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Hell, Chumbawamba was a group of anarcho-punks who signed to EMI and wrote an accidental pub hit with their sing-along track “Tubthumping.” Once they were in the spotlight, they used their platform to espouse feminism, animal rights, and class warfare in interviews. Singer Alice Nutter advised people to steal their albums from chain stores and once sparked outrage when she told Melody Maker, “Nothing can change the fact that we like it when cops get killed.”
Brian Zero, the activist who had passed out anti–Green Day flyers in front of the band’s shows in Petaluma, did the same to Jawbreaker. “Just how much does Jawbreaker really care?” asked the sheet of paper, covered in photocopied dollar bills. “We are asking you to consider walking out on Jawbreaker tonight in solidarity with those in the punk scene who feel that their trust has been walked all over by this band.”
The producer had a reputation for taking extreme and unorthodox measures to provoke players into giving their most emotional performances—kicking trash cans or shoving musicians until he got the energy he sought.
kicking trash cans?
They brought the same intensity overseas for a performance on Later . . . with Jools Holland. During their performance, Bixler-Zavala flung a chair across the room, to the bemusement of the British studio audience, which included pop bad boy Robbie Williams, who watched in dumbfounded amusement. When their song ended, the camera panned to Williams, who asked, “Can me mate have his chair back, please?”
Meanwhile, on the conjoining stage, nu-metal rockers Mudvayne were whipping their crowd into a frenzy. Adorned in gigantic overalls, clown makeup, and a braided, blue goatee that hung down to his navel, singer Chad Gray and his monstrous growls soundtracked a violent sea of circle pitting. “Put your fucking hands up in the goddamn air!” he snarled. “We are Mudvayne. Welcome to our fucked-up worrrrrld!”
