What Would the Setbacks Do?
Email questions to advice[at]thesetbacks.com
Political Setbacks?
November 3rd, 2004
Philemon Wrinkles writes:
Hello Trevor, Steve, Paul, and Chris...
I would like to take this opportunity as an American fan to ask each one of you to give your take on our election as Canadian observers. I can't help but feel that Canadians have been very supportive of our left wing here (I live in Missouri). Canadians live in a country where the system is not only different, but that gears towards the citizens in much more direct ways. Personally, I was dissapointed to see that Canadians were not as supportive as I would have personally liked them to have been concerning our actions in Iraq. I felt as though our friendly northern neighbours should have been more supportive of our campaign to get rid of that evil regime, and I feel that The Setbacks in particular should have had a political song or two supporting us. When I picked up your new album, it is emblazoned with the red, white, and blue. To me, that means that The Setbacks are with us in solidarity. Please underscore through your response what I think is obvious, because I think you owe it to me as a fan.
P.
 Trevor |
Listen WRINKLES! The U.S. does not own the colours of red, white, and/or blue. We can put it on anything we want without endorsing anything that the United States does.
As far as your question about political songs, or lack thereof, I just don't think you are looking hard enough. I think you should give the album another listen after reading this: One Track Mind is a song about George W. Bush's unrelenting desire to search for WMD despite all evidence to the contrary, Get 'Er Up is about the U.S. attempting to rally the UN to take part in the war obviously driven by oil, Paradise is a hopeful song about post-Saddam Iraq, Born on the River is about the great divide among the american people concerning the war, The Sleuth is a tribute to UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, Little Girl is about the character Winnie from the Wonder Years (not political, but one hell of a gal). |
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 Steve |
You're bang on Philemon. The original working title of the EP was "Red, White and Blues: The Setbacks Call to Arms in Troubled Times". In the end, after staring at that Rolling Stone issue with Britney Spears on the cover during the entire recording session we all agreed to change the name to "One Track Mind"... and to invest in a band subscription to several porno mags.
The Setbacks have always been a highly political band. Three of us are aligned with a left-wing extremist group in Aylmer. Trevor, however, is a senior party official with the Canadian Communist party. We regularly clash over our political differences in band rehearsal. That's when it's time to bring out the porno mags. |
 Paul |
Honestly Phil, the States are slighly affraid of The Setbacks and their great power. We have had our problems with them. Last time we tried to cross the border with our guitars in cases, we got arrested for having concealed weapons. Similarly, the day after our CD release party Hans Blix showed up on our doorstep saying he had heard we had used a weapon of mass destruction. We replied "Fuck yeah, we destroyed the Dominion last night!"
Long story short; he asked us to stop playing, we said no, we played him a song, he bought a CD for his scientists to analyze, it obviously got into the wrong hands, and Bush ended up winning the election. Sorry U.S. of A. |
 Chris |
Phil,
The Setbacks are a relatively "political" band, I guess you could say. We're always thinking about world events when writing our rock songs. NOT! Sorry bud, as a band, we generally prefer lighter themes like tits, ass, booze, cars, knives, guns, drugs, having a good time, being wicked, and strip joints. We are fuelled, collectively by high octane, as we are a maximum party band. Individually is a different story. I'll have you know that I wholeheartedly supported Bush with his invasion. I just think he attacked the wrong fucking place. EVERYONE knows that the Weapons of Mass Destruction aren't in Iraq. They are in Latvia! Latvians are all maniacal military geniuses bent on world domination. I know Latvia doesn't seem like much, but seriously sir, I have conclusive proof that they will become a mysterious force to be reckoned with any day now. The U.S. is unwisely ignoring these sinister people, and I have a major reason to believe that they were responsible for the overwhleming failure of a garage sale in Orleans that I attended last weekend. See? Fucking Latvians! |