Propagandhi

Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky.

[1][3][5] Both in their lyrics and hands-on activism, the band's members champion various left wing and anarchist causes and veganism, and have taken a vocal stance against human rights violations, sexism, racism, nationalism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism and organized religion.

[6][7] In 1986, Samolesky and Hannah recruited original bassist Scott Hopper via a "progressive thrash band looking for bass player" flyer posted in a local record shop.

In 1992, Propagandhi played a show with California punk rock band NOFX and included in their set a cover version of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me".

Ramsey Kanaan, founder of the anarchist publishing company AK Press, appears on "A Public Dis-Service Announcement from Shell" as the voice of the petroleum multinational.

The song titles and lyrics of Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes furthered the sphere of their political views, bolstered by the addition of Kowalski's aggressive songwriting and an increased density of guitar lines.

Like its predecessor, the album features multimedia content, with a number of PDF files on topics such as participatory economics and veganism, and links to websites of organizations that Propagandhi support.

[14] Propagandhi pledged to use the $5000 prize to make donations to the Haiti Action Network and The Welcome Place, an organization in Winnipeg for which they'd previously done volunteer work which helps refugees start new lives in Manitoba.

The band created a web page giving fans an option to receive two high-quality songs from the album before its release by donating $1 to $10 to one of three activist organizations which they supported.

[21] In collaboration with their friends and fellow musicians from Sheet Happens Publishing and Protest the Hero, Propagandhi also released a tablature transcription of Supporting Caste for guitar and bass in early 2012.

[22][23] After several years' work and pre-release snippets offered through various Internet outlets, Failed States, their sixth studio album, was released on 4 September 2012 through Epitaph Records.

Chris Hannah performing at Galpón Víctor Jara in Santiago-Chile, 2007