Interview with Kropotskin, the musician dusting off the anarcho-punk repertoire
For this interview we’re heading to France to hang out for a bit with Kropotskin. If you don’t know him yet, he’s an anarcho-punk musician with a style all his own who’s starting to pick up a real following on social media. We came across him completely by chance through his videos breaking down anarchism, and the old songs from the French-language repertoire that he fills with drive and an energy that’s truly contagious. That’s what made us want to reach out and shine a light on him here on NovaFuture. And he was kind enough to answer our questions. Big thanks to him for that. So this is our chance to drop some great music on NovaFuture. Get ready to turn it up 🙂
NovaFuture: Hi Kropotskin! To kick things off, could you introduce yourself to NovaFuture’s readers and explain what your artistic approach is all about?
Kropotskin: Hi! I’m kropotskin, a musician who’s passionate about punk, anarchism and songs. My project is about presenting songs from the anarchist or revolutionary heritage and taking that as a chance to break down this political way of thinking for everyone.
Basically, I take a song and turn it into three videos that I post on social media. In the first one I talk about the story behind the song, or about the history of anarchism while keeping a link to the song. In the second, I do a punk cover with a drum machine and an 8-bit synth. And in the third, I play it acoustic with whatever chord charts I’ve managed to find, so that anyone who wants to can cover it themselves.
NovaFuture: The first time I heard your music, it immediately reminded me of René Binamé et les Roues de secours, who I shared some great times with in Liège, in Belgium. I mention this to point out that it places you in the great tradition of anarchist songwriters. On that note, what inspired you to give a big dose of modernity to all this old repertoire?
Kropotskin: Yeah, and you’re not the first to draw the parallel with René Binamé. I should also say we share part of our repertoire, and since I’m a punk, of course I discovered songs like “La vie s’écoule” or “La révolte” by listening to them. It’s flattering, but I don’t really think I’m part of the great tradition of anarchist songwriters, first because I don’t like tradition, and second because what I do is more reinterpretation. As for the inspiration, at the start it was just a play on words. Picture it: “Your name’s kropotskin and you cover old anarchist songs as oi!” It gave me and a coworker at work a good laugh, and since I already had a fair few old anarchist songs in my playlist, and I’ve been doing punk for a good number of years now, and the idea kept rattling around in my head, well, I just went for it.
NovaFuture: You could play the whole “I’m the artist” card. But instead, you break the mystique. For example by clearly explaining how to play the guitar chords so people can recreate it themselves. This sense of sharing really does seem like a big marker of anarchist philosophy, doesn’t it?
Kropotskin: For starters, I’m not the one who wrote the songs and the chords, so it’d have taken some nerve to claim them as my own 😂 😂 And besides, you’ve got to “share the tools of production,” as the saying goes ! But yeah, you’re right, this sense of sharing strikes me as something important in anarchist philosophy, and ultimately in any anti-capitalist philosophy. There’s also the fact that the more people sing about anarchism and revolution, and so the more people hear these songs, the better the chances that a few of them will discover and/or take an interest in the movement.
NovaFuture: No judgment here, but it seems contradictory to publish anarchist content on platforms that go completely against that philosophy. Personally, I’ll admit it throws me a bit. But on the other hand, I also find it pretty brave to step out of your comfort zone. It gives your whole approach a fairly surreal edge. And deep down, it’s obvious that it lets you reach people who’d probably never hear about anarchism without you. So the question that comes up is how you handle that balancing act, and whether you’ve thought about steering your audience further down the line toward platforms that are alternatives to Big Tech ?
Kropotskin: Yeah, basically the goal is to reach as many people as possible. Sticking to your own circle is comfortable and reassuring, but I find that after a while it can tend to box you in and cut you off from the real world, even if it’s obviously something super important for building your own political thinking. That said, what I do in my explainer videos is really about making things accessible. I put out a topic and there’s a fair bit of debate in the comments section. If it can make a few people want to look deeper into what anarchism really is, that’s already a win ! We’re a long way from the numbers we once had at the end of the 19th century, and if we want a society without hierarchy, as many of the exploited as possible need to know it’s possible. As for the alternatives to Big Tech, I’ll admit I don’t know much about them. I’ve never been all that good with technology. It’s only been ten years since I ditched my 3310 😂😂. And I think others are far better than me at redirecting whoever wants it toward healthier platforms.
NovaFuture: There’s a whole current within anarchism that tends to stay totally stuck in the past. At NovaFuture, we see anarchism more as a kind of living thing that has to keep up with the issues of its time without forgetting the philosophical legacy handed down by those who came before. For your part, how do you picture anarchism, 2020s edition?
Kropotskin: I think anarchism evolves by its very nature. When a group of people decides to put measures in place to deal with problems that affect them, the nature of the problems is bound to change the way you solve them. You can’t forget that anarchism isn’t a dogma. There’s no real instruction manual, and even though some thinkers have imagined certain ways of running things, those ways can only be applied if everyone agrees (whether through consensus or direct democracy). As for the anarchists stuck in the past, I’d still rather deal with them than with fash. And besides, if the world is heading toward anarchism, the principle of free association seems pretty good to me for letting everyone organize in their own way.
NovaFuture: Do you only play guitar, or do you have a handle on other instruments too?
Kropotskin: Nope, I play several other instruments (though saying I’ve got a handle on them would be a bit of a stretch 😂😂). I also sing and play bass obviously, but also Irish flute, sax, mandolin, violin, drums and a bit of bagpipes. When you see me playing another instrument in my videos, it really is me playing it. And I also figure that programming drum machines and synths is an instrument in its own right too.
NovaFuture: What are your musical and cultural influences in general?
Kropotskin: Musically I’m really open to a lot of things. For revolutionary songs it might be Marc Ogeret, or Kornalyn who reinterprets them too and it’s so good. In punk I’m deep in a big d-beat phase, with old-school stuff like Wolfbrigade and also more recent stuff like Clava or G.L.O.S.S., but I’m still a huge fan of more classic bands like O.T.H, Toy Dolls or The Exploited (think what you want about them, but to me, musically, punk has never done better). In classical, right now I’ve got Une nuit sur le mont chauve by Moussorgsky and some Camille Saint-Saëns on repeat. In metal, I’m really into Deathcore (but not the ones with metalcore mixed in) like Hellth or Disembodied Tyrant, though I haven’t forgotten the slightly older stuff like Cavalera Conspiracy or Mental Slavery. And then I also love anything traditional and tribal. For instance I listen to a lot of Chaabi, but generally, when it comes to tribal music, my best finds are on old vinyls recorded on location back in the ’60s and ’70s. In rap I mostly stick to the old school, with the likes of Don Choa, Puppet Mastaz and so on. But every now and then I do enjoy more recent stuff like Changeline. Honestly, I’m pretty picky about what I like to listen to, but not at all about the style of music. What I mean is that I’m always after something rough or aggressive, and for me that’s what decides whether I like a track or an artist, not its musical genre.
NovaFuture: What do you make of the current punk scene on an international level? Are there any bands you particularly like? Any trends you love or can’t stand?
Kropotskin: Well, honestly, I hang around the local scene more, and I think it’s super important to support it. I figure it’s better to put ten euros ten times over into gig tickets to see “small” bands sweating it out in tiny venues than to drop a hundred euros once to go see some big band or other at an event with 8€ beer where once you leave you can’t come back in. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go to big shows. I do it now and then, and honestly the few big dates where I got to be on stage as a musician, I loved them. But supporting the local scene really matters in my view. Otherwise, to discover the international scene, I use Bandcamp quite a bit. There’s a massive number of bands to discover there, and it’s a lot less of an algorithm and a lot more your own artistic sensibilities (since you choose what you listen to based on the cover art) that lead you to new bands.
NovaFuture: We’re more used to asking this question to people working in open source, but it’s interesting to get an artist’s take. What do you think of AI in general?
Kropotskin: Well, look, the first prompt I ever wrote to an AI was “write me the lyrics to a song explaining how AIs are going to bring about the apocalypse” 😂 I played it with an old thrash metal project called Stegozor. Other than that, I don’t think it’ll replace artists. AI is really the Big Mac of art. It’s something you consume, that always tastes the same, and that you shit out an hour later 😂😂 (and it pollutes on top of it). And for my part, I think the essence of music is still the live show, and when I see how, as a human, it can sometimes be a struggle to win over the crowd even when there’s mutual empathy, well, if you just stick an AI up there, I’d be amazed if anyone pogos in front of it…
NovaFuture: We’re coming to the end of this interview. Are you looking for dates to perform? If so, only in France or in other countries too? And are you maybe looking for musicians to form a band? And if you’ve got a message to get across, don’t hold back, that’s what we’re here for.
Kropotskin: Well, first off, a big thank you for giving me the floor, that’s precious to me! And yeah, absolutely, I’m looking to play! For now I’m mainly looking in Brittany where I live, but I’m not closed off to playing further afield, quite the opposite. I play guitar and sing over a backing track, and for now that suits me just fine (we’ll see how the project evolves to bring in other musicians if the need ever arises).
If I had one message to get across it’d be this: do whatever you know how to do to push freedom forward. The one thing we don’t need is hierarchy, domination and everything that comes with it. As for the rest, we need everybody, we’re all the same precisely because we’re all different! Loads of revolt to everyone!
Discover and follow Kropotskin
Good news! Kropotskin has just landed on Mastodon 🙂 So if you’re into the anarcho-punk style and good vibes, we warmly invite you to check out his account: https://piaille.fr/@kropotskin. Here’s the link to his YouTube channel too: https://www.youtube.com/@Kropotskin. And to wrap up, here are two music videos to set the mood for your day 🙂
To finish: thanks to Kropotskin, and let’s get ready for what’s next
We were delighted with this conversation with Kropotskin. Especially since it’s the first interview we’ve done outside the open source world. For the next one, we’d love to stay in the cultural realm. So if you know an artist worth shining a light on, don’t hesitate to tell us. And if you’re the artist yourself, that’s no problem either 😉 Whatever the language and the location, just like culture itself, NovaFuture knows no borders. We hope you enjoyed this format, and see you very soon for new adventures 🙂
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