The Bad Penny (beta)

“Perhaps this new panopticon is leading us further down the path to a modern-day banality of evil.” -The Locust’s Bobby Bray

—

A conversation about iconoclastic, antagonistic musicians subverting authority wouldn’t be complete without input from Bobby Bray, best known as the vocalist and guitarist for The Locust. For that reason – and because his convictions about politics are as fierce, thoroughly considered and perfectly executed as his artistic vision – The Bad Penny could not be more grateful that he agreed to participate in On Tyranny, our ongoing series about how authoritarianism directly affects artists.

We carried out our exchange about tyranny, fascism, censorship and related topics with Bray last month. In the end, Bray delivered some of the most eloquent, cogent and sensible comments voiced thus far by any of the 50-plus musicians who have participated in the series we launched roughly a year and a half ago, when ICE assaults, a third Trump term and blowing up boats in international waters more than 1,000 miles away from U.S. shores seemed inconceivable to most Americans.

Without further ado, here is what Bobby Bray had to say about the current state of affairs in the U.S.

What was your relationship with politics before Trump took office for the second time? Were you totally disconnected to the news, aware of the issues but not intent on following many of them, very politically active, etc.?

Because there’s a lot of bias from most American news sources, I cross-reference world news stories from multiple sources that are not American. There’s actually lots of options out there that are in English. Of course, one ought to always consider political spin. But, armed with objectivity and critical thinking, you can sift through any bias. For example, if a news source from a United Nations country reports on American drones killing civilians with a spin, you can sift through any potential bias and still take in the facts. While most American news companies wouldn’t even cover such a story, which is another major form of bias.

Some examples of world news sources that are in English include: www.trtworld.com (Turkey), www.France24.com (France), and of course www.aljazeera.com (Qatar). For-profit American news companies probably provide some of the most spun news in the world. But there are some great, notable American news exceptions such as Democracy Now! and Drop Site News.

To what extent did politics, social issues, etc. play a role in your lyrics, music-making, etc.? Did that lessen, increase or remain the same when the election occurred?

Politics have always been a major aspect of anything I have done creatively. That includes [not only] songwriting and lyrics, but also … jobs such as teaching. There is a responsibility to these kinds of things. Get the facts correct. Make a distinction between facts and opinions, and then fucking go for it. Raw emotion is good fuel to start. But in addition, careful critical thinking is probably more important.

To anyone reading this who has a job, if you haven’t already considered it, perhaps someday you will need to be a whistleblower. Even if you yourself can’t do direct action, you could pass along information that could lead to political change. You will know if and when the time comes!

How did you react when Trump won, and what were your initial feelings about his victory? Did Trump taking office change your level of involvement with politics and/or amount of news consumption? Did you immediately become concerned that his new regime might try to wage a war on free speech and how that might affect your creative process?

I choose to not be reactionary when it comes to Trump and what he says/does on a daily basis. That includes when he is not president and when he is. That’s a way of being manipulated, because reactions can be predictable. As much as I am not into Trump, I refuse to take counteraction cues from him. And when America is killing and/or assisting in the killing of civilians while simultaneously just focusing on domestic issues, it sort of reinforces the idea that Americans are selfish and don’t really care about non-American lives.

Have you given much thought to what it will be like to be an artist living under an authoritarian regime? Are you already preparing/capitulating in advance so as to avoid any potential interference or intrusion by federal authorities – even though philosopher/historian Timothy Snyder vehemently warns against doing so?

Many reading this probably know the idea of the Overton window. It’s the concept that can be described as a range of publicly accepted political ideas/discussions with limits on the left and the right. For example, discussions on maintaining social security and Obamacare are acceptable but universal healthcare and a Universal Basic Income are perhaps too far left, outside the Overton window. And then there is the idea that the Overton window can be moved, and perhaps that’s what Trump’s administrations have done.

It’s like he is bargaining or haggling at a flea market – but he happens to be the guy who runs the flea market right now. So you take away things people took for granted, like free speech, PBS funding, etc., and then add some racist, transphobic and anti-poor policies to then use up all the political and revolutionary energy of Americans on fighting for things that we already had. And then it’s supposed to feel like a win if we can just end a new racist policy. Meanwhile, there is little energy left to fight transphobia or to fight for universal healthcare for example. This is because there are limited resources of time, money, energy and individual/collective political will.

So the haggler in charge, who is also the leader of the flea market, gets us to tap out of our resources. It would be good to prioritize and be careful with limited resources. Should we really take the fight so far back that we spend energy on fighting the idea of a monarchy (No Kings), or should we be focusing more effort on the thousands of civilian deaths of Palestinians?! Maybe we should call it the Orwellian Window. Perhaps this new panopticon is leading us further down the path to a modern-day banality of evil.

It’s also worth considering Timothy Snyder’s 18th rule, “Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives,” from his book On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century. If and when an attack on U.S. soil happens, it should not be a reason to give the current administration more power. You could also just see the bastard using it as an excuse. “See, that’s why I had to have racist immigration policies, and we still got attacked. I did everything I could …”

—

“Get the facts correct. Make a distinction between facts and opinions, and then fucking go for it. Raw emotion is good fuel to start. But in addition, careful critical thinking is probably more important.”

—

Are you afraid to be an artist in America now? If so, have you ever had that feeling before? Are you nervous about touring the country, especially in red states?

No. I have personally never felt that way. I think it’s important to remember that certain people may be easier targets and have more immediate things to lose. For example, an American in a band who is married to a foreign national in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen may be more concerned with their own privacy when it comes to protesting. Whereas someone else without those circumstances might be very public with their activism and perhaps are critical of others who are not as outspoken. 

When it comes to touring through red states, I have always felt like it was sort of the responsibility for touring bands to make a point to roll through red states. Think of the folks who live in the belly of the beast. They probably need a music/art culture event to reaffirm their ideals more than most.

Have you been the target of any harassment, doxxing, abuse or otherwise inappropriate criticism or attacks as a result of the work you’ve made as an artist?

Not in any direct way that I know of. Maybe The Locust has from people at shows and on social media. But not any government entities or anything that I know of.

How are you preparing to survive as an artist and deal with whatever repressive efforts the Trump administration may try to extract on artists and people who volunteer or work for nonprofit organizations with which he doesn’t agree?

During the last year, I have been working with nonprofits in San Diego actually: The WorldBeat Center and The Musicians Empowerment Collective. What I have found over the years is that taking a stand as an artist is good to do not just because you can stay ethical but also because people can recognize authenticity, and it may actually be better for your artistic career, if that is a goal.

Back in the day, The Locust boycotted Clear Channel in large part because of their support of Bush II during the second Iraq war, let alone their monopoly on the music industry. It probably would have seemed like a really bad idea to not play shows with great lineups at big venues, but we ended up getting a good amount of press for doing it. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs wanted us to tour with them, and we said, “Sure,” but we weren’t going to play half of the shows because of Clear Channel. Their management at the time wasn’t too into that, haha. But the Yeah Yeah Yeahs insisted that we were the band they wanted to play with so they made it work.

I would say in the long run it was good for The Locust in terms of notoriety and prosperity although that wasn’t the reason we did it – more of a byproduct. But I would say, if an artist or band is weighing a decision like this with pros and cons, they could put into the “pro” category that it could actually be good for their career.

Do you have hope that all this madness will be over in a little over three years? How do you think artists – and America – will survive this, presuming you do think so?

I feel like the U.S. has been a pre-postapocalyptic country for decades now. The list of people and countries that would have reasons to target the U.S. has been growing during the last several administrations, and it continues to grow under the current administration. And if one were waiting for the right time to attack, when there wasn’t cogent leadership for example, then yeah there’s a chance America and all the artists in it are cooked. There’s a false sense of security in America and no matter how much money gets spent on defense, no one can shoot down every missile, not even AI. 

In terms of musicians and artists surviving I think there are other more impactful hindrances than just Trump. Making a living as a musician is probably harder than it’s ever been. Streaming royalties are so low and currently there is not much cultural energy devoted to making that better, since the Orwellian window has moved and all.

To hear more from Bray, check out his appearances on the Cult and Culture podcast created by his Locust bandmate and owner of Three One G Records, Justin Pearson.

Check out these recent installments of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series:

• Frank Zappa Predicts the Rise of Fascism in the US on CNN in 1986

• Relaxed Rocksteady Blokes Big Special Get Hammered While Hammering Out Views on MAGA, Farage and Autocracy

• Charlie Nieland on How LGBTQ+ Artists Can Push Back Against ICE, MAGA

• With Authoritarian Takeover Now Complete in U.S., ‘We’re Just Focusing on Survival,’ Queer Artist Nic Pugh of Midniter Says

• Moonspell Vocalist Says Colonialism Caused Gaza Crisis but That Democracy Can Be Restored After Fascist Rule

This entry was posted on 11/14/2025 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Bobby Bray, censorship, fascism, Justin Pearson, Locust, On Tyranny, Three One G, tyranny, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.