AU is all about politics. WVAU is all about music. This week’s The Tough Crowd interview combines both, plus it includes my personal love of punk. Everyone knows punk and politics go hand in hand but how does one get involved with the political side of punk? Kristen Strader guides us through her journey into finding the links between the two.

Kristen is a graduate student here at American who combines her passion with politics with her love for punk music through her studies and graduate work.

TC: What do you study here at AU?

KS: Environmental and Social Public Policy.

So you‰’re interested in the political and activist aspects of punk music. What first got you interested in that? Was there a moment where you realized that is what you are passionate about?

My dad introduced me to both punk music and social-oriented politics when I was really young. That alone has helped me to see society in a slightly outsider/martian type way and has driven pretty much everything I have chosen to do in life. It wasn‰’t really until I started the Master of Public Policy program almost two years ago that I connected the two together and took advantage of that academically. I‰’ve been able to get away with writing about Ian Mackaye‰’s influence on making shows equally available to everyone and his testimony in 2007 against the proposed youth ban at clubs.

What came first? Your interest in activism or love of punk rock?

They both came of interest at the same time, but my intense love for activism came before my intense love for punk rock.

Favorite politically active punk band/song and why?

There are bands that are very in-your-face politically active like the Dead Kennedys and Bad Religion and then there are bands that are more socially active and satirical like Andrew Jackson Jihad. They are who first come to mind, although there are so many other great musicians who say and do really powerful things. Megan from Punch writes songs about women‰’s issues and that is also awesome.

Anyway, I really like “American Tune‰” by AJJ. It very sardonically describes white privilege in less than three minutes. I recently saw Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine (great name); Jello talked about the relevance of Dead Kennedy songs today and the band played “Chemical Warfare” with some tweaked lyrics to reflect political issues today like fracking. He flailed around on stage in a silk robe with American dollars printed on it, miming politicians pulling money from bags, and speaking about issues in politics today between songs. Why doesn‰’t “fracking‰” show up as a legitimate word on this word processor? Everything is political.