Following performing their acoustic re-imagining of classic Rage Against The Machine single ‘Killing In The Name’ for Triple J’s Like A Version last week, Aussie prog rockers Dead Letter Circus have written a lengthy open statement responding to criticism and explaining the political motivations behind their rendition.
Writing to their nearly 90,000 followers on Facebook, the five-piece say they expected the cover to “cause a bit of a stir” and acknowledge it has become a “hotly debated and polarising subject” since they appeared on the Triple J Breakfast segment last Friday to perform a unique take on what they call “one of the greatest anthems by one of the most influential bands in music history.”
Dead Letter Circus explain they had originally chosen to perform London Grammar’s ‘Hey Now’ and were “utterly gobsmacked” when Karnivool beat them to the punch just weeks before, leading them to tackle ‘Killing In The Name’, despite “fully knowing we may incur the wrathful fingers of the RATM faithful, the overly opinionated and the trolls worldwide.”
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The band explain that their haunting, melodious take on the visceral original made sure they were offering something different (“a good cover isn’t about mimicking what’s already been done”), but that their choice of song was driven by wanting to make a statement about Australia’s current political climate.
“The message of the song couldn’t be more relevant to this moment in history. In our opinion, RATM have been shouting at us all for years to wake up to the fact we live within a system of control imposed by a ruling elite. That this system is reliant on generations of programmed fear, prejudice and ignorance to keep us separate and powerless is clear and undeniable.”
The band believe that the song’s “rallying call-to-action” message was “strong enough to still resonate in a stripped-back, down-tempo format.” Also pointing out that their on-air dedication to the Abbott government was removed from the YouTube clip that was published by Triple J.
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“It was like our little love song, if you will, sent out to Tony Abbott and his cronies from DLC and, no doubt, a significant proportion of the Australian public. And if you are living in our country right now that should hopefully make a lot of sense.”
“For those who called ‘Sacrilege!’ and took to scrabbling at their keyboards in outrage, fair enough,” concludes the prog rockers in their post. “Happily, we can still say it’s a decision we were confident with and remain proud of.”
The ‘Killing In The Name’ cover also ties in with Dead Letter Circus’ upcoming tour, playing three intimate unplugged shows after having worked “on re-inventing a bunch of our own songs” in an acoustic format.
Read Dead Letter Circus’ full statement below along with all the tour details.
The response to our rendition of Killing in the Name on Friday last week has been pretty epic to say the least. We suspected it might cause a bit of a stir as the original song is without a doubt one of the greatest anthems by one of the most influential bands in music history. So, seeing as it has been quite the hotly debated and polarising subject over the weekend, we thought we might give some further insight into how it all went down from our end…
Being huge fans of the Like a Version segment on triple j, we have always thought of it as an opportunity to experience a song completely re-interpreted, stripped back and rendered in a different light to the original. A good cover isn’t about mimicking what’s already been done.
And in fact, with that responsibility in mind, we actually had prepared a completely different tune to cover… only to be utterly gobsmacked when our good friends in Karnivool chose the exact same song! It was a totally innocent and funny coincidence, but while we absolutely loved their version of London Grammar’s Hey Now it left us with having to pick something else. And as things turned out, well, you know what we decided to go with. At the same time, we’d been working on re-inventing a bunch of our own songs for an upcoming project, so it fitted in perfectly. Happily, we can still say it’s a decision we were confident with and remain proud of.
So, how did we possess such audacity to select a song already performed to unsurpassable perfection by the original artist, fully knowing we may incur the wrathful fingers of the RATM faithful, the overly opinionated and the trolls worldwide?
Well, aside from the fact that Rage Against The Machine is collectively one of our favourite bands of all time, all the guys in Dead Letter Circus felt the message of the song couldn’t be more relevant to this moment in history. In our opinion, RATM have been shouting at us all for years to wake up to the fact we live within a system of control imposed by a ruling elite. That this system is reliant on generations of programmed fear, prejudice and ignorance to keep us separate and powerless is clear and undeniable. And the lyrics of Killing in the Name are a rallying call-to-action that the path of apathy won’t help to dissolve these walls.
It’s also our opinion that the weight of this message is strong enough to still resonate in a stripped-back, down-tempo format – which is what Like A Version calls for, after all. So we did it. We had a stab. For those who dug it, thanks for your kind words and support. For those who called “Sacrilege!” and took to scrabbling at their keyboards in outrage, fair enough. Guess it’s all subjective, really.
To add one final piece of context to our decision to cover the tune, we should tell you what wasn’t included in the Like A Version video being shared around YouTube was our opening on-air dedication of Killing in the Name to Australia’s current government. It was like our little love song, if you will, sent out to Tony Abbott and his cronies from DLC and, no doubt, a significant proportion of the Australian public. And if you are living in our country right now that should hopefully make a lot of sense.
All the best,
DLC
Dead Letter Circus Australian Tour 2014
Thursday 4th September – The Globe Theatre, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets: deadlettercircus.oztix.com.au
Friday 5th September – The Basement, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: moshtix.com.au
Saturday 6th September – The Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: deadlettercircus.oztix.com.au
