Forward Area - The most hated punk band in America

FNF: Mike, Thanks for agreeing to do this interview with us. As one might imagine, there are more then just a couple of questions for a band that claims both titles Punk and White nationalist. A thousand hails to you for agreeing to do this with us, and with that let's jump right in.

First off, Where did the name Forward Area come from?

Mike: "Forward Area" is an American military term for the area in which a battle or major conflict is taking place. We felt the name was appropriate in that we feel there is an ideological battle taking place in every nation in the world against those that support the powers that be and those who know the truth.

Mike: We've been together since 2002, so around 4 years. Our line-up has changed quite a bit, but the two founding members (Erik *vocals/bass* and myself *guitar*) have always been in the band.

Mike: Our music is aggressive, fast, and melodic Streetpunk with early American Hardcore and UK'82 influences. Our lyrics tend to be highly political as well. I would definitely say that we have a unique musical style and don't sound like the typical Streetpunk band out there. We strive to be as original as possible. Due to this, our music seems to appeal to more than just Punk music fans.

Mike: The Sex Pistols, Minor Threat, and Skrewdriver were very big influences on us. Not just musically, but because these bands had the courage to stand up against the norm of the scenes they were involved in and incorporate their views (which were vastly different than most others) into their music. That says a lot to us and we have always respected that about those bands.

We each tend to listen to a wide range of bands and a lot of them have influenced us musically; they mostly fall into the Hardcore Punk, Streetpunk, RAC/Oi!, Hatecore, and '77 Punk genres. Bands I personally listen to often include: The Sex Pistols, G.B.H., The Exploited, Blitz, The Professionals, Arma Blanca, Oxymoron, The Partisans, Depresión, Midgårds Söner, Minor Threat, White Pride, U.S. Chaos, Government Issue, Empire Falls, Blood For Blood, Teen Idles, División 250, Hassgesang, Céltica, Platoon 14, Warfare 88, Estirpe Imperial, Skullhead, Warlord, Race War, and a ton more. I also listen to a lot of Celtiberian Folk music.

Mike: I just bought Ignite's newest album "Our Darkest Days" and I'm very impressed with it. In my opinion, it's one of the best Hardcore Punk albums recorded in years. I highly recommend it to everyone. They aren't a racialist band, but their music is great and the messages in this particular album are very good.

Mike: Hahaha it's quite all right, I'm used to the question. For many years I would have my mohawk up all the time. Now that I work, I have to have it down more often than I prefer. However, I still put it up as often as possible. It usually takes around 15 minutes or so to put up for me.

I've always had a problem with how something as insignificant as hair style is such an important thing to mainstream society. Any sort of individuality expressed through the way you look (especially with hair) can effect the jobs you can get, the way people perceive you, etc. and in my eyes it's childish and unnecessary.

FNF: What are your thoughts on what some would call the "Folk Punk" musical scene, that is - bands like Dropkick Murphys, The Bloody Irish Boys, The Real McKenzie's and others that are less politically motivated but are definitely something of a rebirth of the European folk music into a more modern sound?

Mike: I think it can be a positive thing. It definitely is aiding some Punk youth into embracing their European heritage and learning more about their roots, which I think is an important thing more people should do. I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock into thinking it will aid with racial conciseness, but in some rare cases it might. Musically speaking, it's nice having more variety in the Punk music genre and I like a lot of the bands playing in this style.

FNF: On your site Forward-Area.com you state that you are politically a "National Socialist" punk band. Can you give us a bit more detail as to what is meant by your usage of the terms "National Socialist"? Are you heavy into the Hitler'ite views or more into Strasser'ite decentralized social nationalism point of view?

Mike: Yes, we do claim the political label of National Socialists. To us, the label means what is says, Nationalism with a fair and rational Socialist economic practice. It's neither Capitalist nor Communist, but rather a true alternative to both systems.

I wouldn't say I'm really heavy into Hitlerite views, though I do admire the man a great deal. I do acknowledge a lot of the mistakes he made and I'm not afraid to say I don't agree with exactly everything he did. Politically speaking, I would lean more towards Strasserism and more original (pre-World War II) National Socialist doctrine.

Considering this is a new age and things have changed significantly since the days of National Socialist Germany, I think most people understand that certain aspects of the philosophy would have to be modified in order to be more rational in today's world. We are facing new problems now and there are new solutions to these problems.

What's the motivation behind this and are you aware that there is an ever increasing amount of folks classifying themselves as "National Anarchists" and that part of such ideology is the promotion of racially separate decentralized communities?

Mike: I have heard of National Anarchism and though I don't prescribe it's ideology per-se, I support those who are taking part in it. I have absolutely no problem with National Anarchists whatsoever. That being said, the reason behind the image of the militant Punk smashing the Anarchy sign, to me, is symbolic towards Punk going against the politically correct "Anarchists" that have taken over the movement and lead it to the state it's in today. It's a symbol against the pro-multiracial elements in the Punk scene that claim the Anarchist label (which is a large number of people). If the Anarchist symbol was widely accepted in the Punk scene as a symbol of National Anarchism and racial segregation we obviously wouldn't have a problem with it.

Mike: I have heard of such statements while researching Proudhon, but at that time in history it really wasn't uncommon for a lot of political philosophers to be racial minded and anti-semitic. Even Karl Marx (who was a Jew) raised the 'Jewish Question' and has been found to have made statements that were very 'racist' in nature. In my eyes, it makes all the sense in the world for Anarchists, Socialists, Nationalists, and even Communists to be anti-Semitic considering that Jews, in a way, are nature's ultimate oppressive Capitalists. Unfortunately, Jews have infiltrated nearly every political system in history and changed it to suit their own agenda and thus changed a lot of their original ideologies. Therefore, in many of today's Anarchists, Socialists, and Communists you will find a lot of them to be very anti-racist and tolerate no sort of racial emphasis on anything whatsoever.

You are obviously a band that gets scorn from both ends of the political spectrum, both from the leftwing and the rightwing, for your daring to cross political and musical genres both. Being that this is the case, surely it shouldn't be too hard to fathom that not everyone that is anarchisticly inclined is an integrationalist. Anarchism doesn't have to be integrationalist in other words, just as punkrock doesn't have to be Marxist either. Any thoughts on this?

Mike: I agree completely. I can fully understand and appreciate racially conscious Anarchists. We want people to understand that we aren't intolerant of racial-minded people that pursue different political approaches. We may not agree with Anarchism, Capitalism, or any of the other political philosophies people believe in, but as long as you hold emphasis on racial issues we will support you and have no problem with you.

FNF: What are your interactions with other punks like? Is there a local WhiteNationalist Punk-rock scene in your area? Is there a growing WN punk scene that isn't given their just rewards or time in the spotlight?

Mike: Our interactions with most Punks vary on the individual. At large, most Punks we've spoken to in the past haven't expressed any outright problem towards our beliefs (it might have been because they didn't want to get into a fight though hahaha). Occasionally we'll hear from the cowardly Internet trash talking loser that claims the Punk label, but that's about it. Mainly it's been the SHARP & Red Skinheads that have expressed the most outrage towards Forward Area, which is funny because we're no threat to their subculture, but it shows they are scared of losing their grip on the Punk scene.

In a town right outside of the city we live in, nearly every Punk believes in racialism and Forward Area played a large role in that development. World-wide there is an ever growing WN Punk scene and it hasn't nearly gotten the attention it deserves from the WN scene at large. I hear from new WN Punk bands and individuals everyday from nearly ever corner of the White world. Just in the past 4-5 years things really started taking off and it's looking very good. These are all very encouraging signs to us.

FNF: This of course would lead one to ask, what are your interactions with the skinheads and other 'white nationalist' folks like? Do they generally support you all or are they for the most part too trapped in their own way of thinking to accept anything different looking/sounding like Forward Area?

Mike: In our experience, overall most Skinheads have been supportive towards us and the WP Punk movement in general. There will be the Skinhead every now and then that can't handle the concept of White Nationalism within another subculture, especially one which looks different from theirs, but that has been seldom. Other White Nationalist individuals have been either supportive or think of us as a "negative element" to the cause. Usually those individuals think the same of Skinheads.

FNF: There is obviously, whether legitimate or not, a promotion of the more republican conservative look within the WN 'movement'. Those of us that don't fit the David Duke look alike mold seem to get the shaft. What do you say to those that think we all have to look like David Duke carbon copies in our daily dress style?

Mike: I agree, in the more mainstream White Nationalist movement there tends to be a very conservative look among it's followers. I can see why they would want to promote this look considering it will make it easier for mainstream society to hear them out. Mainstream people hardly take someone who expresses individuality through their appearance seriously. The reason being, they've been conditioned to think that way. I don't agree with it, but it's a sad reality. Then again, the second the media labels these conservative looking White Nationalists "Nazis" (which they label any group of White people with racial views) it doesn't matter how mainstream they look, no one is going to hear them out anyway. One thing I do know, it's not right for any of these conservative looking WNs to try to say we don't have a place in this movement. We provide just as productively for this cause as anyone else, it's only in a different way.

For sure Punks, Skinheads, and other individuals who don't fit the conservative/mainstream look have more luck in the underground circles. The benefit of working within the underground is not only do you not have to worry about how your "look" may appear to others, but you also don't have to modify your politics to be more "acceptable" to the masses either. There is more freedom in it and often times people in the underground are already independent thinking people, so it's not as difficult to talk with them about race or politics as it would be a mainstream/average Joe.

FNF: Are folks leaving untold amounts of youth behind that may be racial in their outlook but are not about to put on the suit and tie for their daily life unless it is due to job constraints, and therefore end up having nothing to do with any of it because of the stigma attached to their way of dress.

Mike: Very much so. A common problem I find among people I've talked to about White Nationalism is they feel the way they look will be unacceptable within the movement. This is due to the conservative David Duke looking people we previously talked about, and also Skinheads that think they have a monopoly on the movement. If these youths felt they would be accepted with open arms into the movement we would see a dramatic increase in our numbers. I believe peoples character should be the only thing we measure in this movement, not the way they choose to dress or any other insignificant things. There have been so many scumbags that have been accepted in the movement just because they fit the stereotype of how people within the movement should look and it really angers me.

Another thing that's keeping back youth from embracing racial politics is that they think if they aren't of a Nordic background they aren't accepted as "White". This is more so society's (for brainwashing people of Mediterranean or Slavic backgrounds to think they aren't White) than the movement's. However, the rise in Nordicist attitudes within the movement isn't helping this problem either and I think it's very counterproductive and the problem is getting out of hand.

Mike: "Punk's Not Red" basically means that you don't have to be some kind of politically correct, anti-racist Marxist in order to be a Punk. It means that Punk didn't start off as a Communistic subculture and though many people holding Red politics may have infiltrated the movement, they don't own it and never will.

Mike: Well, we haven't played shows in quite a while due to a lot of line-up changes. We are working on getting a solid group of people together to play live with and we're hoping very soon we'll be ready to hit the stage again. When we're ready, people will be able to see us at any WP concert in America or Europe we're invited to and able to play. We also plan on playing apolitical gigs, but we won't elaborate on that so all the little Antifa bastards out there can't try to ruin them.

FNF: When can folks expect you to start seeing you playing gigs in a "Folk And Faith - Beyond Left and Right" shirt?

Mike: We're currently working on the material and hope to record our debut full length, "Our Turn", sometime towards the end of this summer. We're also working on some smaller compilation and EP projects as well.

A split CD between us and Warfare 88 entitled Hate Punk In Your Face was just released a couple of months ago on Condemned Records. The split features 11 songs from each band and so far we've gotten really great feedback from it. It's available from most American WP music distributors (including Condemned Records: www.CondemnedRecords.com) and a growing amount of European WP music distributors. We plan to have it available to order directly from us on our official band site soon, as well new F.A. merchandise and various other things.

FNF: As a site that aims to transcend political ideologies and get "beyond left and right-wing" views, it is actually quite refreshing to see a band that is attempting to break down musical and political barriers with folk centered or Euro-Centric themed Punk tunes.

Mike: Likewise, for us it's refreshing seeing a site dedicated to political alternatives to what's generally accepted in the White Nationalist realm. Your group is very progressive and that's one of the things that this movement is in serious need of these days.

FNF: Typically, racial separatist Punk music is not heard of much and so far as we know of, there aren't any other racialist Punk bands out there, at least stateside. Is this correct and if so, WHY?

Mike: Racial separatist Punk music dates all the way back to England 1978. The thing is, the music media at that time decided to divide underground music two ways, racial music for Skinheads and less political and more "chaos" orientated music for Punks. They decided they would keep Punk politics mainstream-friendly by suppressing it's controversial racial elements, so that way they could make money off the "Punk" label. The mainstream media started reporting Skinheads as racists and Punks as Anarchists. This really effected the way both subcultures would turn out in the future. However, racial Punk bands have always existed, they have just been relatively unheard of (the way business wanted it to be).

In America right now the only other WP Punk band that might exist is The Dirty White Punks, though I'm not exactly sure if they are still around. There are a number of WP Punk bands in America forming I'm in contact with, and several WP Punk bands in existence world-wide.

FNF: Any final thoughts that you would like Folk And Faith readers and fellow would-be Musical Terrorists to know about you, your band, and your politics, the final word is yours Comrades -

We would also like to state once again, we aren't the enemy of any White racialists out there that hold different views than ours. We must unite under our common struggle in order to achieve what's most important: The existence of our people.

FNF: Thanks a million for doing this interview with us here at FNF and we look forward to hearing more out of a band that is smashing down barricades for musical styles left and right!

Revolutionary Regards!