For many, the Taste of Chaos is a chance to go and rock out, go nuts, have a freaking spaz attack and watch your punk rock heroes perform live, and political wheels in the punk rock machine, Anti-Flag agree.
"We definitely rock all the time, I rock every day, I rocked ferociously today." Chris Head told Undercover, "just as you would talk to someone who wrote a record about the woman who broke his heart and they're passionate about telling that story, we're just as passionate about telling our story about a group of individuals who feel empowered at the idea of taking back our country.""For us, the ideas of this band are so not radical, that it blows our mind that anyone could disagree with what we're saying." Head says, before backing his statement up with logic, "The whole idea of Anti-Flag is leveling the playing field and not putting anyone beneath you regardless of their heritage or whether they're straight or gay or whether they're male or female or how much money they make in a year."
"Regardless of all these things, people are people and should be treated equally and that is the underlying theme of Anti-Flag."
When asked about their upcoming Australian tour on Taste of Chaos, he shows off some local knowledge.
"Australia is right on that list that is spending money on amourment and are part of the worldwide arms trade. One step further down the road, we could talk about depleted uranium as a war crime and talk about how the folks in Australia should be pressuring their government to do a study on depleted uranium munitions."
"If you don't know what depleted uranium munitions are, it is a by product of enriched uranium. They put it over the tips of bullets and shells and what that does is it makes the outer shell of those bullets so hard that they can penetrate almost any armourment. The problem with this is when the weaponry hits, it sends white dust into the air that can be inhaled by 1 the enemy that they're shooting at, 2, the soldiers on the ground and three and most importantly the civilians that have to live there years after the war is over. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, so it's going to be around far longer than any of us will ever hope to be."
While many fans worship the band's DIY punk ethic, some fans questioned their motives when they signed to RCA, a division of Sony BMG. Suddenly the band who want to crush the corporation are signed to one of the biggest record labels in the world. So how do they justify it?
"I think that there is a - how much am I scratching the back of this company whenever I'm on their label, and also how much am I using this company for my gain when I'm on this label? It's that cause and effect in one person's favour over another's."
"It came down to the kind of contract that we wanted and the agreement with guarantees that they were willing to give us, such as us being able to make whatever record we wanted to make, such as how it sounds, how it looks, how it feels, the booklet, the artwork, all of it is in our hands. Every aspect of Anti-Flag that was ours before is still ours. Our website, who we tour with, how we tour, for how long, all the managerial duties that Anti-Flag has always done are still ours."
"If you're asking "Can we sleep at night?" Most definitely! None of this band have any qualms with spending this company's money on our agenda."
You can see Anti-Flag alongside Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, Thursday, Senses Fail, Saosin and Parkway Drive across Australia in October at:
10 - Perth - Burswood Dome
12 - Adelaide - Entertainment Centre
13 - Melbourne - Vodafone Arena
14 - Sydney - Entertainment Centre
15 - Brisbane - Entertainment Centre
Tickets are on sale now.
