Music of Resistance: An Interview with Big Dudee Roo

By: Ben Cutbank, for Beautiful Resistance Distro

What follows is an interview with Aurora Lewis and Max Lockwood of Big Dudee Roo, an ecologically-inspired music group from Wayland, Michigan. I had a chance to talk with them around the new year of 2012 about their new album, what inspires them, and being part of a culture of resistance. Visit their website to learn more about them. Order their CD from Beautiful Resistance Distro, here.

Beautiful Resistance Distro: Hello, Its Ben for Beautiful Resistance Distro. I’m honored to have the chance to have a discussion with members of the music group Big Dudee Roo. To start, would you please give a brief explanation of who you are and what you do?

Max: We’re a folk-rock band from Wayland, Michigan. We write a lot of original music and play a lot of shows around Michigan. I think our music has a wide range of themes, as far as the songs that we write. Me and Nate, our banjo player, tend to focus on different environmental and social justice themes, in sort of a way that relates to people individually and emotionally. As far as the music itself goes too, we really try to focus on having a unique, original sound that is still grounded in folk and rock influences, and those genres. We pay really close attention to the songs. There’s really no virtuosic playing in the band. Everyone kind of plays their role and contributes to the song itself without stepping all over the song. You know, there’s not a lot of solos or anything. So, it’s sort of more egalitarian the way we make music.

Aurora: Yeah, I think mostly we all just love to play. You know, we just love music.

Max: And, we’re all really close friends. We all grew up in the same small town here in Southwest Michigan. So, we have a close bond with each other.

BRD: When did you start playing music together as Big Dudee Roo and what first led you to begin using your gifts as musicians as a tool for expressing your personal views on environmental, social, and political issues?

Aurora: As far as when Big Dudee Roo started playing: like we said we all went to the same high school. Everybody else in the band is a few years older than me. I’m Max’s little sister. They started playing— Max and Nate played 7^th and 8^th grade talent shows. And then Justin was your friend too, and so is Kurt, so they started playing together.

Max: Kurt was actually Justin’s next door neighbor. We needed a drummer and Justin was like, “I think Kurt’s a drummer”. And Kurt used to babysit Justin back in the day because they live right next to each other.

Aurora: Yeah, and then I started singing backup with them when I was about fourteen years old and I officially joined the band when I was about sixteen.

Max: And, we used to be called Big Dudee Roo and the Raptors.

Aurora: We all had nicknames; raptor nicknames.

Max: It’s such a long name that no one could remember or get it right. They’d be like, “What…did you just say?” So for practical purposes we just cut off “the Raptors”.

Aurora: Yeah, there was one venue that put up a flyer about us that said “Big Dundee Roo and the Rafters”.

Max: As far as when we started using our musical talents to support or promote different political and social causes: that was something that attracted me about music right from the beginning. When me and Nate were in 8^th grade we had a pop-punk band. That’s how we got our start. I was attracted by—back then I remember there was a band called NOFX that I was into. They had some political songs, some anti-Bush songs and I thought that was so cool. So, when I first started writing songs that was something I started doing really early, trying to write protest songs. Then, over the years our political consciousness as individuals and as a band grew a lot and I personally got really into Deep Green Resistance activists and writers. I read a lot of Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith and even spent some time over in Bellingham, Washington, working with some members of Fertile Ground, who are still really great friends today. So, it’s always been important to me, and I think it’s important to everybody in the band, to see music not just as pure entertainment, but as something that can make people think and get at their emotions. You know, on one hand music is entertainment—you want to make music that sounds good and that people are going to enjoy, that they can dance to, move to—but on the other hand it’s always been more than that for me. I remember in high school I was totally obsessed with the band Pearl Jam. It sounds funny, but I was totally attracted to how they did things like took on Ticketmaster for having a monopoly. A lot of their songs actually deal with feminist issues. There are lots of songs that concern abortion and also songs about the abuse of the culture. That was something that really attracted me. Anyways, we love—like last year when we got to play at Candlelight Collective in West Bend—that was so much fun and we had such a great night. Because a lot of times we play in bars and different places aren’t necessarily paying close attention to the words, and maybe even not the music, sometimes. So, it was great to play at a place like that where everyone was super engaged and playing attention to the words we were saying. And, we could tell the stories about the songs. That just feels so good. Those are the shows we love to play.

Aurora: The gems.

DGR Wisconsin's first event

On August 5th, an amazing event that i helped to set up happened at Candlelight Collective in West Bend. I, on behalf of Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin, invited musicians Big Dudee Roo and Thistle to play their songs of ecological, social, and feminist resistance. I gave a short talk and presentation on Deep Green Resistance (DGR) and also had a DGR table set up.

The presentation started with a showing of the incredibly powerful short film, Resist: Do not Comply, which includes the voices and words of Lierre Keith and Derrick Jensen, two of the authors of the just-released book, Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. I am so grateful that i had the wisdom of Lierre and Derrick on hand to begin the presentation with; the film had many in tears, and really set a tone that was perfect for what i was speaking to. The talk started with general information about the Deep Green Resistance movement: it's strategy, analysis, goal, and statement of principles. Then, i discussed the local Wisconsin chapter, where we are it in terms of building the group, our goals, and how folks can get involved to start fighting this system of death at home.

In the future, i would like to deliver a DGR speech more clearly and confidently, so in the meantime i will be practicing. Overall i felt the feedback was good, though (probably because the venue as a whole is supportive of me, as i helped to found it and am still very active there; but anyways...). Many heads were nodding as i spoke. There was no time for Q&A, but i only heard positive comments and excitement about the movement as the evening went on.

The table looked wonderful. It included: two stand up signs with DGR quotes (from DGR Austin); The Problem, or why: Deep Green Resistance pamphlet; General DGR fliers and brochures; Green Scare pamphlets; A pamphlet written by Waziyatawin, called Indigenous People and the Revolution; Security Culture pamphlet; E-mail update sign-up sheets; and a glossy Deep Green Resistance sign. All of the literature was free, and much of it was taken over the evening. Multiple people signed up on the e-list sheets, and many commented about getting more involved.

I want to note how amazing the music at this event was, too. Thistle played first. She sang many songs about gardening, riding bicycles, occupying the Wisconsin state capitol, and killing those who spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. I really loved a song she played called "The Last Day of the Sword", about the end of patriarchy. Thistle's energy was intense and inspiring. Next, was Big Dudee Roo. They have been one of my favorite bands this year, and meeting and watching them play was a total honor. Besides being extremely talented musicians, the politics in their lyrics are perfect. A couple of the band members are already active in the Deep Green Resistance movement, and, very much to my delight, it shows. In one song, for example, they sing a beautiful quote (and one of my personal favorites) from Derrick Jensen: "If we wish to stop the atrocities, we merely need to step away from the isolation." My words simply cannot do their music justice, and i urge you to listen and buy cd's from them to give your support. If you are anything like me (someone who loves life, resistance, feminism, and the landbase) you may feel like you finally found the musical match to inspire you in all facets of your work.

As of now, Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin is planning for more events and opportunities to speak and give presentations like this. If you have ideas or want to get involved or want to give us feedback, get in touch: dgrwisconin [at] riseup [dot] net.