Niclas Müller-Hansen of RockSverige.se recently conducted an interview with vocalist Roger Miret of New York hardcore legends AGNOSTIC FRONT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. RockSverige.se: So, at what point did the American dream die [referring to the title of the new AGNOSTIC FRONT album, "The American Dream Died"]? Roger: You know, that's just a statement from me. I'm just stating that, little by little, this country is leaning towards losing its values, Americans are losing their constitutional rights. You see it happening, and it's no secret; it's out there and you can see what's going on. The main focal point to why we call the record "The American Dream Died" and how this all started is the collapse of the housing market. When that collapsed, and you saw what followed with the banking collapse and then the world's banks collapsed. Everything went to hell all over the world pretty much, and that's when I clearly was making that statement, but it followed through. It's a little bit of everything. You watch all of the corruption on all these higher levels. Police corruption and all this police violence going on. Everything just escalated. I'm not saying the American dream when it comes to cars, apple pie, baseball
it's all there and anybody can come to America. You can buy a home, but you won't own it for 30 years. America is a beautiful country, but the government is just so corrupt, it's destroying your dreams. RockSverige.se: What would you say is the biggest difference between AGNOSTIC FRONT today and what the band was like when you started out? Roger: As for an album, "The American Dream Died", to me, it's a classic right up there with "Victim In Pain". This record could've come out in 1982 or 1983 and it would've had as much of an impact. And I think it's gonna make an impact. I think it's gonna be one of those records that's gonna stand the test of time. Back then, the scene was different, of course. Everything was much smaller. There were less bands, but at the same time, they were easier to recognize and you knew exactly where they were from. Everybody had their own style. It was a great time to go wild and write rebellious music. It was the Reagan years. There was a lot of stuff going on. Today it's different. It's gotten big, but at the same time, it gets watered down, but there's also a lot of passion and people are still there. I welcome everybody to our shows, as long as you've got a positive attitude. Leave your ignorance behind. RockSverige.se: Ever thought of writing a book? Roger: Funny you ask. I'm almost done. I started a book in 1996 and I lost it twice. I got bugs in the computer and lost it. I restarted it in 2007, because I kept some of the main files. Jon Wiederhorn, who wrote Scott Ian's [ANTHRAX] book and Al Jourgensen's [MINISTRY] book, he and I are friends and he contacted me about four years ago about helping me finish the book, but I really wanted to do it on my own. Then, about a year ago, he said, "Roger, let me help you with this book." and I said, "All right, Jon. I have too much shit going on." I gave him everything I had and we've been doing massive interviews and we're almost done with it. We just gotta find a home for it. It's pretty much my story from Cuba to being in a band.Read the entire interview at RockSverige.se.
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