can, but the feeling has to be there first because our songs were written out of a place of passion, desperation, creativity and hope."
I make a comment to Thomas about how their song Sunset On 32nd, written about his neighbour suffering police brutality, made me want to smash things. I think he appreciates the reaction, explaining the motivation behind his lyrical content. "You've really got to capture those types of moments - especially in a country like America where our own memories and our own ideals can be stripped away from us - and then let it become an opportunity for other people to take expression and dissent and all of our outrage and injustice on a street level. Like seeing the police beat my neighbour when he had done nothing wrong: knowing that something happens is one thing, but seeing it happen and holding on to that feeling so that everyone can feel that feeling with you is something else. Writing about it helps me: it's not like digging at an old wound as much as it is furthering a catharsis by trying to capture an idea or a feeling that I have had so that it's more than a left wing t-shirt with a slogan on it for some activist kid to wear." Take that, alternakids.
Thomas is articulate and well informed on all things both emotional and political. He is well versed in American politics, but seems just as interested about injustice within our borders. Before we part ways, he asks me to fill him in on the position of indigenous Australians today and the battles they are currently fighting. I know people who live here that don't even realise that indigenous Australians are struggling at all. This is a committed man, and this will be a tour not to miss.
Sam Vinall
 | Strike Anywhere play at the Enigma Bar on Sun 10 April with Sommerset, the Realist Few and The Rip. |
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