“Progressive politics is not going to sit back and lick its wounds, it’s going to stand up proud.”

Steve Roberts
Musician

What event are you involved in?

Glossop, the Labour Club on Saturday 2nd October. Quiet Loner is playing too and I admire his music and ethos.

Tell us something interesting about yourself

My old band 16 Tambourines played at the 70th anniversary of the Russian revolution at the Liverpool Empire in 1987. There were these brilliant backdrops about 40ft high of Marx, Engels and Lenin. I tried to crack an old Alexi Sayle joke along the lines of ‘this next song will be played at 45 glorious revolutions per minute’ but nobody got it.

What made you want to get involved in We Shall Overcome?

I was inspired by punk to play music and I gravitated to those bands that combined good tunes with social comment. I’ve always played benefit gigs, from supporting liverpool’s disbarred councillors, to homeless charities. I think it’s important for music to make a connection with the wider community rather than merely being entertainment – though dumb entertainment can be boss too.

After the terrible result of this election, I’d stood locally for the Greens, WSO for me was a great opportunity to show that progressive politics is not going to sit back and lick its wounds, it’s going to stand up proud.

I’m glad that we are doing it for the foodbank because going without a good feed leads to so many problems, but it’s ridiculous that this nation with everything has people with almost nothing. It’s criminal management of the economy. We can highlight this.

What inspires you or makes you hopeful?

Knowing that there are a lot of people who can still be bothered and will not meekly accept the austerity and lies of the political establishment. The Greens are becoming more radical and more confident and they have momentum, I’ve been impressed by many I’ve met in this movement. It stands for something progressive.

I know lots of great inspiring people and I know there are a lot more out there I don’t know but who I do know will be doing their bit.

What are you most looking forward to about October 2-4?

Obviously the music but also the sense that people all over the country are uniting to say they won’t accept that a mediocre life is all we should expect. Oh and Quiet Loner playing the banjo.
Find out more about Steve’s music at his website http://www.steverobertsmusic.co.uk