“Revolution” the new single from Heartless Bastards is out now with proceeds benefiting the ACLU.
NPR Live Sessions/KUTX – Erika Wennerstrom/Heartless Bastards – shot in Lockhart City Park, Lockhart, TX by Michael Minasi, August 2020
With a title like “Revolution” one would assume Heartless Bastards’ songwriter Erika Wennerstrom was writing a political song. But that’s not quite the case. “It’s about loving your fellow man and if that’s a political stance then I’d think about what side of that you’re on. I saw the deep division the last election created, and I felt a lot of anxiety and frustration with how people treated each other. To me the most important message I could put out in the world was a reminder to love each other and that starts with ourselves.”
A full Heartless Bastards record is finished, started in Lockhart, TX (where Wennerstrom now lives) and finished in LA right before the March shutdown. Some would say it’s been five years since the band put out a proper album- referring to 2015’s Restless Ones– but that is only because 2018’s superb album Sweet Unknown was put out under her name as a solo album. Wennerstrom has always been the driving force since she started the band in Cincinnati. When asked about going back to the Heartless Bastards moniker, Wennerstrom says, “I think there are some messages in these songs that are medicine and could possibly provide some comfort to people, and I can reach a lot more people with the HB moniker. I’ve been making music as Heartless Bastards since I first started in 2003. There were some changes along the way, and I had the same team for a long time. They’re my family, but our timing is just not on the same page. We took a break and I did an album under my name. Though Heartless Bastards has always been my project and my songs, I didn’t want to wait around for everyone else to be on the same page.”
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We asked Erika to tell us about the inspiration behind the powerful first single released in July of 2020.
EW: “Commercialism constantly imbeds a false idea of what it is to lead an abundant life. I think it creates a competitive society where people scramble to the top so they don’t get left behind. Within that scramble fear lends itself to bigotry. It’s that animal side of man out there surviving. The side that’s opposite of compassion.
My intention was to invite people to look within, and also outward to try to imagine other perspectives. Our planet can’t continue to sustain human life on its current path. Native Americans think about the impact they make for up to 7 generations. How can we all work together to take care of each other and future generations? To me that’s society as a whole having a revolution in thought, and learning to live with less. Materialism is a virus on our planet. It attempts to fill voids that can’t be satiated. Self love is the void.
My intent is also not to make people that have wealth feel bad or guilty. I just feel that those things don’t make someone a better human being. Let’s make sure we have equal access to education, health care, and our basic needs. The mansions, designer clothes, fancy cars are just fluff. That’s ego.
I don’t have all the answers on how to change, but it’s a conversation that should be present. Ultimately we’re all connected. Let’s love each other.”
-Deidre Gott, KUTX Live Music Booker/Producer
KUTX Pop-Up Credits:
Musician: Erika Wennerstrom, vocals, guitar
Cameras and Edit: Michael Minasi; Edit Michael Minasi; Audio Mix: Jake Perlman; Producer: Deidre Gott
“REVOLUTION” LYRICS
Have you forgotten when
There was a time filled with hope instead of fear that’s in your heart
There was a time when life was simple and innocent to start
Do you remember?
Have you forgotten when
There was a time when false information wasn’t so rampant in the sphere
There was a time when you weren’t questioning everything you hear
Do you remember?
As happiness in pills and potions, fancy threads and cars in motion
Hypnotized by gilded lies to line the pockets of so few
While hungry politicians feed bullshit to the masses
To ensure their statuses and further divide the classes
Raise consciousness and elevate how we all relate, don’t hesitate
No need to be better or smarter than anybody else
Leave judgement at the door for others and yourself
The revolution is in your mind
And I just want to take away, take away the blues
The Revolution is in your mind
Revolution
All I really want is the truth
Oh, when I open my eyes and I get up in the morning
All I really need is the truth
Raise consciousness and elevate how we all relate, don’t hesitate
No need to be better or smarter than anybody else
Leave judgement at the door for others and yourself
The revolution is in your mind
All I really want is the truth
Oh, when I open my eyes and I get up in the morning
All I really need is the truth
Early voting in Texas starts Tuesday, October 13 and runs through Friday, October 30. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Find more information here.
