Amerika

Right-wing music innovators Lilou & John recently unleashed their third album, Patriot Child, in which they take their music from angrily sentimental folk music to a hybrid of rock, punk, and heavy metal. As part of the Right-wing cultural wave, this duo are creating music to express the agonies and triumphs of the turning of the tide.

Having followed the growth of this band for some time, Amerika reached out to them for information about the upcoming album, which will be released on January 1, 2018, and to explore the motivations behind this group swimming against the current:

I just finally managed to accept that you guys are like a cross between Bob Seeger and Roky Erickson with an anti-modern, Right-leaning twist, and now you have gone and changed styles. How would you describe the style on the new album, and how does it bring out your personality and what you want to convey?
 
John: Thanks for that description, Brett! We are constantly evolving, thanks to Lilou. The producer calls the new genre “garage punk rock” but we frankly don’t know what to call it. It will be a bit of a crossover just like Dissidentica. Lilou always wants to explore new ways of expression and she has taught me how fun it can be.

I started to listen to Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects and Blitz when I was in my teens, and Motörhead has always been one of my favorite bands of all time. Therefore it seemed natural for me to make a right wing punk rock album. I have always been very angry and this album is a great way to get it out of my system and protest against all the shit people are forced to put up with just so the oligarchs can feed their offspring and the petty bourgeoisie can have their “outdoors-indoors luxury barbecue with finger buffet” in peace. 

The album also reflects the fact that we are not a political band. Everything we do is very personal. Many of our songs are written in defense of freedom of speech simply because we are fed up by virtue signaling and the infamous Swedish Opinion Corridor. The bottom line of everything is that no ideology or religion can triumph art, science and logic reason and we combine many left and right elements in our everyday life and music. We believe that the only place to be is outside of the box of conformity, whatever political color that conformity may have.

Thus, the music is very revolutionary and rebellious. The funny thing is that if you rebel and revolt against the system today the ruling classes will label you “right wing’ no matter what you think. Therefore many people on the right wing think we are quite the odd couple, but they also realize that we share the same interest in getting rid of political correctness and that we are not afraid of being seen fraternizing with “Nazis.” As Mel Brooks put it: “I know where I stand, do you know where you stand?”

We have also gotten much credit for the lyrics on our last album that span from Zionism to the defense of Political Incorrectness, and there were even National Socialists who gave us credit for the courage to record “Next Year in Jerusalem” even though we knew some of our fans would not like it. We say what we think and we record the songs we want to record and it seems people like the honesty. We do not pretend to be something we are not. That is probably why we do not get along with the music industry.

On this album we have taken the lyrics a step further and pushed it in a more radical direction. We write about things such as the Identitarian movement, the Charlottesville ambush and Soy Boy Russophobia, and that is yet another reason why we wanted a much harder sound on this album compared to our first two albums. It should be angry but at the same time we wanted to keep our originality. We want it to be a completely new sound and a new approach.

I am split between experimental and traditional when it comes to the kind of music I want to create, and Lilou never wants to do the same thing twice. It bores her to death. She is our creative engine that makes sure everything is top notch. I just add my anger and a desire to provoke the virtue signaling petty bourgeoisie because I hate their cowardice.
 
You made the choice to go with female vocals on this work, but these are unlike anything the rest of us have ever heard. How did Lilou achieve this unique sound, and what do you think it communicates when placed inside of such loud and stripped-down music?
 
John: I fell in love the first time I ever heard Lilou speak to me on the phone. After that I heard her sing and it only made my love deeper. I would say she sings in a very old right wing tradition of hard working women that dates back long before the industrial age. She is the only person I know who can outmatch an electric guitar even without a microphone and still make it sound good. I personally hope it can show people there is an older, much more genuine female ”gender role” (even if I hate that expression) that goes back to the viking women who did not suffer from any kind of petty bourgeoisie virtue signaling whatsoever. Zarah Leander perhaps had a similar voice but I think Lilou is more versatile and pissed off ha ha.

Today the music industry is focused on profit only so they need singers and musicians without personality to make global hits. They need people who are spooned from birth by the powers that be and thereby suffer from a total lack of identity. Otherwise they cannot sell the stuff they produce on the open market, since globalist extreme-short-term capitalism requires one global coca-colonized culture.

Lilou on the contrary is certainly not an angel with a cute fragile voice they can sell to the highest bidder. She had to fend for herself as a kid and thereby learned to make it through life on her own. She is the toughest woman I have ever met. Feminism and such things…if she got a job because of affirmative action she would take it as a personal insult. To her that would mean that the employer thought she was useless and needed a helping hand just because she is a woman. Unlike the feminists who dominate the music industry of today she is proud of her sex and perhaps even more than me she understands the complementary natures of men and women. I think those are the answers to her unique vocal style. She is a viking woman: 100% wife, 100% mother, 100% singer, 100% fearless.

Lilou: I think in general the right wing movement needs more women to step up. Women have an extremely important role to play since men often think bigger whereas women think about what is realistic. Men build empires, women make sure they do not build them too fast or in bad locations.

New York Magazine recently referred to Sweden as the “Western European capital of the Alt Right.” Why is Sweden emerging as a hotspot for right wing activity?
 
John: Sweden is a social experiment like nothing else. The whole country reminds of a stunt from Jackass where you try to do something that potentially can kill the whole film crew and you attack your co-workers if they have any objections. This has resulted in a catastrophic development of society and a situation that is extremely unstable.

However, the oppression of free speech has led to a huge increase in the number of dissidents. Many thousands of people have lost everything after corporate media witch burnings. They have no jobs because they have protested against the new left policy of “tolerance.” Families have been ripped apart and mothers, fathers and children have been stigmatized as untouchables, they have become the modern day lepers. And just like the lepers of old, the dissidents of Sweden have absolutely nothing left to lose. Many of those people have come to realize that they might as well fight back. They have hit rock bottom and such people are formidable warriors. That is what you see happening in Sweden.

Nobody wants to be that last rat that abandons the sinking ship. Nobody wants to be that sucker who failed to see the coming of the revolution in time and forever be branded as a traitor. Sweden is the most extreme example of left wing politics and therefore it is natural for Sweden to be one of the countries where the resistance is strongest and most organized.

Even if we are not Alt Right ourselves we have no problems working together with them. Much of what we do suit their needs and their support is invaluable for us to grow. We only wish that more mainstream Conservatives would soldier up and start working for a new cultural wave, but I guess they are afraid that we will turn out to be yet another Jew-bashing band, or perhaps they have understood that we think the real problem in today’s society is petty bourgeoisie virtue signaling in combination with the Anglo-American oligarchy of global commerce, and feel guilty after hearing our lyrics?
 
Despite initial media hostility, it seems like your music and websites are reaching more people. What do you think is responsible for this? To borrow a term from the Left, are you “raising awareness”?

John: You are absolutely right that the times they are a-changing and perhaps we are raising awareness that alternative media is just as good as (or even better than) corporate media for promotion. In the beginning there were people who warned us for podcasts and news sites of certain political colors but we have proved them all wrong.

We try to create a combination of great looking artwork, high quality productions, strong lyrics, genuine vocals, catchy melodies and rhythm to create the right beat. That seems to have appealed to Nationalists, Conservatives and Libertarians, but also Liberals, Socialists and all kinds of people who just like good music. We just need more reviews and more radio airtime so people know we exist.

Today we are one of the most famous politically incorrect Swedish rock/pop bands and we have grown rapidly in just a year. We are currently heading into Russia and hopefully this interview will make more Americans interested in our music too. We think of our music as a global revolution and as long as we work together as a village of writers, debaters, philosophers, musicians, singers, authors and politicians we are unstoppable.

Lilou: I wanted to do something totally new, something that has not been done before. I had an idea that we could merge contemporary pop and rock music with right wing lyrics and song style to create something nobody had heard before. Personally I believe many right wing bands have been stuck in the 80s for too long. We want music that can appeal to a huge number of people and become global hits. Therefore we must think in a new way and I believe people are beginning to realize that. We are also attracting a growing number of female fans: teenagers, adults and seniors. I think that is quite uncommon for right wing music historically.

I also think that the right wing needs stars and celebrities. And even though we are far from it (we are too fat, old and lazy to become stars ha ha) our music and approach make us into perhaps some of the first right wing pop and rock idols. In Sweden we have seen quite a few people writing that we are “their” rock band and that the left wing artists are becoming obsolete. We just need more bands to step up and release modern music that can actually compete with the bands of the music industry.

Can you tell us about recording the album, how you did it and what you had to do to achieve these unique sounds, and when the album will be out, and where customers worldwide can purchase it?

Lilou: When we record an album we try to be prepared long ahead, but a few weeks before the session we always change some major thing anyway. This time we have replaced an entire song because it does not fit into the style we want to achieve. We plan for an EP of five songs since EPs will probably replace LPs as the new standard format. Furthermore, it gives us the chance to release albums more often and we can focus on higher quality on a small number of songs each time.

I have put much time into the artwork, everything I do has to have the right feel to it. We never want to rush anything and therefore we set the release date to January 1. That way we have enough time to hopefully record at least a few music videos before the release. Somehow we always find ourselves stressed out in the end anyway.

It is always good to listen to the demo songs a few hundred times to get new ideas and change what needs to be changed. The final sound is a product of slow, organic growth, from the first few words John scratches down and the first melody I come up with all the way to the guitars, the bass and the drums.

John: Our formula is rather “primordialistic” in a way. When we started playing together we asked ourselves: If the cavemen had electric guitars, what kind of music would they play? Probably music based on rhythm, quite simplistic, with heavy bass guitar and expressive vocals. They would probably use the instruments to create a music landscape for the singer to explore with his or her voice.

It was Lilou who thought we should release our next album on January 1, 2018. That way the release will mark the beginning of a new year of revolt. We are currently talking to a bunch of retailers online, mainly right wing e-shops who might be interested in selling the music. That way we support the people who support us. Of course we can be found on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes etc too, where our first two albums are already for sale. We are thinking about physical copies, and we have a physical copy of our first two albums on one CD for sale online. 

That said, if anyone in North America would be interested in selling our music, they are most welcome to contact us. We are grateful for everyone that wants to support us. We want to thank you and Amerika.com for giving us this opportunity. You need us to win the culture war and we need you to get anywhere at all.

Thanks to you for taking the time to do this interview! In anticipation of the new album, here is a short manifesto written by the band to explain their unique outlook on the world.

PATRIOT CHILD: THE MANIFESTO

“Doesn’t everyone want their parents dead?”
-David, Promotheus

We are Lilou & John, the primordialist helter skelter rock band from Sweden.

We started out with one idea: To record music that explored the ideological changes taking place all over the modern world – the global shift from corporate media Consumerism to independent media Identitarianism. We have seen it happen in Europe, Russia and America as well as India, The Middle East and Japan, a new way of looking at life that does not ask the question “how can I pursuit my career” but “how do I find my roots?”

We wanted to write our own story about the great father-killings of our generation, the story about the Identitarian children that refused to obey their Consumerist parents and decided to walk their own way.

Psychotic Snowflake Anthem is the story about corporate media and the Russophobic propaganda war against independent media. Petrodollar Wars is the second part of the same story, the financial empires, the deep state and corporate media support for the military-industrial complex and Imperialist-Consumerist wars while pretending to protest. In Enemy of the Matrix we hear the primordial voice of cultural self-awareness that has survived the corporate media purges and is awakening across the world. Generation Identity is the story of that voice spreading to the youth who will no longer keep quiet. Finally, Patriot Child is the revolutionary anthem that sums up the whole point of the album. 

Tags: cultural wave, folk, heavy metal, lilou & john, punk, right-wing music