Against Me! Rocks the Vote
Influential youth-voter organization Rock the Vote and Florida punk band Against Me! have teamed up to create a dynamic, brand-new public service announcement campaign (PSA) designed to tap into the mounting excitement that young people have shown for this year’s presidential candidates and the 2008 election. Broadcast and video versions of the PSA will hit airwaves today and encourage young people, who are already turning out to the polls in record numbers, to register to vote and cast their ballots in November’s important election.
The PSA features footage of Against Me! performing “Stop!” the new single from their current Sire Records? album New Wave. Directed by Directed by Mark Klasfeld (Foo Fighters, Gnarls Barkley, Jay-Z), it is centered on a red draped polling booth surrounded and inspired by a set of issues that come alive – everything from pro-choice/pro life protestors defending their position to a solider peaking through the curtain. The voting booth is a metaphor for all of the issues that are important to individuals that could be changed by voting; everything from heath care to the environment. These issues intermix with the band’s performance to a point where the voting booth sparks and explodes symbolizing the urgency and nature of this Presidential election. Rock the Vote’s partnership with Against Me! is in keeping with the organization’s 18-year-history of fusing celebrity, music, and politics in an effort to inspire, engage, and mobilize a generation to action. Rock the Vote taps into the entertainment community and youth culture to engage youth in the political process.
“Through the incredible support of bands like Against Me! we are able to connect with young people through mediums and messengers that we know they are paying attention to,” said Heather Smith, executive director of Rock the Vote.
This year, Rock the Vote will run the largest youth-voter registration drive in history, registering more than 2 million young people. Fans can register to vote directly from Against Me!’s website: www.againstme.net.
About Rock the Vote: Rock the Vote’s mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country. Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process. Rock the Vote is creative, effective, and controlled by nobody’s agenda but our own — we tell it like it is and pride ourselves on being a trusted source for information on politics. We empower the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done. https://www.rockthevote.org.
About Against Me!:
Hailing from Gainesville, Florida Against Me! is frontman Tom Gabel, guitarist James Bowman, bassist Andrew Seward, and drummer Warren Oakes. Their fourth studio album, New Wave, was released produced by Butch Vig and released by Sire Records on July 10, 2007 . It quickly became one of most critically acclaimed albums of the year, with Spin Magazine declaring it the “Best Album of 2007.” Known for Gabel’s politically charged lyrics, roaring vocals, and fist-to-authority ethos, each Against Me! live show is an incendiary experience. In the past year the band has completed two headlining tours as well as tours with Mastodon, Foo Fighters and Serj Tankian. This summer Against Me! will headline the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.