There's so much political noise on social media these days, but Total Massacre is a band that rather put action behind their beliefs. Formed in Los Angeles in 2017, the hardcore punk outfit are donating all proceeds from their self-titled debut record (vinyl and digital) to assist migrant families that are being torn apart and/or detained by the current administration.
"The donation idea came because we were meeting up to record last Monday night and we had spent all weekend hearing about all the terrible shit that was going on and it was just driving us crazy," Total Massacre vocalist Cap'n No Fun tells me. "I had happened to see something about some charities that are doing work down in Texas directly with the affected migrant families and when I brought up the idea of trying to donate some of our profits to them, it pretty quickly morphed into "we should just give them everything because why the hell not?!" So, I guess, it's self-serving in the sense that it helped us to not feel so frustrated in the face of whats going on, but it's also an opportunity to try and use the only power we have, our goofy little band, to do something good for some people who have even less.
"If nothing else, we figured we could keep screaming about this until people pay attention. We're going to keep screaming because the executive order signed on Wednesday didn't really change anything, other than it seems like it could very well be the first step in making things even worse."
Citing such tried and true influences as Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Dead Kennedys, Total Massacre, like those bands, are clearly creatively fueled by their disdain for the hyprocisy of those in power positions in the US government. Cap'n No Fun offers the following when asked about his band's political views. "I would like to think an issue like caging innocent kids would be something we could all agree is bad no matter your political persuasion, but its very clear that that isn't true anymore. It's safe to say we are an extremely political band, between us all we are varying degrees of militant anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, mad-as-hell-leftists. There isn't a single song of ours that doesn't have some kind of a political message behind it, even if it is just a a more general sense of hopelessness or despair that comes from living through this weird moment of creeping fascism."
Now that we know where the guys in Total Massacre stand, how about that album? "Through June 30th, we are donating every single dollar from record sales, either directly through our merch page or digital sales (pay what you want on Bandcamp), but if people don't want a record because they don't like vinyl or they think we suck, thats totally cool! We encourage anyone who wants to help to donate money or time or expertise to raicestexas.org. You can also find a donate link right on our Facebook page. There are surely other organizations doing great work out there, but we're really happy to have been able to send some money their way already, and we can't wait to send along some more.
"Finally, if you want to help out the old-fashioned way, get on down to Los Angeles City Hall at 11AM on Saturday the 30th and be a part of the Families Belong Together: Freedom for Immigrants mass rally and march. If you aren't in Los Angeles, you should be able to find where a protest is happening near you here."
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