Hello Rockstars! Today I am officially starting a new series with two parts! Sometimes I will be delving into one song or an entire EP or Album but they both have the same most important theme: Politics!
Here at Vegas Music Scene I have always been open about my beliefs and my convictions. I know that might rub some people a certain way, and that’s okay! That’s the beauty of freedom of speech! 😉
Today’s Political EP is by the awesome band The Channel!
I asked them some questions about their new music, the message of their EP and more! Enjoy!
**All Photo’s Courtesy of The Channel. 🙂
Band: THE CHANNEL
EP: THE FASCIST AMERICA EP [Includes ‘untitled (fascist america)’ and ‘Mania’] https://thechannellv.bandcamp.com/album/the-fascist-america-ep or on major streaming platforms.
Release Date: 02/16/2026
VMS: Please tell me about your beginnings, your EP, and how it came into fruition.
JAMES: Back in 2022, our original lineup was just a garage band that Liam and I were messing around with. At that time, I was very disillusioned politically, being a student socialist, unable to convince my peers to abandon their reaction, their underlying Americanism. Through the years I had seen so many shock-value, kneejerk and slapdash anti-Trump satires that it bored me.
It was boring because it was being delivered by hypocrites, or it was surface level, or it made a devil of a man who was not anything more unlike the previous men who held his office. Trump was not new or different. He’s gross, he’s crass, he ‘says-it-like-it-is’, but is he unique? Is he any more (or less) evil than Bush (who some are trying to rehabilitate) or Reagan or Cheney or any of the more respectable, gentlemanly killers?
Or maybe I was pretentious and stupid, like many teenagers before and after. All in all, we wanted to just write good songs, which I felt took precedence over a message in a rock band. Though I had never been shy to discuss politics in music, I felt that subtlety and delicate prose took precedence over just shouting an all-caps MESSAGE! It should be good art.
By the time Biden’s term was waning, it was clear to everyone (well, mostly everyone) that unless the Democrats pulled a real hail mary, Trump would be elected again. It was inevitable to me. I already harbored this disdain towards those who willingly buried their heads in the sand in both political clans. Those who said that the previous world we lived in was harmony and that the icky orange villain was preventing them from sipping mimosas and donating millions to olive orchard decimation funds. With so much death and misery in the air from both parties, I kept that cynicism. I still had a bit of fool’s hope that maybe things wouldn’t be so dark. I voted, sure, but I didn’t think it would do anything. I hoped. But nothing changed, they only got worse.
We had reformed THE CHANNEL in 2024, and I was angrier than I had ever been. In November, we got our first opportunity to play with the newest lineup, the week after election day. I didn’t pay attention to the polls, because I knew what was going to happen. I thought it was going to pass over me and I would feel a mild frustration, but nothing new, nothing would pierce through the exterior, through the steeling I did. I thought I was ready, but when it happened, I felt a raw sensation of despair. Of fear. I had a pit in my stomach. From that immediate disgust, I opened up my DAW and cycled through my files until I found a drumloop that matched my heart rate. From there I just repeated, “We’re living in a Fascist America,” over and over. A mantra. It was painfully obvious, maybe even a bit clunky, direct, blunt – It was everything I hated about the previous ‘anti-fascist’ art from my high school years, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to say it out loud. I needed to release that feeling. I’m happy that the feeling was shared with my bandmates.
VMS: I know everyone gets incredibly divisive when it comes to politics. What inspired you to write this EP and what does it mean to you personally?
JAMES: My own politics are divisive. To be blunt, I am a socialist. Capitalism arose from feudalism, and now the conditions to progress to socialism are materializing in front of us. Those who fight entropy are fascists. When Capitalism is in its death throes, you will find that the capitalists don’t want to let go. They fight to preserve capital, against all odds, even basic humanity, and embrace fascism. It’s better to be Henry Ford, Coco Chanel, Hugo Boss or Adi Dassler in their eyes. I wanted to write this song because I had something to say about the relationship between capital, the United States, and fascism. To inform everyone around me that we need to speak up, and to not become apathetic or an apologist.
VMS: How would you describe your political ideology?
JAMES: I just side with the international Proletariat.
LIAM: Leftist. Anti-capitalist. I hate the hustle propaganda. I think we are so plagued by that ‘keep-to-the-grind’ society. I think our government should work for us. I hate having to work 6 days a week, and bills, and worrying about having money – and I hate hearing about my friends too. I would say I’m socialist, a democratic one, but I’m not involved with any organization specifically.
CARLOS: Progressive Social Democrat. I have a lot of sympathy for the Marxist/Leftist movement and am friends with a lot of them. I think we basically agree on most of the same policies, we just disagree on the end goal.
WILLIAM: A progressive libertarian. I’m not here to tell you how you should live your life. It’s your personal responsibility with how you want to live with yourself.
ALEX: No answer.
VMS: How has everything going on in our political climate affected you personally?
JAMES: I’m a queer, Mexican-American autistic man. Every facet of modern conservative thought is built around shutting me and the ones I love out of the public eye and having us labeled as undesirables. Knowing that there’s a non-admissible amount of people, so-called ‘Silent majority’, ‘regular Americans’, who hate my guts is not a good feeling. Once you’ve internalized that they can’t let you live as who you want to be, it’s hard not to be disenfranchised. I have neighbors flying confederate flags in Nevada. It’s depressing, literally, it feels like a giant stone on my chest.
LIAM: I think – I don’t know. I lived a very privileged life. Nothing ‘terrible’ has hit me personally, but the biggest eye-opener is how Neoliberalism breeds passive apathy. Our parents’ politics is just built around giving ‘context’ to atrocities. They parrot just what is seen on TV. It’s so weird to have such well educated people accept the mainstream narrative. They care about nothing except ‘I Hate Trump’. They don’t see the issues with the system and both parties that led to this point. He doesn’t think about the complicit nature of all sides.
CARLOS: The cost of everything is still going up, and the job market is terrible right now.
WILLIAM: As the son of Mexican immigrants, I sweated more than usual when a bill was proposed to revoke birthright citizenship last year. Fortunately the bill didn’t pass, but the lingering fear still lives in the back of my head.
My mom has also been on my mind, with her struggle for citizenship long before I was born, coming to the US for the first time in the early 1990s as a resident. And since ’97, almost thirty years ago, she has been taking the correct steps to get full legal status. But with every possible step she takes, the goal post keeps moving, adding to the never ending hurdles that is obtaining legal citizenship status.
VMS: What would you like people to understand about your perspective and why it’s important to talk about these important things going on in the world?
JAMES: I think people know that it’s important to talk but they’re afraid. Afraid and exhausted. They know everything is wrong, deeply wrong, that the world that we live in is disturbing. It’s built on the backs of suffering, suffering that seems unending, but it’s not. It’s more important than ever to keep talking even if it makes you uncomfortable or scared. Another thing is you have to talk about the right stuff. There are people who live entirely insular lives within their own niches, online and offline, but at some point there will be real violence and sorrow right at your front door. You can’t ignore it anymore.
LIAM: We live in such an entertainment based society. It’s so easy to distract yourself throughout the day. If anything is making you depressed about injustice in our world you can distract yourself so easily. As small as it is, even posting on your story does bring awareness. You can’t just shy yourself away when these conversations pop up with your friends or your family. It’s easy to feel helpless. Allowing yourself to feel helpless and depressed about the ongoing bullshit at home, or across the sea, it at least shows that you have morals.
WILLIAM: While I haven’t been detrimentally affected by any laws introduced recently, aside from the mental exhaustion, the regression in our government’s policies are affecting the day-to-day lives of the disenfranchised they’re geared towards, such as the overturned ruling in the Roe v Wade case. While it might not be on our doorstep, someone you know may be quietly struggling with this turbulence. It’s an uncomfortable conversation for sure, but it is a necessary step if we want to move forward as a community and country. Some people believe this is just a phase and the America that existed when they were younger is still here. It doesn’t. Hell, the version of America I even reminisce on never existed for some.
VMS: What do you think are the most important issues facing the United States today? If you were in charge, how would you propose we fix or address those issues?
JAMES: Abolish the United States. That’s the first and last executive order I would issue. The American project is over, we need to reorganize from the bottom up.
CARLOS: The Supreme Court decided that basically the President has immunity with respect to committing crimes, and half the country voted for Trump 3 times. It seems like we failed a national IQ test 3 times, and part of that is due to the rise of anti-intellectualism. We have to combat mis/disinformation more effectively.
WILLIAM: Abolish ICE. The USA was fine without it for 222 years, and the organization only came about in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Since then, and especially recently, ICE has moved away from focusing their efforts on the borders to breaking constitutional laws. I would arrest and prosecute any persons responsible for the murders of our innocent citizens and the inhumane conditions of the detention centers nationwide.
VMS: Most people tend to have a cynical view about politicians (ex. – “all politicians are corrupt and are in it for themselves”) – if you do have such views, what do you think we as a nation can do to elect better people to office?
JAMES: Elections are business deals. In the current system, I think if we, the citizens, built some real dual-power, something that could rival working within, we could strongarm the mainstream parties to concede to real positions that would benefit us – even in the short term. We need stronger unions, civil rights organizations, independent food storage, and legal aid. Someone who has real charisma and has the backing of said people would be better than a careerist who interned at a Fortune 500 fresh out of Harvard. Is a little corruption a good thing, as long as it helps the right people?
LIAM: One of the biggest things is people waking up to foreign and Israeli funded politics. Like the wave against AIPAC is huge. I think it really does start with community. You see a lot of refreshing democratic socialist candidates getting elected. Grassroots candidates can even rival PAC funded ones, and you see how much they can change their community. The power of having real people behind you is undeniable.
WILLIAM: Some do want to help, sure, but unfortunately we live in a time where politicians not following through on their campaigns is common. Research politicians in your local area thoroughly. How they plan on expanding public services, such as more affordable healthcare for all persons, better education programs, and reliable local transportation systems. What is their history in politics and the policies that they’ve proposed or backed up to help build and maintain communities? What have they done to better and/or harm the community they represent?
VMS: I know when it comes to ICE and immigration everyone is incredibly divided, but what would you tell people to maybe help them understand your side of the story and also about everything that is going on right now, what the potential long term ramifications could be for the future of Las Vegas and its citizens?
LIAM: Compared to other cities, it hasn’t hit as hard and as deadly. Governor Lombardo has been cuddling up more to Trump and I fear that it could get worse.
WILLIAM: Broadacres is one of the liveliest and richest representations of Mexican and Central American culture I’ve encountered since moving to Vegas in 2018. Something reminiscent of a “tianguies”, an open market community for shopping and bartering, a common sight south of the border. With the rise of ICE raids last year, it did close down temporarily. They’ve reopened since then, but some damage was done. I know musicians in cumbia bands that were affected who no longer get invited to perform there, losing work. And that’s just the musicians. I can only imagine the families that used to hold shops there disappearing after the temporary closure. Families and hardworking folk scared to be victims of a potential raid.
VMS: What is at the heart of the issues going on right now, for you as an individual? What is the most important thing that needs to be fixed?
JAMES: Apathy. The apathetic American sickens me and it’s more than just a generational issue. To talk more directly to the people, my people: you need to actually give a shit about what is going on. You need to actually act and standby our neighbors, our friends, our families and community. It’s not enough to post on your IG stories or vote. We should be organizing and standing up for each other.
LIAM: End political dynasties and end Super PACs. People educate themselves on truly choosing the best representatives from working class choices. The Epstein class, the connected and ultra-wealthy cannot continue to run things.
VMS: What is the most important thing someone should take away from your song? (Or song of choice).
JAMES: That we are living in a fascist America. Fundamentally, I wanted to make the point that this is what America does and has done for a long time. We have to recognize that this isn’t unique or relatively new. These contradictions have been apparent since before we were even a nation. The same system, the same monsters who destroyed entire societies and tribes of indigenous people with war and disease, packed enslaved Africans like sardines inside ships to be tortured and abused for generations, used Zyklon B on Mexican migrant workers originally invited to work for pennies on the dollar, sterilized poor women of color and immigrants, stole their children and sexually abused them, and destabilized entire countries overnight, tearing away their people’s right to self-determination.
These forces, this evil – it’s everywhere and it’s been here. The fascist you fear is right here at home, and when we, socialists (I don’t call myself a ‘leftist’), try to point this out, it’s bemoaned as sanctimonious and ‘purity testing’. Here’s a test: do people’s lives matter to you or do we have to wait for your corpo sponsors to relay what message you can display and what values you’re allowed to have?
Truthfully, Trump is awful, but don’t let his inevitable defeat make you complacent. You have to keep fighting. We all have to stop this madness before it gets worse.
LIAM: Everyone is far too comfy, “Fuck you, got mine.” We should never have that attitude. The main point is that we ARE living in a fascist America. Right now, it’s like there’s no anti-war art – no good anti-war art at least. We have to address the problems that we have now, that we are living under a psychopath’s government.
CARLOS: We’re living in an unprecedented era of lawlessness. Trump is commissioning crimes by promising people pardons. People need to be aware of it.
ALEX: It’s cynical and jaded, and a lot of people feel this way. You become numb to these things. My money, my taxes go to murder, how can I stay sane without becoming numb?
WILLIAM: We should be looking out for each other. We are privileged and we have to be proactive. United we stand, divided we fall.
VMS: I know many people will say that at the end of the day speaking up for what’s right won’t matter (i.e.Protesting) any advice for them?
LIAM: You can’t let it fade from the public consciousness. It’s better to do a little every day than to never speak out at all.
WILLIAM: Protesting may seem futile, but it can and will pave the way for a better tomorrow. It takes organization, intention, restraint and time.
VMS: I know things are bleak right now, but do you have any words to maybe help someone in this time or maybe your hopes for the future.
JAMES: At one time in the world, a time not too long ago, being the subject of a king seemed like a certainty that was as real as the Sun rising. That’s not real though, it’s just a farce, theater, set dressing. We go through life thinking that there is nothing more, that nothing new can come of this, that life as we live it today will be life as our children will live it tomorrow. That’s not true, and it’s never been true.
LIAM: There was this clip I saw, talking about how the “inevitability of AI” is fake. It’s fake, but they push it to generate fear. The fear makes you buy in, and they reap the profits. It’s not up to them, it’s up to you. You can’t let them propagandize to you, you can’t let them control you.
CARLOS: Don’t lose help. Don’t wallow in despair. People pay attention to things nationally, but you need to get involved locally. They want you desensitized to all the scandals and infringements on our rights, but you can stay informed and stay strong.
ALEX: Understand that there are people who are like you. Maintain revolutionary optimism. I hope things will be better, that we’ll organize and get louder voices, making sure no one is left behind. A more egalitarian world is possible.
WILLIAM: As hard it may be during these turbulent times, we must not forget our humanity and the commonalities in each other. As disillusioned as we feel, we must not give into despair. Give each other some grace. Hope and perseverance is what will help us prevail.
VMS: Any last words you would like to add to get people to understand maybe your perspective.
JAMES: Don’t buy into cults of personality. Get to know everyone around you. Stay alive.
LIAM: Delete twitter. Fuck the fascists. Don’t touch that dial.
For More Information about The Channel’s new EP please check out their website!
—-VMS.