During the 2017 Warped Tour stop in Baltimore Maryland, Empire Extreme got to sit down and talk to drummer Pat Thetic of Anti-Flag after they played a kick ass set on the HardRock stage.

Before we started the interview Pat and I were talking about the recorder I have on my phone which looks like the old school recorders from back in the day. My recorder was a common theme with many people that day.

Empire: You guys are from Pittsburgh and just played that area during the warped tour how was that?
Pat: It was a good show, it’s always fun to play your hometown and all your friends and family come out to say hello.

Empire: Did you guys ever play Club Laga when that was still a club in Pittsburgh?
Pat: Actually I will tell you we were the first band to ever play club laga. Laga hadn’t really opened yet and I heard about it, and Ron who was the owner I asked if we can rent out the space and we played before it was even a club. At that time we were playing mostly halls and bars at that time.

Empire: How do you feel about the state of the world right now?
Pat: The fact that Donald Trump is president is horribly embarrassing to me. The fact that a con man and carnival barker has been given the keys to one the most powerful countries in the world. Donald Trump has done is legitimized bigotry and racist and sexism, and that’s a problem. You’re uncle who was a closet bigot feels now he can express those views out loud and that’s pretty fucked up.

Empire: You guys always have a lot to say about the cops too.
Pat: Yeah, in 2015-2017 cops are shooting young black men all over the place. It’s just a reality there are too many guns in the world. I come from western PA and it’s a gun culture. But someone who has a gun and has a mental Health issues and it’s to easy to shoot a bunch of people. And with the police they are afraid because everybody has guns because most of them do, and they shoot overwhelming young black men.

Empire: What do you guys think about the Dickies incident at Warped Tour earlier?
Pat: I’m a firm believer that everybody should be able to say whatever they want, but if you’re an asshole and say shitty things people are going to call you out on it. Unfortunately the guy from the Dickies said some horrible shit and he got called out on it. There’s been a debate on if  punk rock is being to P.C. and I don’t think it’s a question about being to PC I think that punk rock has always been fighting against the status quo and the elite, and young women are not the powerful and the elite. They don’t have the power that white men have, so when a white man on stage belittles a woman.

Empire: Which is crazy because this year, there are soo many powerful and strong women bands on the tour.
Pat: which is awesome, they are out there and they ain’t taking any shit.

Empire: Any plans on a new album?
Pat: Right before this tour we been working on a new record and we’ve been doing mastering and mixing while on this tour. We don’t have a title or a date yet, hopefully sometime in the fall.

Empire: If you can bring back any musician from the dead, who would you?
Pat: I would bring back Keith Moon, because we was more off time than me, and I need some more off time drummers out there in the world. In 2017 everything is on a click or a timer.
Empire: Anything you like to say to the fans?
Pat: Just an inspiring note, the women’s March had an impact on politics. We need another one of those marches, doesn’t need to be a woman’s one but has to be a March for people who thing trump needs to go. I think right now the American population is like let’s just let the system work it’s way out and see what happens, but if that takes too long we need to take to the streets. If you put 200,000 people out on the streets saying trump has to go things will change very quickly.

Empire: I always have said I’m for people who want to protest or march, but that women’s one was inspirational because it was done so peacefully not like most that we see.
Pat: Women are much better than us (laugh). The reality of it for social movements to work you need women and grandmothers. If you put a firehose on them the people realize the powerful are out of touch compared to men with mask they think they deserved it.

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Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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