By Deshaun Phillips
The Philadelphia-based “comic book rock” band The Stereotytans have just released their latest video and song, “Breathe4You”. This time they are battling systemic racism. Their new song and video is available for download and stream right now. All proceeds from this song and video will be going to benefit Black Lives Matter and WE: The Caucus of Working Educators. In the past, the Stereotytans have been known for being more of a lighthearted band, but now the hard rock band is bringing their special blend of soul, funk, and metal to a more compelling cause. They have felt that it’s time for them to speak out against racism and oppression and the tragic events that have unfolded in the last several months. “Like many people in America, we were and still are outraged and deeply affected by the George Floyd murder,” says frontman Damon, aka St. Prometheus. “We also felt the weight of an ongoing level of oppression and unnecessary violence by the hands of some racist members of law enforcement. Everything that recently occurred got us thinking and searching for answers and solutions.” Vocalist Damon tells us that after watching the video of Officer Chauvin leaning on George Floyd’s neck he felt that he needed to take a stand on this and all forms of subtle and blatant racism. After watching that unfold in front of him, he immediately set to work on the lyrics to “Breathe4You.” “We are artists and musicians,” says DJ Ken. “It’s our most natural instinct to put thoughts and emotions into music. So we did.” In the song you can hear Damon sing, “No I’m not your slave / I’ve marched through hell just to tell the stories of our yesterdays.” The song ends with a plea for community in “Will you breathe for my brother / I will breathe for you.” Yes, this is quite a departure for the band, but nevertheless they have their own feeling for this kind of systemic racism and it’s something that they just can’t abide for. Billboard-charting producer and engineer Ron DiSilvestro handled production on this song. Ron is also a former bandmate of the group and longtime friend. “Ron is right at home with our style and sound,” Damon tells us. “When we approached him with this song, he didn’t think twice to offer his
Comic Book Rock Band, The Stereotytans Battle Their Latest Villain - Racism on New Single,“Breathe4You” services and the amazing facilities at Forge Recording to record the song free of charge.” With the release of this song, The Stereotytans tell us that they plan to write more songs like this for various causes as they arise. They plan on making more protest songs in the future in the hopes to affecting change bridging all genres of music to help create a form of unity. . “Today, we study the music of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s as a way to understand the mood of people and how it was a means to galvanize,” says bassist Chris, aka Kronos. “Music brought both spirit and message to the Civil Rights Movement as it did in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. We really wanted our song to continue that tradition in which we not only spoke truth to power, but provided a feeling of hope, positivity, and provocation.” As we said before, the proceeds from this song will go to help the Philadelphia chapter of Black Lives Matter and WE: The Caucus of Working Educators, an organization of Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members who believe educators, parents, students
and allies have the power to improve public schools. WE’s goal is to bring more socially just education policies and practices to school districts. “We wanted to use our platform to help support a local teacher coalition that is passionate about and effectively pushing for change in schools - the space that has the most potential to transform our society,” drummer Marc, aka Okeanus explains. The Stereotytans would like to encourage everybody to get involved in causes that they believe in and they take inspiration from previous social conscious bands like Rage Against The Machine, Living Colour and Public Enemy. Keep your eyes open for The Stereotytans. They truly have a unique style all their own which they characterize as “if Living Color, Fishbone and Radiohead had a threeway while Public Enemy watched and then birthed sweet, sweet musical babies with hints of soul, funk and metal mixed in for good measure.” Check out their new song and video for “Breathe4You” on all streaming services
November 2020 • Rock and Blues International
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