IRT Magazine

NYC’s Best Kept Secret Is About To Release Tom Morello-produced Debut LP

Story: Ed.

Empowered by a rabid disgust for the Bush empire, an undying love for mid-90’s revolution rock and an open mind to incorporate traditional Indian instrumentation and jazz drumming into its unique sound that has caught the ears of everyone from Tom Morello to The Pogues, NYC transplants Outernational have given all you kids who still keep Rage Against The Machine’s Evil Empire in our All Time Top 5 a new reason to uprise. After meeting group co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Sonny Suchdev, following Outernational’s incredible opening stint for Fishbone at CBGB last fall, the realization that this band is the very definition of everything IRT was raised on hit me like a ton of tablas. Following an already-impressive first three years that has included opening up for everyone from Wyclef Jean to The Coup to The Slackers to Gogol Bordello to Michelle Shocked to Antibalas to Steve Earle and gigging some of the biggest anti-war rallies in the country, including the now-legendary 2004 Republican National Convention “Not In Our Name” mega-protest at Union Square, Outernational are prepared to send the Bush regime packing in 2007-08 with forthcoming debut album, recorded and produced by Mr. Morello himself. The following electronic conversation between IRT and Mr. Suchdev took place just a week ago, shortly after Outernational rocked the Knitting Factory like a magic kiss in late March. For more information, check out the band’s official website at www.outernational.net or hit ‘em up MySpace style at www.myspace.com/outernational.
IRT: How did the Pogues gig go? How did you wind up opening up that gig?

Sonny: Opening for the Pogues in Boston was great. It was our first show in almost five months and was our first one with our new drummer, Justin Brown. It was an honor to
share the stage with the Pogues, who put on an amazing show. They are very different from us for sure, but there is a similar spirit to the music I think. Some of us were Pogues fans before, but it was my first time seeing them.
IRT: How did you initially hook up with Tom Morello?

Tom has been a supporter and fan of the band since we first started. Miles and Tom have known each other for years, which is how he eventually got interested in Outernational. They became friends in the earlier Rage days while Miles would be tabling at shows with
activist organizations. It’s been really helpful to get Tom’s insight about the band and our music and learn from his experience. He really gets what we’re all about, musically and politically. And besides that, he’s a musical genius and going to be one hell of a producer for the record.

IRT: What are your thoughts on the Rage reunion?

Sonny: We are all totally excited about the Rage reunion. There’s no better time than now for Rage Against the Machine to be playing again. The world really needs bands out there in a major way displaying resistance and outrage at what is going on in the world under
Bush’s leadership. Tom’s interview with MTV about the return of Rage says it all quite well:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1551733/20070206/morello_tom.jhtml

Believe me, we will be rocking out front and center at Coachella! That will be some good inspiration right before going into the studio to record the album.

IRT: The music you had sent me is outstanding. Can we expect more of the same in your new recordings or are you going in a different approach?

Sonny: The music has really evolved and progressed in the last several months. We have a new drummer now, like I mentioned, who is AMAZING and brings a whole new
element to the band. We’ve also been writing a lot and making improvements on old material. I see it all as a progression of what we’ve been doing the last 2 years - bringing together different styles of danceable, rebellious music from throughout the world
with rock. It’s exciting to be finally gearing up to record the first album.

IRT: How did the Knitting Factory shows go?

Sonny: The Knitting Factory show on March 25th was amazing. It was really powerful to be on stage in front of our hometown audience again, hundreds of die-hard fans who
have been waiting for months to see another Outernational show. There was so much energy and and passion in the room and it bounced back and forth between the stage and the audience. It’s significant to see so many really young people at our shows singing along to every song - I mean like junior high school kids rocking out, chanting “Not my country!” Our audience is really diverse, mostly young folks from lots of different backgrounds and scenes. It means a lot to see that. We played a bunch of new material that traveled to lots of new places for us, and I think the audience took it well and was feeling the new directions. I’m fairly confidence it was the wildest Outernational show to date.

IRT: What exactly is your nationality, Sonny? Do you come from a strict family background? What do your folks think of your music? Are they supportive?

Sonny: I am South Asian and Sikh. My parents are immigrants from India, and I was born and raised here (well, Charlotte, North Carolina to be exact). My parents have been pretty supportive of the band and my increasing focus on making Outernational my life. I’ve been playing music my whole life, which started in Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) playing harmonium and tabla and singing when I was a kid. So my parents have seen the importance of music in my life. Sure they were surprised at how serious I’ve been about this band, but it’s been a process and they’ve been won over to it. And of course my Indian background
influences our music a bunch too, and my parents love that. They saw us play in Cleveland (where they live now) on Warped Tour last summer and were definitely feeling it.
IRT: Have you experienced a good amount of racism while on the road with Outernational? If so, do you plan on addressing it on record?

Sonny: I experience racism mostly every day living in this country. Being a brown-skinned, turban-wearing child of immigrants has deeply shaped who I am and how I see the world, no doubt. Sure, I’ve gotten shit on tour from people staring and making comments, but honestly, some of the most explicit bigotry I’ve seen has been right here in the most diverse place I’ve ever lived - NYC. If you’re interested, I wrote about an incident
that happened on the subway and it was posted on this site:
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2007/02/the_day_my_skin_came_off.html

In terms of addressing my experiences with racism on the record, I’m not much of a lyric-writer myself, but more broadly speaking, the experience of oppressed people in this country and throughout the world is a key element of what we’re talking about in our music. We tell stories of immigrants who come to this country looking for a better life and instead get treated like dirt in songs like “Que Queremos.” In “Riviera Uproar” we sing about the uprising of African immigrant youth in France last year who were “rioting”
in response to living in a racist country. Those are some examples.

IRT: Your email handle is Sonnyska. I take it you were in a ska band prior to
Outernational, yes? Don’t you think its time for another revival? And who are some of the classic ska acts you grew up listening to?

Sonny: Yes indeed, ska was probably the first music scene that I was really a part of when I was in high school and college in Arizona. I used to play in a Tucson-based ska band called Turban Jones. I still absolutely love ska music and find that it’s the easiest music for me to dance to without feeling self-conscious. ha. Some of my favs were/are: Hepcat,
The Skatalites (of course), The Specials, The Slackers who continue to rock on, The Toasters, Jump with Joey, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Stubborn Allstars, Yeska, to
name a few…

IRT: Speaking of which, how much of a trip was it to open up for Fishbone at CBGB back in the fall? Did you get to hang with Angelo and Co. at all that night? What are your thoughts of being one of the last bands to play CBGB?

Sonny: That was a fun show and quite an honor to share the stage with Fishbone, who I’d say is an influence for us in some ways. I was blown away by how much energy
Angelo still has after all these years. He’s an incredible performer, an inspiration really. We
actually hung out with Angelo on Warped Tour, since he had a tent out there where he was performing and selling the “fuck racism” t-shirts and all of that.

I’m glad we got to rock CB’s during that last month. It is sad that it shut down, like so many music venues in NYC. But we’re not tripping about it, kids will create new spaces, new scenes and take history into their own hands rather than be nostalgic for the past.

IRT: Are you guys all originally from New York?

Sonny: Not at all. Miles is the only one. He grew up in the Village. Jesse is from northern NJ. minimum tek is from Seattle, Justin is from Oakland and I’m from Arizona/NC. But we’re all here now and are very much rooted here.

Last Modified : April 3rd, 2007
Filed under : articles, interviews
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