"If I was to tell people about my struggle through my songs, that struggle would include money and the lack thereof, as well as the tyranny of those involved in keeping people from being happy and having what they need. The denial of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is an issue that should concern all people everywhere. It is a cause that I feel compelled to lend my voice and energy to. I have written a few songs directly and indirectly dealing with these issues. I hope they will bring some comfort and hope to those whose ears they fall upon, and in turn, inspire others to get involved. The time will always be now." --Kevin Sandbloom
For more info on how to get involved, affiliate, or otherwise spread the word, please visit:
economichumanrights.org
RECENT INTERVIEW FOR PPEHRC RELEASE
Make Him Wanna Holla: Kevin Sandbloom hips people to the real
by Latanya West
Kevin Sandbloom describes “Trouble,” one of the tracks on his latest release, the Economic Human Rights EP, as a social treatise on the state of human interactions today. “People just kind of go for what they know and overrun the reality of what’s going on.” Affectionately called a ‘funk philosopher’ by some, such intense eyeballed insight is at the heart of this man’s musical message and it perfectly positions him as an artistic spokesman for PPEHRC, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. PPEHRC’s mission is to unite poor people nationwide and fulfill MLK’s dream of ending poverty by building leadership and community-based solutions to the current economic crisis.
This past June, I scored a sweet assignment to interview Kevin Sandbloom one balmy Los Angeles afternoon. Fresh from his trip to Detroit for the historic US Social Forum event uniting poor people’s groups like PPEHRC from across the nation, Kevin sat down with me at a local coffee house to discuss the limited edition Economic Human Rights EP. Championing the cause of social justice and the condition of struggle and lack of awareness, part of the EP’s proceeds benefit PPEHRC’s mission.
He prefers you ‘put your own imagery’ on the meanings woven throughout his mindful tracks, but I managed to coax a few musings from him. Sandbloom’s music snares your brain, pops open your consciousness, and rouses you from the 9 to 5 drone. It reaches inside your heart and holds on tight. His soulful baritone massages even the most stubborn hiccup of discordant pain into something like peace.
Here’s insight into the man behind the music and a rich tapestry to weave your own images through when listening to his Economic Human Rights EP:
So tell me, how did your visit to US Social Forum come about?
I’ve been working with PPEHRC, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, for about a year - doing various things with them. I did a presentation in Washington D.C. at Bloom Bars. We had a film screening of a movie called “Explicit Ills” and we had the local chapter leader from PPEHRC come out and speak. It’s got Rosario Dawson in it. It has a lot of PPEHRC messaging in it. Black Thought is in it. Mark Webber directed it. He is Cheri Honkala’s son. She’s the National Organizer for PPEHRC. I actually worked with a couple of local L.A. people involved with PPEHRC. Lee Ballinger is one. Timeka Drew is the one who brought me into the organization. So, being involved with them and [doing] a few functions with PPEHRC we generated interest in bringing me out to Detroit to perform for the people out there and doing some songs.
CONT. BELOW
1. Minimum Wage sample
2. Halfway Down
3. All That Money sample
4. Fresh
5. Trouble
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So you already had that idea in the works?
Yeah. For the last couple of months we had been talking about putting together an EP with socially minded songs that fit the message.
How did up choose the particular songs you have on the EP?
I have quite a few songs that are more or less social commentary oriented, “Minimum Wage” being one of them. It’s the first song on the EP and, like, “Fresh” and, “All That Money”.
Okay, so, I was looking at some of the songs on the PPEHRC EP and I wanted to get into some of your lyrics a little. Speaking of “Minimum Wage” one of your lyrics is ‘Make your soul sweat’ at the end and I was thinking, okay, what does he mean by that? You tell me.
Well, you know, [laughs] that’s just kind of like the pressure of life, ‘make your soul sweat’ like, uh, just going through it and having to put your head down and work your way through a situation - whatever that might be. Financial or personal. Usually those things are all tied up together in life somewhere along the line. In a really strange way the song is really like an allegory also for an emotional place. Like, ‘minimum wage’: working for the bare minimum of getting something from a relationship or getting something from somebody or just asking for “Can I just get this much to work on?” You know? [laughs]. There was kind of a dual meaning to that song a little bit.
That’s’ cool. I would have never known.
A lot of the stuff I write has this ambiguous thing about it. Nebulous meanings. I’m kind of - I’m writing about something that’s going on personally but I’m using some other imagery for it. So it takes on a different visual, but where it’s coming from is some other place.
Ok. “Halfway Down.” One lyric that came out for me was ‘Beauty succumbs to the muscle’. What does that mean…[laughs] it was like, mmm, that’s interesting.
[laughs] That’s a dual meaning too, ‘cause it kind of has sexual overtones – but it doesn’t. That’s just about the wielding of power in the universe. And, that muscle is power. Muscle is strength and that seems to carry a lot of weight in society. Beauty, i.e. art or, um, or meekness or kindness is always subverted for power.
Like political power, economic power, things like that?
Right.
Alright, cool. Okay. “Fresh.” To me anyway, I experienced it, in the context of this PPEHRC EP and thinking about the songs you have together there, as kind of like the up beat. The hopeful message.
Right
So you say ‘There’s no separation / fresh in your mind / everybody want everything and that leaves nothing.’ Especially the ‘There’s no separation’ line – tell me about that.
That one’s more direct. Basically, we’re all connected and interdependent. As much as we try to establish our individuals and our regions or our families or our countries, you know, all those separations kind of create the conflict. I just saw a good quote today on Twitter about ‘There’s enough in the world for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed,’ a quote by Ghandi. That’s the thing. We’re all wrapped up in wanting what we want or wanting everything. Which is fine. But on another level - on a global level - its not good right now. There are basic answers to that, which is, lower the human race’s needs or lower the population. One of the two. If there were half the people in the world or a quarter of the people in this world we could probably sustain this lifestyle, but we can’t. So both of those things need to be addressed. Use of resources and the fact that we feel like we can just continue proliferating whatever we want to do.
Are these things you’ve come to over the years as you’ve performed or something you’ve always had inside of you when you got started?
I think it’s definitely something I was aware of when I was younger. I was very socially conscious, or conscious of the powers that influence how we live and how we think and all that.
So it’s always been a part of you – being socially aware, getting that message out?
Yes. The message is fine, but what’s the answer? The answer is the key. It’s like we’re all caught up in information. And like, “Ohhh. Well, I know this is going on. I know there’s oil in the gulf, and I know that we’re killing ourselves with whatever it is we’re doing.”
But what are we going to do about it?
Yeah, That’s all fine and well, but…
Yeah. Have you come up with any answers?
I don’t know. I have a lot of answers but they’re all … there are some specific answers I think that could take place. Actions that could take place. But I don’t know that the human species is willing to make that change. I think we are actually more bought into our problems than we admit. And we’re bored. People are bored. If we lived in a more utopian society, what would we do with ourselves? We are stuck in a very low state of being.
But then you have your song “Fresh” and that kind of helps people to --
[laughs] And then, you can play some music about it. Right? You can play some music and somehow it makes people feel better.
That’s good. That’s a good thing. That’s a beautiful thing.
Yeah.
Let’s see. ”Trouble.” That’s kind of a deep song. The lyrics. The story there. Tell me about that.
Well that’s something that came out of my anti-authoritarian mindset when I was younger. I still feel like it’s at the core of a lot of interactions with people. People hold on to what they know - they hold on to knowing certain things.
You mean like their beliefs about certain thing?
Their belief systems, yes, exactly. Their belief systems, but also on a personal level, on an ego level.
Ahhh, yeah.
It’s like, people have to know something in order to exist. In order to work in the world.
That’s where that lyric ‘I know trouble, you …’
‘know everything.’
That’s where that comes from?
Yeah, and that’s at the core of what’s wrong with a lot of relationships or wrong with a lot of interactions or how things work. People just kind of go for what they know and overrun the actual - the reality - of what it is that’s going on. Or a chance to learn something. Or a chance to have an exchange with someone. Instead of, like, ‘Well, I just KNOW’ and ‘This is just what I know and THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS.’ [laughs] That’s at the core of how people function. You have to know certain things about yourself or about what you believe. It’s not easy to let those go.
“All That Money.” Did you want to say anything about that?
Yes. I’ve had a lot of espresso now. [laughs] That’s kind of just about the money-go-round in the world. I think what I’m trying to say with that song is that the people who control the money system are no different than the gangsters who control whatever illicit or illegal money systems. So it’s all the same and it’s all about getting over on somebody. Somebody’s always being kind of squashed underneath a boot in order to survive – or how people think that’s how they survive. And I think people really buy into that to a certain extent. I mean, not everybody. There are a lot of people in the world that just want to work and feed their family and exist in a non-stressed or somewhat peaceful way. But they’re always being subjected to these forces and a lot of these forces are created and supported by our government and by the way that our money system works. And all of it, really, all of it’s just gettin’ over on people. So somebody selling crack on the corner or whatever…
Same thing.
It’s the same thing. Everybody has their hustle. Everybody’s hustling something and its just whatever people feel is acceptable to hustle.
So, what are you working on now?
I’m workin’ on a couple projects. Mainly my next cd, right now. That’s what I’m focusing on right at this moment. I have two other projects: a one-man show, which is going to involve a few of the songs from my new cd. But also some other songs as well. There are quite a few songs on the new record that have spoken word parts in them, or range from rap, to storytelling, to spoken word. Some of the sections are very short, but at least half of the songs, if not more, have a spoken word section.
Cool. Okay, last question. Is there anything that you want people to come away with when they listen to your Economic Human Rights EP?
I think, mainly, that they are not alone in feeling, maybe, the hardship. I think that’s really the basic thing that you can give to someone else. The fact that you’re not alone. We all are struggling. A lot of people are struggling. Because, I think people feel like - they’re always comparing themselves to other people. Are you doing well? Are you doing okay? Do you have your shit together? And that’s kind of a basic communication in music that I think is lost these days. Because everything, especially on pop radio, is all about --
Nothing
Yeah or having money or trying to have money, or how well you’re doing or how bad you’re doing. It’s really on a low level of communication, you know? I don’t think that the record industry or the pop music industry thinks people want to really hear - they think they don’t really want to hear about - people struggling. It’s not a feel-good message for people to hear.
That’s a good way to put it – they think they don’t.
Well, I think that a lot of artists think that they have to buy into that. The whole “positive” “be uplifting” “we are going to get our…. whatever.” And that’s all good, but I think people respond to a real story. You’d be surprised. That often happens to me at shows. Where I feel like the audience wants something different than what, maybe, the other artists at the show feel like they want. I’ll give them something a little heavier than the promoter or other artists might think is acceptable. And they totally respond to it.
So, that’s where you take your risks a little bit.
Yeah. And, you don’t have to dumb your stuff down, dumb your music down. The audience is smarter – and feels a lot more - than people give them credit for.
Latanya West is a writer based in Los Angeles, California
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