Manic Depressant:  Describe you music and lyrics and who influences you in
both areas.

Justin Sane:  Mostly, my influences are a lot of ‘77 bands. Like the UK Subs,
the Sex Pistols even were although they’re not really a band I listen to
anymore. Also, the Exploited, the Avengers, then some later stuff like Naked
Raygun, X-Ray Spex, Generation X, that kind of stuff. I’d say for all of us,
these are some of our main influences. Yeah, cause I think we sound like rock
n roll, with kinda ‘70s oriented stuff. We do have some pop stuff too, we try
to put an edge on our pop stuff, but mainly, it’s just for fun.

Manic Depressant:  Is there any one event that turned you so against politics?

Justin Sane:  No, there isn’t. I think just my general outlook on our society
and the idea that it’s so rooted in nationalism and patriotism, and I think
patriotism and nationalism are just totally used to control us, and to divide
the masses. For me, there’s not just one specific political event, but because
those things are so rooted, I just get really turned off by the political
establishment of today.

Manic Depressant:  How do you feel about the Pittsburgh music scene compared
to others that you’ve been around?

Justin Sane:  Well, this will be our third US tour coming up, I think
Pittsburgh is probabl Reagan Squad, the Bad Genes, another band called
Wormhole X. There’s a lot of bands here that are really good. We’ve been to so
many places and the kids are really nice, but the kids are just really active
here, organizing benefits with Food Not Bombs and the kids are just always
getting venues here and putting on shows and benefits.

Manic Depressant:  How did the band get together?

Justin Sane:  Well, Pat who plays drums, me and him have been best friends
since I was like 9 years old. And it’s funny, the way Andy and I met because
our moms made us go to church when we were like 14 or 15, and we met there,
cause he was cool then, he had a leather jacket with the Exploited skull
painted on the back, and it was funny cause I never wanted to go and I ended
up meeting one of the coolest guys I’d ever met. And we needed a bass player
and he played bass. So it was cool.

Manic Depressant:  Where do you get the ideas for your lyrics?

Justin Sane:  From all over, actually, a lot of my lyrics come form stuff that
I see in the media that I think is propaganda. I got the ideas for the song,
“Die for the Government” from seeing reports on the Gulf War, and it just
pissed me off so much. Some other places, like problems in the punk scene,
like a lot of times, kids are more worried about how you look than how you
think, and I think that’s just total bullshit. Like there’s nothing wrong with
dressing quote unquote punk, you know, I think it’s even cool, but the problem
is there’s so many kids that do that but they don’t even know what punk’s
about, and that’s what some of our songs are about, just like not wrecking
your scene.

Manic Depressant:  What is the main message you try to put out through your
music?

Justin Sane:  Well, for me the main message is just that I wouldn’t fight in
anybody’s war. I wouldn’t fight in anybody’s army, cause pretty much, the war
is never about what they say it is about. Basically, you’re asked to go and
kill innocent people, people as innocent as you, so that some rich fucks can
benefit from it. So my main message is don’t be duped by things like
nationalism and patriotism in order to give your life away. I think it’s a
waste of your life. And unity of oppressed people around the world.

Manic Depressant:  Explain why you named the CD “Die For The Government”.

Justin Sane:  Well, it kind of just goes back to what we were talking about,
you know. You’re told that you are dying for your government and that you’re
dying for your country when you go and fight the war, but in reality, you’re
usually only fighting so that somebody can gain economically. So “Die for the
Government” was sort of made sarcastically.

Manic Depressant:  If you were the president, what is the first thing you’d
change?

Justin Sane:  I think I’d take the top 1% of rich people in the world, and I’d
kill them all (laughs). I’d change so much, you know. That’s a good question.
If I was president and I worked within the system, maybe I’d make a law saying
that no one would be allowed to make more than $100,000 a year. I’d definitely
work for things like that, that no one could make like an excess crazy amount
of money like that. Actually, if I was president, I would work to outlaw
armies across the world, that would be my first thing. I think that’s a really
good idea.

Manic Depressant:  What do you have to say about your message that’s going
against America, considering that there have been millions of people who died
to put us where we are today?

Justin Sane:  I would say that, for one, the reason America is where it is
today is because America has exploited and used a lot of people. America is
standing on the backs of a lot of oppressed people, and that’s a sad thing. To
all those people that went out and died in war and things, I would tell their
families that it’s time to wake up and realize what you were really fighting
for and to accept that you were used, and that you should try to make a
positive change so that future generations of your kids won’t end up being
used in the same way.

-Shaun
manic depressant