When the subject of Winnipeg is raised outside of the province of Manitoba, a few dark, recurrent themes tend to be discussed. Mosquitoes, the bitterly cold winters, the city’s propensity for violent crime and institutional racism. The lack of a truly competitive professional hockey team. But when it comes to punk rock music, a bright light emerges from the dark 'Heart of the Continent.’ Sheldon Birnie for Noisey
It may be surprising to some, but Winnipeg, Manitoba was a hub for DIY punk rock during the 1980s and 1990s. Beginning with local punk bands like Personality Crisis (whose members later formed S.N.F.U., D.O.A., the Subhumans and Honest John), the Ruggedy Annes (one of Canada's first all-female punk bands), and later with groups like Propagandhi, I Spy, and Red Fisher, the province's geographical isolation and pre-internet era allowed for the development of distinct regional scenes. However, these scenes still managed to connect globally and influence each other through various zines, music stores, DIY labels, like-minded groups booking each other in any available venue, and countless trips in dangerously overcrowded vans armed with worn-out maps, stacks of quarters, and a black book of phone numbers.
Originally formed in Portage la Prarie in 1986 by lifelong friends Chris Hannah (vocals/guitar) and Jord Samolesky (drums/backing vocals) as teenagers before moving to Winnipeg to attend university, Propagandhi’s early sound would meld the duo’s unabashed smalltown love for ‘80s thrash metal icons like Sacrifice, Voivoid, or Venom and the more raw local punk rock sounds the two were being exposed to at various DIY venues around town and touring spots like Wellington’s, Le Rendez-Vous and the legendary Albert Hotel.
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Frontman Chris Hannah had a reputation for getting naked at shows, but this gig at the Albert wasn't one of them. Most famously at the Gilman in San Fransisco (Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4) and at the Pyramid during the notorious Coke can incident. To this day, that benefit show was the most crowded I have been in that venue. The only other time that was even close was DJ Shawn Sommers’ Lush club night with drum & bass icon Ed Rush in the mid-90s.
Shows opening for punk rock icons like Fugazi in 1991 (with pre-John K. Samson bassist Mike Braumeister) at the Duncan Arena (where another legendary event called Positive Education with Scotland’s Slam would also be a high watermark for the local rave scene later in the decade) and later Fat Mike’s NOFX would help cement the band into the foundation of the worldwide punk scene and establish them as one of the province’s most influential arts and culture export for the next thirty+ years.
‘90s Winnipeg zine culture in all its cheeky no-holds-barred glory. Older Winnipeg locals may get the Liquid Bone Dance and Zen Bungalow references. Stephen Ostick covered music at the Winnipeg Free Press before current CBC personality Bart Kives took over. Kives and the group have their own history, with the band refusing to do any press with him for years after he used pictures of Hannah’s parent’s house in an issue of the University of Winnipeg’s Stylus Magazine in the early ‘90s to try and discredit his punk rock image and use Hannah’s own hatred of hypocrisy against him. Kives would later admit it was a dumb mistake he made as a young journalist/editor looking to stir up trouble and he apologized for the immature and unprofessional move.
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With an expansive discography that reaches back into home-recorded demo albums like Marshal Law…With a Cherry on Top and nearly impossible-to-find Fuck the Scene, the group’s early PC punk sound channelled a snotty West Coast-influenced NOFX/Bad Religion style skate rock with a more irreverent politically inclined approach to lyrics and ideas than was prevalent in the macho-dominated punk and hardcore communities.
“Thursday Draft Night at the Albert in the early 90s was the craziest thing I’d ever seen,” Hannah recalls. “Huge street battles, people fighting in the streets en masse.” Hannah and Samolesky had been writing music as Propagandhi in their parents’ basements since 1986, recording and releasing a couple of demo cassettes before taking the stage for the first time at the Royal Albert in 1991. At the same time, Red Fisher, a skate punk band in the tradition of the Descendents and ALL, was also beginning to play out more, quickly establishing themselves. Though, at the time, the punk rock pool party was a lonely one.
A Comprehensive Look at Winnipeg’s Punk Scene - Sheldon Birnie (Noisey). Birnie would later have a well-received book published that expanded on the article and is a must-read for anyone interested in the Manitoba punk, straight edge and hardcore scenes at the time.
The NOFX frontman would sign the band to his fledgling company Fat Wreck Chords after hearing them perform and grabbing copies of their demos (which he never paid for), a decision that would not only put the band and the label on the world map but would also define the early trajectory of the group and the crowds it would perform for during these early runs on the road. Propagandhi would be one of the longest-running bands on a label famous for only signing one-album deals.
“Anyways, he kept calling us for about a year and eventually, I lost a round of rock, paper, scissors and had to call him back”. Fat Mike said, “Hey dudes, fly down to L.A. and I’ll pay for six days at West Beach Studios with Donnel Cameron”. We were like, “What? ok”, just totally laughing and shit. “We got on a plane, saw Gretzky at the airport and eventually recorded what turned out to be How to Clean Everything.”
Hannah and Samoleski would later use a $50K loan from Fat Mike to start G7 Welcoming Committee Records. In an odd twist of fate, it was this startup capital that would eventually sow the seeds that would allow the band and Fat Mike to part ways after a disagreement over the Rock Against Bush compilation and the group’s refusal to censor the anti-George Soros statement in the liner notes or change the song they submitted. Despite the fact the band would release one more album on Fat Wreck Chords, this disagreement would be the beginning of the end of the relationship between Fat Mike and one of the original groups on the influential California-based indie label. This allowed the group to handle the distro in Canada as G7 and license Supporting Caste to Smallman Records out of Winnipeg before the label disbanded and Hassle Records for Europe. Most recent records have been licensed to the mighty indie label Epitaph out of California. As time and maturity seem to have healed all wounds, both the band and Fat Mike speak highly of each other's relationship and influence over the years, with the NOFX frontman and label boss continually saying they are the most important punk group of the era and not because Fat put out their early albums.
“I would imagine that it's clear to everyone involved that the punk scene of this millennium and Propagandhi are not moving in the same direction” replied Chris when asked by Punknews.org 2005.
“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Christian Hardcore”
Back in the day, starting fights was the purpose of the show for a certain bunch of people, particularly skinheads, who want just to dominate the place,” says Hannah. “That was par for the course depending on the town. LA was bad; Winnipeg had a bit of that going on. Places like Fresno, Bakersfield, Birmingham, and Alabama all had the same kind of vibe.”
The Woe Is Me I’m So Misunderstood Song (aka Utter Crap Song)
Originally released in 1995 on the band’s split 10” on Recess Records with fellow prairie punks I Spy and later released on the Where Quality is Job #1 compilation, Utter Crap Song may have an alternate throw-away title, but its biting personal commentary flew in the face of the focused political approach to songwriting Hannah had been known for at that time. During that period, there was a significant amount of speculation within the local punk and zine community regarding the subject(s) of the song. Maybe the second closest thing to an emo song Hannah would write until later in his career.
The Overtly-Political-But-Oh-So-Intensely-Personal Song (aka Mutual Friend)
Straight out of the gates on the follow-up to Fat Wreck Chords’ How to Clean Everything, The Overtly-Political-But-Oh-So-Intensely-Personal Song (aka Mutual Friend) was both a wakeup call the group wasn’t what everyone thought they were and that Hannah is able to be reflective and not just point fingers. You could see this as the template for later hardcore-inspired cuts by the band.
War is Peace, Slavery is Freedom, May All Your Interventions Be Humanitarian
Languishing on a Fat Wreck Chords compilation from 2001 that most people will have lost in their CD collections, sold to some used store or just forgotten about, this cover of the Dead Kennedy’s War is Peace, Slavery is Freedom, May All Your Interventions Be Humanitarian obviously references George Orwell’s novel 1984, but its lyrical content is more relevant than ever. Sonically it has more in common with the group’s earlier work despite coming around the turn of the millennium.
Ignorance is Strength and Slavery is Freedom Four more. May all your interventions be "Humanitarian" Four more years of pay-to-play politics, power and influence Four more years of legalized bribery and served corporate interests
[Verse 1] Vote for tweedle-dum or tweedle-dee And a framework of debate narrowed for you courtesy Of the ultra-rich and a media that filters But any voice that challenges their power Likе Nader bounced in Boston by state-troppеrs Cos he don't speak for oil-tycoons and bankers, oh yeah
[Verse 2] Whose pursuit of happiness and liberty Demands a rhetoric of fear to be The litmus test for viable heirs to The phony drug wars, the trumped-up rogue-states The permanence of a war-economy
[Verse 3] I feel less hopeful and less human As I'm reduced to nothing more than Cheering on embassy bombings As the liars pave their way through
(I Want to See) Oka Everywhere
A watershed moment in Canadian history and politics in 1990, the band’s support of Indigenous resistance has been a consistent theme in its evolution as one of punk rock’s most outspoken and authoritative groups. The song originally appeared on the Teenage Kicks’ compilation and would later be recorded acoustically for the Systematic Destruction 7” for Bad Food for Thoughts Records. The 500-record run was a benefit for a local non-profit organized by Mike A. (who would later go on to a successful art career in BC). Current bassist Todd Kowalski’s I Spy along with Silence Equals (with G7’s Derek Hogue on drums and unofficial G7 photographer Jon Schledewitz on vocals) and Malfaction would also appear on the highly sought-after vinyl collectible from 1995. An extensive oral history of the song would run in Canadian Dimension Magazine in 2020.
Even more so, I grew up in rural Manitoba and most of my hockey was played with the Indigenous kids from surrounding reserves and they were usually on my team. I got to see firsthand what they were subjected to in some small towns in terms of racism. We would have games where the entire team and all the families had to gather in the dressing room and leave the arena together because people would be waiting in the parking lot to fight us. So, I had some background that helped fuel my private doubts before 1990. Like so many other Canadians, I had experienced witnessing anti-Indigenous racism, but I didn’t really know what to do with it as a kid. I just understood those things on a personal level. I didn’t have a wider view. But seeing the police and military attack the Mohawks in 1990 allowed me to develop a more systemic critique of anti-Indigenous racism and ongoing colonialism in Canada. (Chris Hannah - Canadian Dimensions)
All Cops Are Bad, You Know (aka Pigs Will Pay)
Available on the group’s one and only 7” on Fat Wreck Chords as a limited pressing on piss-coloured vinyl that sold out immediately, All Cops Are Bad, You Know… aka Pigs Will Pay was part of the original How to Clean Everything recording sessions in Los Angeles. It was inadvertently left off the group’s debut (by Fat Mike legend has it) but would be added to the 20th-anniversary reissue. A live version was also part of the CD edition of Where Quality is Job #1 released on G7. Although this 7” and its incendiary titles didn’t instantly paint targets on the band’s backs, clashes between punks, neo-Nazis and cops while on tour in the U.S. would be commonplace during certain periods for the band and depending on where they were at the time. Shows in Winnipeg, California, some parts of Europe, Alabama and Florida were among the worst-go figure. Florida is currently a hub for right-wing dissidents, led by charismatic trolls like HandsomeTruth, both IRL and online. The state “where woke goes to die” continues to be a hotbed for racist police officers and a rising group of media/web/meme-savvy neo-Nazi supporters who engage in nonviolent direct action (laser projecting swastikas, the 14 words and other symbols associated with hate on buildings at night), typically causing attention-grabbing headlines. Contrary to popular belief, Florida is not the sunny paradise it is often portrayed to be.
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Gamble (Lowest of the Low cover)
For CANCON aficionados, Propagandhi’s cover of Gamble by Ron Hawkins’ Lowest of the Low is one of those moments that make you wish MuchMusic still existed and Propagandhi actually made videos or at least Canadian stations outside of campus/community radio weren’t so closed-minded. A live version appeared on the Where Quality is Job #1 CD and this studio cut was part of a 3-song digital EP release by G7 called Recovered. The original bass and drum parts were recorded in the mid-'90s with Hannah apparently adding new vocals for the release in 2010. It’s a shame this is not available on most streaming services.
Letter of Resignation
Probably best known as one of the standout cuts from former Propagandhi bassist John K Samson’s debut record as The Weakerthans, this stripped-down version of Letter of Resignation was part of an ultra-limited split 7” picture disc on Recess Records with FYP and would include a spoken-word poem by Karen Bodine read by Lorna Jane Vetters, who was a founding member of the Mondragon collective at 91 Albert Street and also worked at G7 for a period of time. I always preferred this more fragile 4-track version of the song which I had carefully ripped to MP3 for my iPod at the time as overplaying the picture disc wasn’t an option for an obsessive collector.
"It's like being sick all the time, I think, coming home from work Sick in that low-grade continuous way that makes you forget What it's like to be well. we have never in our lives known What it is to be well. what if I were coming home, I think From doing work that I loved and that was for us all, what If I looked at the houses and the air and the streets, knowing They were in accord, not set against us, what if we knew the powers Of this country moved to provide for us and for all people— How would that be— how would we feel and think”
The original vinyl picture disc was released in 1995 in extremely limited numbers and credited to Propagandhi, although JKS would play on the song. The release could be seen as a second trial balloon for John as a singer/songwriter, with his Slips & Tangles (1993) tape for John Sutton’s (Red Fisher, elliot, the Weakerthans) Fresh Bread Records, marking a huge departure from the punk sound he was known for with Propagandhi and which he would carry throughout his celebrated career as both the Weakerthans and under his own solo project that followed the group retiring from recording and touring. Interestingly the Weakerthans would originally be made up of members of Red Fisher, elliot, Painted Thin, each of which, minus elliot, would subsequently have releases on G7 Welcoming Committee. Original Weakerthans/elliot/Red Fisher bassist John “The Butcher” Sutton would also end up on a 5” record that was part of the Recess Records’ Play at Your Own Risk Volume 2 box set credited to Propagandhi but is actually just Sutton screwing around with a Casio-style drum machine in the studio. A lot of writers/people/fans didn’t get the joke. There was a rumour circulating that Sutton recorded the song as his final project for the recording course he was enrolled in, but I cannot confirm its veracity. The label also put out a skate video to go along with the release that I only recently stumbled upon on YouTube.
▶️Without Love (Bandcamp demo stream)
The personal and the political are never far off for a band like Propagandhi, even when they are heading into uncharted territories lyrically and thematically. Yet they are able to retain the qualities that have contributed to its longevity without sacrificing any of the core principles that were established way back when the group got together and have obviously evolved over time. But have the fans grown up and matured with them? Do they embrace their inner ‘80s banger? What about the nuances of political or animal rights (Are you all level 5 vegan? Do you pocket mulch? Vote will your dollar?) but also with heady subjects like death, uncertainty, loss and what it means to be a father now in a world falling apart at the seams? Judging the reaction to the last few records and tours it’s an astounding YES. Only a few short years away from 40 years as a group, are Propagandhi Winnipeg’s version of the venerable Nomeansno from Victoria whose influence, impact and respect have only grown over time and proved punk rock isn’t just fueled by youthful angst?
Cut Into the Earth
Written and sung by former I Spy guitarist/frontman Todd Kowalski on the often overlooked Potemkin City Limits in 2005, it’s the closest thing fans of his first band are going to get to the Regina native’s distinct songwriting style that hits even harder backed up to Samoleski’s precision blitzkrieg drumming, Hannah’s scorching guitar rifts and ganged-up vocals from the three of them. This a timely topic when natural resources are being stripped by foreign counties under the guise of job creation, capital investments or technological innovation. If Canada doesn’t get hip to the fact of what is going on, it will be too late. Just look to Australia and its loss of water rights as an example of what can happen when countries get complacent and the deal seems too good to be true. It usually always is. Bands like I Spy, Earth Crisis and Propagandhi have been sounding the alarm for years. Here is an alternate version where Hannah sings the whole song as Todd had lost his voice at that junction in the tour in Australia in 2009. Which do you prefer? It’s not hard to see how some of these incidents over the past few years in North America could quickly spin off into the next Oka.
Never a minor threat?
I Was a Pre-Teen McCarthyist
Military brat Chris Hannah obviously had a more direct connection at a young age to the military-industrial complex and the mechanisms of the war machine having grown up in the shadow of the Canadian military base near Shilo. Some of those early childhood experiences are described in the Less Talk More Rock track from 1996, I Was a Pre-Teen McCarthyist, as Hannah draws the connections between the aircraft he plays around on as a kid on holidays in the U.S. being those same military vehicles being used in wars in Kuwait and Iraq and how blind patriotism fueled personal identity where you liked it or not. Considering we are in the middle of a new military conflict and proxy wars with no end in sight, Propagandhi’s insight into the business of bombs, the human cost of war and the jingoism of the military are never too far away.
At Harold Edward's Elementary You pay respect to our God, our flag, our military In grade 3 I had a written composition About the global threat of communism
And I was the luckiest eight-year-old McCarthyist of 1979 I spent spring break on the flight line Of a base in the Carolinas The U.S. version of my dad had signed us Signed us in, signed us in
And twelve years later, the Gatling I'd touched Was strapped to the nose of a U.S. A-10 Separated flesh from bone And honed its skills on lesser humans
And thus confirmed the suspicions earned In the 7 years preceding About the lies I was told and, truth be known I'm probably better off believing
They said I'm better off believing Somehow better off believing But how could they do this to me? Born head first and brought up ankle deep And maybe you're a lot like me Identified for fourteen years without a choice Terrified the morning you woke up and realized That if and when you jump ship You either swim for shore or drown Don't let the fuckers drag you down
🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇰🇼 🇮🇶
But Less Talk is more than just a benchmark for Propagandhi. Like 1993’s How To Clean Everything before it, Less Talk is one of the best punk albums of the ’90s, simply because it so deeply cares. It’s crazy, it’s frantic, it’s goofy, and it’s catchy, but it’s also underpinned with deceptively tricky musicianship and politically aware lyrics that welcome the listener in on the sick joke of society rather than preach about it. If Fugazi was the moral compass of ’90s punk, NOFX its court jester, and Bad Religion its megaphone, then Propagandhi glued together the crusading, silly, outspoken spirit of all three. And it did so with masterfully crafted songs—pop-punk cock-punches from a gang of brew-guzzling Howard Zinns.
With Propagandhi leading the charge, punk in 1996 ran riot - Jason Heller (AV Club)
Rock for Sustainable Capitalism
It can be easy to see that there is a direct line between I Spy’s scathing takedown of commercialization on Appliances and Cars, the MTVization of pop-punk, the Rock Against Bush compilation, the repeated failure of the environmental movement and the problems between the band and its original label Fat Wreck Chords and all the nuances in Rock for Sustainable Capitalism from 2005’s PCL. The group is one of the few who can pull off this level of sarcasm, insight and self-reflection and potential career suicide and have it still rock harder than 99.9% of the bands out there. Check out the Genius notes for the song if you don’t agree with me.
Most people, including their label boss Fat Mike, never got the dark joke in the self-deprecating humour of the Glen Lambert character that Hannah seemed to adopt around the time of the record. In 2006, NOFX seemingly responded to Rock for Sustainable Capitalism with the equally scathing double-shot of The Marxist Brothers" and One-Celled Creature. When you start trading insults in the press, on albums and show no real remorse for calling out your label numerous times or one of the biggest bands on your label, you know it is only a matter of time before the whole thing either blows up and there is no going back or one of you moves on. Thankfully, the latter seemed to occur and cooler heads have prevailed over time. Despite their longevity in the industry, shrewd business moves have never been part of the band’s decision-making process, but setting up G7 in the ‘90s to allow the group hands-on creative/business/distribution/digital/merchandise control and later letting Epitaph handle the recent albums can’t be undersold. While you won’t likely see the bands on a double-bill on NOFX’s final tour this year, maybe you’ll find some Propagandhi exhibits in the Punk Rock Museum that Fat Mike and his wife have opened up in the older section of Las Vegas. Who would have thought an opening slot at a dive bar would be the genesis of a 40+ year-long career and relationship between the band and Fat Mike in a business as fickle and short-lived as the music industry? Especially punk rock?
Propagandhi - Technocracy (Corrosion Of Conformity cover)
Released on a split 7” with childhood heroes Sacrifice on a collective-run music store and record label that operated for a time out of the 91 Albert collective (A-Zone) building, the original 500 pressings would sell out almost immediately. The facts are fuzzy, but it seems like the label ran other pressings despite the notion that it was a limited edition. The band would tear through its own speedy thrashing take on Corrosion of Conformity’s Technocracy. The blistering cut would be rarely heard outside of vinyl collectors initially, but the cover would also appear as a bonus on digital versions of Victory Lap.
Honourable Mentions
Help Me - (Concrete Blond cover) Jesus H. Chris
Originally an exclusive for Hannah’s Patreon subscribers, A Catastrophic Break with Consensus Reality was eventually released to streaming services. The instantly compelling nine-song collection put together with session musicians pinch-hitters like Murray Pulver (Doc Walker) and David Landreth (The Bros. Landreth) and various musician friends includes an SNFU cover of A Wreck in Progress, reworkings of Propagandhi cuts A Speculative Fiction, Dear Coach’s Corner, a collaboration with former member David Guillas and Derek Hogue’s Agassiz on a cut called Panorama along with some of Hannah’s deffest and speediest guitar work put to digital tape. A Catastrophic Break with Consensus Reality allows him to channel his inner headbanger without the guard rails of the band and its creative input. For more detailed background on this release and the process of letting go and working with musicians outside of Propagandhi, Chris sat down with one of the hosts at the always excellent Unscripted Moments podcast to discuss the album. Sandfly Fever/Projektor/Warsaw drummer Darren Achorn backs up Hannah on this Concrete Blonde cover while Chris handles the bass and guitar duties. Propagandhi also recorded True by the band, its first studio out with Kowalski after JKS left to form the Weakerthans way back in the day.
Cheater - Randy (backup vocals & recording by Chris Hannah)
I’m going to cheat on this one. Stuck in Canada after 9/11 changed the trajectory of the year and the tour they had routed with Propagandhi, Randy used the time in Canada to record three songs with Hannah while they were in Winnipeg which would be released by G7 and later by Bleeding Heart Records in Europe. Hannah sings backups on Cheater and records the Swedish group with a simple Pro-tools setup giving the EP an immediacy and rawness that isn’t easy to recreate. In his defence as a rookie producer/engineer, he does capture that dangerous, live-off-the-floor rock n’ roll feel the working class band has become known for. He would go on to record a number of acts over the years, although he never made it the focus he easily could have.
Live in San Diego (November 6, 1994)
Some of the best Propagandhi moments for me come around the Less Talk, More Rock era. The who-knows-what-was-going-to-happen vibe was still hanging in the air of those shows but the themes of the record were still provocative enough to make current fans seek out even more knowledge while at the same time offering a wide swath of ideas to germinate like globalization, rampant capitalism, the environment, militarism, veganism, animal rights, unchecked patriotism, feminism, gay rights, anti-authoritative to anti-fascism. This is one of my favourite live bootlegs/performances/videos from the time (minus the 924 Gilman Street performance), the sound, between song banter and location, only adds to the VHS vibe. Chris’ guitar shredding epitomizes the razor-sharp prairie PC-punk sound of the era that many tried to copy but none could nail and JKS looks like he may still enjoy sleeping on floors and playing bass in a chaotic punk act while Jord seems like he is going to pound those drums into tiny pieces after the first song. It’s a miracle he made it through the entire tour with the same kit.
More than anything, Less Talk exists as a fork in the road for Propagandhi. It signalled a change in the band’s trajectory, from an overly earnest pop-punk trio to the genre’s most consistently heavy and progressive crossover band. The songs on Less Talk captured the sound of a future version of the band, one with a second guitarist and infinite riffs, free to belt out the churning speed-thrash Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky had perhaps always envisioned.
20 Years Ago, Propagandhi Antagonized the Punk Scene with Less Talk, More Rock - Ron Knox Noisey
Live @ St. Joseph's Church, Ottawa (December 6, 1996)
Pure Propagandhi power with Todd handling the bass duties in this live performance from 1996 after John’s golden parachute and a new project, the Weakerthans become his focus. A better solution could not have been made for the parties involved, with G7 handling the early years of the band’s catalogue before they moved to Epitaph. It was mostly deal with integrity, and loyalty and in the end, was the best business/creative move for everyone in the end.
Hale Bop with SNFU (ft. Propagandhi)
Recorded with the Edmonton/Vancouver melodic punk rock icons, SNFU, Chris plays guitar and sings vocals, while Todd and Jord also offer up backups helping complete the circuit between the band's early days as snotty nose troublemakers opening for groups like SNFU to be in a position to not only record with but be seen as equals with the band and who respect each other's contributions to the genre as outsider Canadians in an American dominated industry ultimately defined by the bottom line. This would be one of SNFU’s last official recordings. Interestingly both bands would end up at one time or another on Bad Religion’s Epitaph Records out of California at different points in their careers. Unfortunately for SNFU, their time with the label was torn by heavy internal strife, substance abuse problems, money flow and merchandise issues but also saw the band on some of its most successful tours, performing with Green Day and Bad Religion and having both Tool and Korn open for the veteran Canadian punk group. By 1997 Epitaph had dropped the band but that wouldn’t stop Chi Pig and his rotating crew of 2nd and 3rd wave punks who would form a revolving collective of musicians that would continue on until Chi’s untimely death in 2020 at the age of 57. An even sadder element of this story is despite SNFU t-shirts being icons themselves around the world, Pig claims he never saw his rightful share of any of that money due to a multitude of not-so-interconnected yet troublesome reasons. Who knows how many bootleg SNFU shirts are out there? If you do buy merch, do it from the band’s website. Chris and Derek used to make the joke that G7 was more of a glorified t-shirt company than an indie label or radical publishing house.
Propagandhi on Chi Pig’s passing. Taken from Brooklyn Vegan.We are completely saddened to hear about the passing of our friend and hero Mr. Chi Pig. For anyone who doesn’t know him, he was the singer for one of the greatest punk bands of all time, SNFU.
We were completely inspired by SNFU’s music, lyrics, stage show and personalities. We saw the dedication and hard work they put into being a great and successful band and that, since they were from Edmonton, even us sad sack prairie headbangers could get out there and make it happen if we believed in ourselves. Most of all they taught us, that there was a place for everyone and that we should all stand up for each other.
SNFU shows of all eras remain some of the best and most vibrant highlights of our lives. We were lucky to see Chi when he was young, jumping off the P.A. stacks and going nuts and also when he was older and carried the show with his completely unique personality. There was literally no one even close to being like him. Rest In Peace Chi. A true punk and legend.
