Propagandhi, 2007.

Propagandhi

Propagandhi is a Canadian punk/heavy metal band formed in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. Other current band members are Todd Kowalski and David Guillas. They all do vocals. Chris Hannah and David Guillas play guitar, Jord Samolesky plays drums and Todd Kowalski plays bass. All band members are vegan, in line with the band's strong stance on animal rights. They have also taken an active stance against human rights violations, sexism, racism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism and organized religion. You can check out their music at this link.

Interview of Chris Hannah and Todd Kowalski with PETA2:

Quotes by Propagandhi:

When asked what made him embrace veganism, Chris Hannah answered:

Chris Hannah: "A very long list of events in rural Manitoba, starting with my first hunting trip at 6 years of age, led to me think about animals in a way I wasn’t supposed to: with compassion. It wasn’t until years later, when I moved out of rural manitoba and into a the city, that I discovered that there was a simple way to act on that compassion and withdraw one’s support from industries that profit from animal cruelty."

Chris Hannah: "There was an animal rights group, and I’d never heard of an animal rights group before, who played some videos, and described vegetarianism. I was like ‘Oh! That’s what I should be doing!’. Finally someone had given me a description of what I had been feeling all those years. Pretty much immediately I stopped eating meat."

Chris Hannah: "I didn’t have another epiphany until years later, because I didn’t think that dairy... it didn’t hit me. And Jord used to talk about it, when we first met, and I thought "What are you talking about?" ... and then I saw footage of that. It just seemed consistent to stop that."

When asked how long they've been vegan, Chris Hannah and Todd Kowalski answered:

Chris Hannah: "Since 1994. Vegetarian since probably 1988."

Todd Kowalski: "I've been vegetarian since 1991, vegan since 1992 or 93. It's easy. I'd rather fish pieces of s*** out of the toilet than eat meat. It repulses, revolts and disgusts me. Cheese is like clotted pus, milk is like teat mucus. I'm serious. I would vomit if I had to eat or drink that crap. There is no need in most people lives to do that. People are selfish and lazy, that's my conclusion."

Todd Kowalski: "People don't seem to care. If you do care you are made out to be a foolish bleeding heart. I think it's the people who use others for their own gain that are the real cry-babies. There are a lot of social mechanisms in place to keep the power and money flowing to certain people regardless of what is humane or right."

Chris Hannah: "I’m rarely comfortable with change myself. Couple this innate resistance with the necessary lack of credulity about the cruelty of the animal-exploitation industries we actively support when we consume animal-products, and you have a recipe for people taking veganism personally. I eventually got over it when I was 18. So can anyone else."

When asked which of their songs has inspired people most, Chris Hannah answered:

Chris Hannah: "To be honest I think the most effective thing we've had on our records - as far as something that really jarred listeners into thinking seriously about how humans treat animals -- was something we didn't create; it was the audio of a farm-worker kicking and beating a downed, defenceless pig that we put before the song The Purina Hall of Fame. Many people have mentioned that that really affected them. More so than any of our songs, that's for sure."

Todd Kowalski: "I think we get the message across for the most part, although, one day I was on some lyrics meanings website looking at what people thought the songs were about and almost all of them were wrong."

When asked about the actual meaning of the song The Purina Hall of Fame, Chris Hannah and Todd Kowalski answered:

Todd Kowalski: "Purina is a company that feeds animal parts to other animals. But they have an award for heroic animals that save humans. I'm not sure if people at Purina heard it or not. I'm sure the money they make off their company eclipses any humane thoughts that might occasionally flitter through their minds."

Chris Hannah: "When an animal saves a human life (like a dog saving a drowning baby for example), Purina adds them to their Hall of Fame. When a human saves an animal life (like a member of the ALF freeing a beagle from a vivisector) they are thrown in prison for the rest of their lives. It's a interesting difference. I doubt the animal exploitation industry cares that a band wrote a song about it."

Chris Hannah: "Governments and corporations don't generally care about ethical or moral issues unless citizens raise the social costs of supporting evil. This is why I support ALF direct actions against the animal exploitation industry and why animal liberation activists rate higher than Al Qaeda on the FBI national threat lists."

Chris Hannah: "The animal exploitation industry will never engage in an open and honest debate about animal liberation issues because it is a foregone conclusion that the industry will lose. They know this is true so will do what they can to keep the debate in the margins while they continue to make money off of destroying lives and despoiling the planet."

When asked about the meaning behind their song Human(E) Meat, Jord Samolesky answered:

Jord Samolesky: "I think there are economic consideration for them having this stuff on their shelves. I think there is a substantial difference between factory farming and say free range stuff. Maybe environmentally its not quite as bad. But you don’t need meat to survive and to have it humanely produced just seams like this weird middle ground that doesn’t need to exist."

Jord Samolesky: "To love the animal and then cut its head off at a time of your choosing, doesn't really make sense."

They donate proceeds from the pre-release downloads of their album Supporting Castle to PETA2, Sea Shepherd and Partners in Health. Asked about this Chris Hannah answered:

Chris Hannah: "PETA I've known about since my early introduction to the animal liberation movement. I had known of the Sea Shepherds for about as long but didn't pay enough attention until I saw Captain Paul Watson speak here in Winnipeg around the turn of the Millenium. And Jord is involved with human rights work in Haiti and through that discovered Partners in Health."

Todd Kowalski: "I hope people realize how animal abuse and factory farming are harmful to the environment and combine those ideas into one to make people see that it is too much of a waste, too cruel and too harmful to continue."

Quotes are from an interview with Chris Hannah for The Vegan Police, a 2009 interview with Chris Hannah for Starlit Sky Music, their interview with Black Velvet Magazine and an interview with Jord Samolesky for LastHours.uk