"They're catchy enough that they enable the band to make political unrest fun... the Counter Elites thrash through songs in a Ramones-meets-Napalm Death sort of way... they can really play, and the little Zappa-esque jazz spots suggest that these two guys can do what they want. They happen to want to be loud and angry." - Brett Callwood, Metro Times"Clearly a pair of likely pop-minded musicians, just donning the Kick-A** type antihero costumes of hardcore-heralding punk provocateurs." - Jeff Milo, Metro Times, Tiny Mix Tapes"#3 best record of 2013" - Brett Callwood, Metro Times, author of"The Stooges: Head On: A Journey Through the Michigan Underground" and"MC5: Sonically Speaking: A Tale of Revolution and Rock n Roll"---SHADOW AND HONEY: What should people expect from the new album, Are You A Counter-Elite?THE COUNTER ELITES: We call it “minimalist maximalism” – 26 high-energy songs, each about the length of a TV commercial, jampacked with thought-provoking messages and questions. Basically it’s an old-school-style punk rock blitzkrieg, highly critical of the status quo with hook-heavy barrages, fist-pumping chants, shouting, howling, crooning, serenading, jazzy moments, a little talking-blues, some breathing room, hi-hat solos…SH: Favorite / proudest parts of the new album?CE: The diversity, ferocity, playfulness, freedom and simplicity.SH: How do The Counter Elites differentiate themselves from other bands in Detroit?CE: The scores of professionals that constitute our hair, makeup and wardrobe departments, who always make sure we’re sharp and fit for every lens and public appearance; the dozens of interns who have been drafted into our departments of communications and marketing to ensure a steady flow of recruits via our website, facebook and Counter E-Tweets, without whom we’d never have the ranks necessary for our musical coup; our think-tank of riffmakers, 160 or so long-hairs who scientifically test combinations of notes and rhythms against computer-generated algorithms 24-hours a day; the basement full of collage artists who work by patronage; our minister of censorship who makes sure I never cuss; and our assistant secretaries of downtuning and busted drumsticks.SH: Can you walk us through a typical writing process?CE: I wrote most of Are You A Counter-Elite? on Easter 2012 while getting angry at the television and reflecting on the social decline, which I believe has been seriously ramped up and promoted since the consolidation of Big Media into the brainwash-division of the elite. I’m pretty sure we’re in the midst of a covert corporate overthrow of America that has been playing out ever since the puppet-administration of B-movie actor, GE mascot and Nazi sympathizer Ronald Reagan, with the goal of transforming America into one massive and oppressive corporate-feudalist surveillance-state. The values being promoted through the media and advertising are excessive self-centeredness, hyper-individualism, technological dependence, and mindless shopaholicism, along with a desensitivity to violence, dehumanization and war. It’s also obvious to me that the elite are systematically slaughtering language and the quality of experience, distracting us with ourselves and dividing us from each other while attempting to create a society of childish know-nothings and narcissistic sociopaths who value only money, sex, and iPhones. Big Media has become the sounding-board of the corporate-government-complex poised for control once America is destroyed and nothing is left to guard us from total dependency or to get in the way of unchecked power and unrestrained profits with zero regard for the public or the environment. They’re promoting an “ownership society” because they want to own society like kings and nobles used to, and they’re simultaneously dismantling the schools and eliminating popular access to inventiveness in music, movies, and art, because anything thought-provoking, creative or educational is a threat to their control of what we know and experience. The Nazis similarly had control of the German media before Hitler took over, and because of their influence he eventually received 90% of the vote. That was not very long ago at all. Totalitarian ideology is still a threat, now more than ever in our lifetime because of how rich, powerful, concentrated, and influential the elite have become. So basically all of our songs are against the elite.But I’m just a lowly pizza dude and had kept my perceptions bottled up until I let them loose in that anti-establishmentarian poetic barrage. Initially I intended on forming a band that was just vocals and drums, but then decided melody was an effective tool of persuasion so I bought a bass and wrote some riffs over a couple of weeks. Since then I’ve kept writing songs, most of them impulsively the moment a rhythmic phrase or awareness strikes and finished before I can down a cup of coffee. SW is totally instinctual and locks down his drum parts very quickly. We have 50 songs now. The newer ones are longer and as genre-bending as we can get. (Though we hope to soon employ competing guilds of writers to do all the work while we sit high atop piles of gold and tulips.)SH: Describe The Counter Elites in five words.CE: Pat Boone’s nightmares on ice.SH: What are your major influences / inspirations?CE: Musically, our tastes are all-over-the-place and we change things up all the time. I’m especially influenced by the early punk scenes in the ‘70s and ‘80s when everyone was trying to do something unique before punk music became standardized. Also we’re inspired by the theatricality, showmanship, mystery and excitement of older rock bands and are attempting to bring some of that back. We’re also aware of the impact music has had on past social movements against injustice, and are trying to conjure some of that energy to combat elite influence, however minimally, with our messages and grooves.SH: What’s on your equipment list?CE: At first I had a 5-string acoustic/electric bass and we were more of a folk-punk band, but a few days before our debut show that bass exploded. Now I have a bass made out of raw meat and black licorice that is much more resilient. I run it through a Laney and a Fender “Devil”. SW plays a pile of boulders, a military-grade marching-band snare, a squeaky ride, and crash-cymbal hi-hats with chunks missing.SH: What are some of your favorite Detroit bands?CE: Carjack, All The Wild Children, The High Strung, Duende, Odd Hours, High Arrow, 3ft, The Beggars, Child Bite, Hellmouth, The Amino Acids, Johnny Ill Band, Oscillating Fan Club, Dark Red, The None-Others, Pancho Villa’s SkullSH: What else are you involved in that you’d like people to know about?CE: We’re part of the Simple Living Ferndale music collective run by Jonathan A. Berz (Jon From The Moon, The Walking Beat) and Shaun Wisniewski (Matilda), songwriter/keyboardist and guitarist of Songs From The Moon, respectively. They produce our records and videos and release our CDs. We just show up from time to time and drink all their Mexican Cokes. We’re working on several Counter Elites multi-media projects like videos, literature, and other things we’re not ready to divulge yet. Also we’re going to start on our second full-length later this year to try and get it out before the sh*t hits the fan.