Anti-Flag


Anti-Flag was an American punk rock band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1988. The band was known for its left-wing political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included Justin Sane, Chris Head, Pat Thetic, and Chris Barker, also known as Chris No. 2.
Gaining popularity through the punk underground, Anti-Flag controversially signed to RCA Records and released their major label debut For Blood and Empire in 2006. It contained singles such as "The Press Corpse" and "This is the End ", which featured in multiple video games.
The band remained active past their commercial peak, releasing a total of thirteen albums, the last of which came out months before their disbandment. The band also operated their own record label, A-F Records.
Anti-Flag suddenly broke up in July 2023 amidst several rape and sexual assault allegations made against Sane. The other members directly condemned him and disbanded.

History

Early years (1988, 1992–1996)

Anti-Flag was originally formed in 1988 by Justin Sane and Pat Thetic. Various guitarists and bassists joined and left the band during the band's early years, including Sane's sister, Lucy Fester, who was formerly part of the Chicago band Toothpaste. The band failed to solidify and disbanded after performing in just one show.
In 1992, Sane and Thetic reformed the band with Andy Flag as their bassist. A 17-song demo album called 17 Songs was released the same year.

First three albums (1996–1999)

In 1996, Anti-Flag released their first album, Die For the Government, on New Red Archives. Andy Flag left the band in mid-1996 because of personal disputes with Justin Sane. After Andy Flag's departure in 1996, Sean Whelan from the Pittsburgh band the Bad Genes briefly filled in as their bassist. During this time, Whelan was also playing in another band with Pittsburgh guitarist Chris Head, whom he introduced to Anti-Flag.
In early 1997, Chris Head began filling in on bass. In late 1997, Jamie Cock took over as the new bassist, giving Chris Head his preferred role as the second guitar. The band's lineup was finalized in 1999 when Chris Barker, also known as Chris No. 2, replaced Jamie Cock on bass.
In 1998, Anti-Flag released their second full-length album, Their System Doesn't Work for You. The album contained all nine Anti-Flag songs from the 1996 Anti-Flag/d.b.s. split album North America Sucks, as well as 10 new unreleased songs. The band decided to release the album independently, and Their System Doesn't Work for You became the debut release for the band's own A-F Records.
In 1999, Anti-Flag released the album A New Kind of Army on Go-Kart Records/A-F Records. The album addressed topics such as abortion, political corruption, racism, fascism, troubled youth, police brutality, and unity amongst American youths. The cover art page unfolds into a poster featuring the phrase, "Too smart to fight. Too smart to kill. Join now. A new kind of army." In addition, the band released a disclaimer at the bottom of its album cover, which says, "Anti-Flag does not mean Anti-American. Anti-Flag means anti-war. Anti-Flag means unity."

Fat Wreck Chords (2000–2004)

In 2000, Anti-Flag was invited to participate in Vans Warped Tour. During this time, the members of Anti-Flag met NOFX's Fat Mike, owner of the Fat Wreck Chords record label. This meeting built a friendship between them that would lead to Anti-Flag releasing two albums under Fat Wreck Chords.
File:Justin Sane 01.jpg|thumb|Frontman Justin Sane at Warped Tour 2006
In 2001, Anti-Flag teamed up with punk music producer Mass Giorgini to record the album Underground Network on Fat Wreck Chords. The album addressed the topics of fascism and the foreign policy of the United States. The album contained a now-commonplace booklet filled with essays from historians and political commentators, most notably Professor Howard Zinn.
In February 2002, Anti-Flag released the album Mobilize on A-F Records. The album featured eight new studio tracks, as well as eight live tracks of songs from other albums. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Anti-Flag spoke out against the push for war with the album's title track, "911 for Peace". During this time, many music stores took Anti-Flag's records off their shelves, as their music was labeled as "anti-American."
In 2003, Anti-Flag released the album The Terror State on Fat Wreck Chords, which primarily focused on criticizing the Bush Administration's actions regarding the war on terrorism. As before, a booklet filled with essays by the band and other political commentators was included in the album. The album also contained a song called "Post-War Breakout," with lyrics originally written by Woody Guthrie.
On October 8, 2004, U.S. Representative Jim McDermott gave a speech in the House of Representatives, commending Anti-Flag for their work in encouraging young people to register and vote.

RCA (2005–2009)

In 2005, Anti-Flag signed a two-album record contract with the major label RCA. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, Justin Sane explained the band's move to a major label:
The first of these two albums, For Blood and Empire, was released on March 21, 2006. The album's main focus is criticism of the U.S. government's mishandling of the war on terrorism. The album's lead single, "This Is The End," is featured in the video game Madden NFL 07 and NHL 07. This single strays from the theme of war and instead focuses on troubled youth. They finished their "War Sucks, Let's Party" United States headlining tour in April and worked on some side projects such as the African Well Fund and Start to Finish MS Now.
Throughout Anti-Flag's career, numerous other bands have been added to the roster of the band's own label, A-F Records. These bands include The Code, Pipedown, Much the Same, The Vacancy, The Unseen, Modey Lemon, Thought Riot, Tabula Rasa, and many others.
On November 25, Anti-Flag revealed that their latest album was called The Bright Lights of America. The album was produced by Tony Visconti and was released on April 1, 2008. The album's title single was released exclusively on iTunes on February 12, 2008. A video of the song was released some weeks later.
In 2008, while on tour with Canadian band Billy Talent in Europe, Justin Sane and Chris No. 2 joined Billy Talent singer Ben Kowalewicz and guitarist Ian D'Sa, singing their new song "Turn Your Back" from their upcoming unreleased album. The two also play on the single version of the song.
In March 2009, Anti-Flag was forced to cancel a series of tours after Sane broke his collarbone at the UEA LCR in Norwich by jumping off the stage, trying to stop someone that was throwing objects at the band.Norwich Evening News, 7/3/09">

SideOneDummy (2009–2014)

On September 30, 2008, Chris No. 2 started posting on his blog that the band had begun to work on their seventh studio album. On December 2, Anti-Flag began recording the album, starting with "The Economy is Suffering... Let It Die".
On March 31, 2009, Anti-Flag announced that their next CD, The People or the Gun, would be released on SideOneDummy on June 9, 2009. The band recorded the album in a home studio they built themselves. The first track of the album "Sodom, Gomorrah, and Washington DC " could be listened to on Anti-Flag's website. On May 1, 2009, the band performed a full set of The Clash covers at Hoodwink in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In September 2009, Anti-Flag planned to play a show during a G-20 protest that was taking place in their hometown. However, the show was cancelled by the promoter due to severe parking restrictions and police presence near the venue. Even so, the band continued to personally take part in the protests.
In November 2009, Anti-Flag showed their support to the protesting students in Vienna, Austria by giving a speech at the main building of the University of Vienna. They also had one of the student representatives speak at their two shows in Vienna.
In January 2010, Anti-Flag completed a full US tour supported by Aiden and Cancer Bats, with various bands filling another supporting slot and local bands opening as many of the shows as possible. The tour was sponsored by Amnesty International, peta2, Greenpeace, and Innes Clothing. The band followed the US tour with an Australian tour, playing the Soundwave Festival dates in February 2010, with bands such as AFI, Paramore, Escape the Fate, A Day to Remember, and HIM. They also played two headlining dates supported by Alexisonfire and Comeback Kid.
Throughout mid-2010, Anti-Flag played in various festivals such as Ruisrock and Woodstock en Beauce. They also played the last few dates of the Vans Warped Tour. In September 2010, the band headlined a Canadian tour with support from the Menzingers. This tour was followed by the European Vans Off the Wall Music Tour in October, with supporting acts by The Swellers and Pulled Apart by Horses.
In March–April 2011, Anti-flag made a live comeback by headlining a South American tour with This Is a Standoff, and supporting My Chemical Romance in the U.S. In May–June 2011, the band returned to Europe to play in the Slam Dunk Festival, and play supporting System of a Down in Milan, Italy.
On June 21, 2011, Justin Sane announced that Anti-Flag was working on material for a new album, which was planned to be released later in the year. The album had the working title of Magnum. Sane also announced plans to record a new solo album in the future, as he had also been working on some folk-oriented solo material.
On March 20, 2012, Anti-Flag released an album called The General Strike, which was recorded and produced by the band at their home studio. The band also intended to go on The General Strike Record Release Tour with The Flatliners and the Have Nots. They released a lyric video for the song "1915" which talked about Joe Hill.
In June 2014, Anti-Flag announced that they were going to release a new album called A Document of Dissent: 1993-2013. The album was a compilation of their releases from 1993 to 2013, and was planned to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, which was the band's first release with the label since The Terror State in 2003. The album was released on July 21, 2014.