Interview: Behind Enemy Lines

We spoke to Dave Trenga, the singer for BEHIND ENEMY LINES, on the April 18^t, 2004. He spoke to us from Pittsburgh.

Can you tell us about the song “Behind Enemy Lines”. Is that where the name for the band come from ?

Actually we came up with the name of the band first and wrote a song about the meaning behind the band name, which was basically just living in this country and having the kind of political views that we have and definitely being in the minority, not just within American society but also within the punk scene here which has moved away from the politics and just the fact that people feel like they have a choice of whether they want to acknowledge the kind of oppressive system we live under, like if they turn their back on it they are immune to it, which isn’t the case. We are just pointing out that we are behind enemy lines and whether we want to deal with these problems or not they are still there. By ignoring them we are still just as oppressed as anybody else we might as well face up to it.

I want to talk a bit about some of the things you are writing about but first I want to ask you about how BEHIND ENEMY LINES came together ? How did the band form ?

We formed from the ashes of AUS ROTTEN. AUS ROTTEN kind of split into two at the end. Me and the drummer we decided to still work together. We were working well and were good friends and we just wanted to do something else along the same lines so we started BEHIND ENEMY LINES and a couple of friends of ours from Connecticut had moved to Pittsburgh. We started working with them and formed BEHIND ENEMY LINES.

And where did the other members go ?

The other members are doing a band called CAUSTIC CHRIST.

How long have you been together for now ?

Over three years. I think it’s coming up on four years.

The first CD entitled “Know Your Enemy” came out on Tribal War. How did that come about ? I guess AUS ROTTEN had released some material on Tribal War. Was it sort of a continuation of that ?

Yeah we worked with Tribal War for years. Neil

is an old friend of ours and he supported what AUS ROTTEN was about. The politics he was always really into and we had a good relationship with Neil so he offered to do the first BEHIND ENEMY LINES and so we went with him for that.

Is this the second CD - “The Global Cannibal”. That’s the second CD ?

Yeah.

It is on a label called Antagony Media. I have never heard of the label before.

Right well we are the first release on this label.

So who is behind the label and how did the release come about ?

It is started by a friend down here in Pittsburgh named Jorge and he worked with different labels for years and wanted to start one up of his own and really was into what BEHIND ENEMY LINES was about –  thepolitics and especially with the timing with what has been going on in this country. He was really supportive of what we are doing. He offered to put this out. He is obviously close to Pittsburgh here and he has been really good about letting us pretty much have a lot of hands on with the label. I work really closely with him with the label right now.

What is the idea behind “The Global Cannibal” ? From the cover it looks like a grim reaper like serpent spilling blood out of an oil tank. Is it a comment on the U.S.’s insatiable thirst for oil ?

Yeah, definitely. It is a drawing that our drummer, Matt, had done. He had made a few drawings for this album and the song the “Global Cannibal”. We focused a lot on this album with just what has been going on in this country since the Bush administration took office and obviously it has been a big concern for the world. The administration has gotten away with so many things since they came to power here.

I guess you guys started right about when they came in ?

Yeah, it was around then. One of the songs on the first album was about Bush and how little did we know how bad things were going to get here. The country has moved backwards 50 years in almost every aspect of American life…

That’s the song “Setting Things Right Again”.

Yeah, from the first one. With the “Global Cannibal” we focused a lot with what has been happening in this country since then with the so called “War on Terrorism” and the War on Iraq and everything that has been going on here with the Patriot Act.

It’s a war on civilians. What are some of the things you sing about ? When I was looking through the lyrics I was trying to figure out some of the things you cover. There is i) Right Wing Politics with “Setting Things Right Again”, ii) Foreign Policy with “American Made Death Squad”, and “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”, iii) Domestic Assault with “Why Does She Stay ?”, iv) the gap between rich and poor with “Growing Wealth Gap”, v) Religion with “Hooked on Christ”, “Army of God”, and “The Cure”; vi) War with “The Global Cannibal”, and “Devastated”, vii) Pro- Choice with “Her Body, Her Decision ?”, viii) World Hunger with “The Politics of Hunger”, ix) Globalization with “Non-Lethal Weapons”, and x) just general Activism with “Light It Up”, “Murder at G8 Summit”, “Voice of Dissent”, and “Dogmatic Slumber”. What are some of the things that you are trying to get out there message-wise ?

Well in this country here, there is definitely a huge absence of what is really happening in the world. The American media is obviously very corporate owned and it’s a big problem for people to know what is happening in the world and how the rest of the world perceives this country. And have any shred of how this administration has been conducting themselves. So we focused a lot on just covering the issues as we see them happening and trying to shed some light on the things that have been happening here instead of just going along with everything that we seem to do.

Are you the principle lyric writer ?

Yeah.

In terms of lyrics I noticed that you either write about specific topics or sometimes you get into some overall condemning passages like the song “Advancing the Cause”. I was trying to figure out what that song is about and it just seems to be like you are venting spleen, you know. You are just rife with anger and you are just letting it all out. Which style do you prefer ?

This album was a big reaction to what was going on around me fuelled by my anger. That song specifically I wrote about everything I saw going on after September 11th here and the fact that the people who were yelling about it the loudest were supposedly most effected by it have just been exploiting it for their own political gain. People like Jerry Falwell, who I mention in the song specifically made outrageous comments immediately after September 11th, just blaming abortion doctors and the gay and lesbian movement in this country saying that it’s all those kind of things that brought god’s wrath to bear down and cause September 11th . We have the Bush administration rushing the “Patriot Act” through congress without anybody knowing what the hell was in it. Things like that just make this tragedy allow them to pass things that they have been working on for years.

I am going to ask you to highlight one of your songs from a lyrical standpoint that might be your favourite or one that you think that you really expressed well.

On the new album. “Her Body, Her Decision”. That song is really important now because it’s also a big fight that is going on here with Bush getting into office and this country is very close to losing reproductive freedom for women.

The Roe vs. Wade case.

Since Bush has come in he has been appointing the most ridiculous people to appellate court judgeship. People who have the mentality of cavemen. It is unreal the type of statements these people make and they are giving them lifetime judgeships into these important courts.

The Supreme Courts?

He hasn’t appointed anyone into the Supreme Court yet, but into the appellate court. Some people, like I said who have the mentality of cavemen. These judges that have made these outrageous statements like this one judge who claimed that women who are having menstrual cramps should quote scripture.

Oh yeah.

Yeah. There was another judge who said abortion shouldn’t be legal because….and here specifically talking about instances with rape and how he made a comparison saying that women become pregnant as a result of rape about as often as it snows in Florida, which is obviously a ludicrous statement. These are the types of people they are pushing through and stacking the courts with, in an attempt to …. The Supreme Court here only sees so many cases per year, so if they can stack the appellate court with these types of people they can restrict a lot of abortion laws and ….

…that sets precedent for common law, which is what becomes law. Is there an underlying philosophy that motivates a message for BEHIND ENEMY LINES ?

I don’t know if there is an underlying philosophy, it’s just the lyrics are written about what I see going on around me. Mostly things that upset me or anger me with the world, mostly now with this country because there has been so much going on.

Okay I want to ask you a bit about Pittsburgh. What is the scene like there ?

The punk scene is really good here. There are a lot of great people here. It’s a young scene.

What bands do you play with ?

A couple of my favourites are this band called KROOKED GRIND and APHASIA. There is tons of bands right now and the scene is so big to the point where there is a lot of sub-scenes, you know. There is a really great place – a DIY venue that has been here for 4 or 5 years now called the Mr. Roboto Project and it’s the place where most bands that tour through Pittsburgh, like DIY punk bands will play. When it did open up it was the first time Pittsburgh had a DIY punk collectively run space.

That’s awesome.

Yeah definitely good. Created some great things in Pittsburgh and it’s a good space because people will just go there and they have fun and people get along. I have never been to a show there where there has ever been a problem.

That sounds cool. How can people get in touch with the band ?

We have a web page right now. It has been worked on and somebody else is going to finish it up for us. Just bare with it because there is not much up there right now. It’s www.wearebehindenemylines.com. You could write to us, too. It’s P.O. Box 42341 / Pittsburgh, PA / 15203 / USA.