Country music has a bit of a reputation for leaning one way politically, so I was very intrigued to hear a different sort of political song from the genre, titled Right Wing Planet. The band who created the track are called Rodeo FM and they’re very talented indeed! I had a chat with Pat Carter from the band to find out a little more about the song.
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a single titled Right Wing Planet. What can you tell us about the track?
Right Wing Planet – the title is actually a quote of an acquaintance of mine, an old space hippie gone space journalist who has done the whole trip from 60s Haight Ashbury to 2020s south east Asia, passing through Afghanistan, China and dozens of other countries and tribal areas in those years. He’s a pretty open minded guy. The insight, or rather bon mot, that we are sitting on a Right Wing Planet usually comes up in conversation with him pretty quickly. For obvious reasons of course. I mean look around, it is 2022. The world is in shambles. Imperialist wars, climate disaster, exploitation, you name it. The line still runs between the rich and poor. Not between countries or other outdated vehicles used to fabricate identities.. But few seem to notice. In fact, many seem to embrace it. Cos it’s a right wing planet.
How has the reception to Right Wing Planet been so far, and where can the song be purchased?
The reception has been great whenever we were able to actually reach someone. I think the message resonates pretty well with our audience, who are somewhat left leaning. It’s a catchy song with a catchy, no-brainer chorus. Totally relatable. However, it is weird thinking that the main way to actually get it out there these days is going through social media, thus feeding the very machine that is shaping the planet as right wing again and again. All the better we are getting the chance to go through independent blogs like York Calling. The song can be purchased on Bandcamp here: https://ro…ing-planet. It is the title song of our new album which will come out in March 2023, before that it will only be available digitally.
The track has quite a political message. Do you have many political songs? Are there any causes you’d like to draw attention to?
Yes, we do, I am somewhat of a Marxist in so far as I think Marx as a sociologist still offers the most convincing model explaining the mess we are in and its origins (aka capitalism). Right Wing Planet is not explicitly Marxist as it just describes exploitation, corruption and fascism etc. without going into deeper analysis other than the simple and obvious thing – that we are living on a right wing planet. But if you really want to grasp whats going on, Marx is one of the main sources and it is pretty much in my DNA as a person and a songwriter. you can hear this in all our albums, like the 2018 record Tired of Taming Horses on Someone Else’s Range. I mean that’s the essence of Marx transferred to country and western, which, by the way, used to be the music of the poor and exploited and to some extent still is, although some of that faction seems to drift to the far right. Out of fear and the absence of a progressive alternative you start kicking the one below you. Like on a pirate boat, the crew just cuts each others throats. It is kind of depressing. So, I am not really looking at specific causes in my songs, as whatever you look at, whatever cause you might think is worthwhile fighting for – the underlying structure is always the same.
You’ve also just released a song called A Curse Undone. What can you tell us about that track? Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
A Curse Undone is actually not a political song – it is a tale about falling out with a friend, never really resolving it and then having the friend die. And how do you deal with that? Yes, we will release another single called Listening to Country (another tale of working class exploitation) in February and the album will come out on March 25th 2023.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
Actually, we were lucky because we had been to the studio in January 2020 and had a whole album ready which carried us through 2020 and 2021. I was able to focus on promotion, doing videos, interviews etc. and generally polish the act which actually did us some good. I am super happy to have been able to tour again in 2022, although I find it much harder than pre-Covid – both getting gigs in the first place, pulling crowds and actually making some money. Basically I break even when touring, so I am able to pay the musicians and transport etc. but I make no profit. So without having another source of income I could not maintain this.
Your music contains elements of folk and country. What/who influences you most as artists? What have you been listening to recently?
Actually I started out in the 80s doing pre-Nirvana 80s punk and hardcore along the lines of bands like Black Flag, Husker Dü and Dinosaur Jr. After Nirvana went through the roof I disconnected from this scene, I found grunge a bit gross. As a kid I had know the Beatles and the Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jim Croce and even Johnny Cash and during my punk days I had stumbled across Giant Sand and they were like a door opener for alt-country. Which is the genre I have been writing in ever since. These days I listen to a lot of diverse music from Abdullah Ibrahim to Linda Ronstadt. Recently I have come across a band from New York called Fantastic Cat that I really like. They have a certain rock vibe which sometimes is verging on being a bit cringe, but they are great songwriters. Check out their song Fiona, it is a classic already.
You’re based in Berlin. What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
Berlin is still a great place to make music because of the the huge number of diverse musicians of all kinds. Still, gentrification is quickly creeping all over town and the general crisis of late capitalism plus the war makes life for artists more difficult every year. One of Europe’s biggest country festivals, the Country Music Meeting, took place in Berlin annually but it was canceled for 2023 due to high costs, rent, energy etc. There is an Americana, alt-country scene in Berlin but it is dominated by singer songwriters and on-off studio projects rather than steady bands. Not least due to structural problems, as it is costly to run and maintain a full band, a problem that has existed way before Covid with clubs dying and fees at an all time low, which more often than not means playing for the hat. Rodeo FM can tell a tale or two about this but we have been able to keep going for the better of 15 years.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
I am planning to come to the UK either in late 2023 or early 2024. I have some connections that can book shows in London, Leeds, Oxford etc. and I have some friends where we could stay. I used to live in London myself for a few years. However, that will be a duo-tour, there is no way I can bring the whole band. The duo looks like this: https://ww…upJs8wUzwT
Any last words for the fans?
Sure, be kind to the people you meet, get organised and resist the man – no matter the disguise he’s in – the greedy landlord, the corrupt local politician privatizing communal services or the asshole boss discriminating you or your colleagues at work. I know this is easier said than done. Keep your eyes open and your wits sharp.