Sipping some salty seawater and splashing a bit on the speakers, Radio Rubbish hits us with #MAGAMAGA!! These two, Sir Sidney Squeakco and Lord Johnny Macco, hailing from the backwoods of Britain, let’s say, have a statement to make. Radio Rubbish are worried that, as soon as Trump takes office, his first move will be to impose an international ban on punk.

Why Trump? Why are punks against him? Perhaps they simply can’t stand watching him become a symbol of hyper-inflated narcissism and greed. #MAGAMAGA!! seems designed to realign all those stragglers, the lost and the tired punks, reminding them that punk is the very call to action that once filled the streets: “Fight the system!” Radio Rubbish takes the absurdity and pomposity of the world and throws it back at the audience, in powerful doses of humor and sarcasm. There’s no room for official statements in their ranks, and if they ever got invited to the BBC, the fire alarm would probably go off. As they say, buckle up—and let’s see what these lads have to say.

photo by @radiorubbish

Hi guys. There’s something in the very fabric of punk that fights authority, and Trump seems to embody everything punk rebels against—self-importance, greed, and conformity. Why choose Trump as your antagonist, knowing how much he thrives on being the center of controversy?

SID SQUACKO: Quite frankly how ANYONE can look at him and listen to him and consider him a suitable candidate for POTUS is beyond us. 

JONNY MACKO: Yeah he’s a clown who’s lost his job with the circus and then applies to be an astronaut! 

SID SQUACKO: So we know we’re drawing yer more attention to him but we really do believe the guy has gone GAGA! He’s got to be stopped.

It’s clear that “MAGA, MAGA!!” harks back to the political punk anthems of the past—The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Kennedys—but those songs were born in a very different political climate. Punk used to feel like it could actually change the world. Do you think punk can still shake the foundations of power?

SID SQUACKO: We think punk is less of a fashion thing, less about haircuts and trousers and more about a DIY attitude. 

JONNY MACKO: What people think of as the punk look used to be shocking, but now it ’s just fancy dress. If punk gets its soul back and takes on the establishment we reckon it can still shake the powers of tower!

SID SQUACKO: It’s “towers of power” Jonny…

JONNY MACKO: Yeah that. 

There’s a long tradition in punk of using humor and absurdity to make serious points. With a title like “MAGA, MAGA!!”, you’re clearly playing with the absurdity of Trump’s larger-than-life persona. How important is humor in your music, especially when dealing with such serious political themes?

JONNY MACKO: Is his persona that big? It’s not what the ladies say

SID SQUACKO: This situation if important. It would be frankly dreadful for the world if Trump became POTUS again BUT he’s frankly such a ludicrous individual that we believe it must be treated with humour. So we lampoon him, but with serious intent.

You’ve described your upcoming album as a cousin to The Pistols’ God Save The Queen or The Beat’s Stand Down Margaret, both iconic protest songs. That’s a big legacy to live up to. What kind of impact are you hoping this album will have?

JONNY MACKO: We’re hoping it will go to #1 in all the charts all over the world and in so doing will transform society from a set of isolated individuals listlessly scrolling through X into vibrant energised engaged communities.

SID SQUACKO: Yeah, all going together to punk concerts and shouting and pogoing and that.

Beyond Trump, what other themes or issues do you tackle on this album, and how do they connect to the larger punk message?

JONNY MACKO: There is some more political stuff. There’s a song about conspiritualists and the January 6 riots and songs about the pandemic. 

SID SQUACKO: There’s covers that reinforce the cultural vibe and message too. Buzzcocks, Lou Reed, Talking Heads. We love that crossover of punk, post-punk and dancefloor culture. It’s all rebel music.

There’s always been a kind of tragic irony in punk—songs meant to disrupt the system can end up as soundtracks to the very consumerist culture they sought to destroy. How do you keep your message from being co-opted, from becoming just another product in a market hungry for rebellion?

SID SQUACKO: Well that is the part of the machine function of Capitalism. 

JONNY MACKO: You what? Is that an App thing?

SID SQUACKO: No Jonny, it’s not. I mean like Trump using and abusing people’s music like Neil Young’s in his campaigns. 

JONNY MACKO: Yeah we wrote and told Trump he’s not allowed to use MAGA MAGA!! He ain’t used it yet so he probably got the message

How do you define punk in 2024, and what boundaries do you feel are left to break?

SID SQUACKO: We think punk needs less store bought bondage strides and more DIY attitude. 

JONNY MACKO: Yeah less sniffing glue and more sticking it to the man!

SID SQUACKO: Especially Trump

JONNY MACKO: Yeah, especially him

You both have such strong personalities and backgrounds—Sid from the West Country and Jonny from Essex. I imagine there’s a lot of creative friction, but also a lot of fun when you’re making music together. What’s the most ridiculous or unexpected thing that’s happened while you’ve been working on this album?

JONNY MACKO: Because we’re sailing the world on our pirate ship broadcasting punk 24/7, we do it all on there. One of us will like write a song in their cabin or up on deck and we work it all up from there. 

SID SQUACKO; We do have creative friction, but because we’re pirate punks, we just sort it all out on deck with a staged sword fight.

JONNY MACKO: Yeah like Johnny Dipp.

SID SQUACKO: Dipp?

JONNY MACKO: Yeah. The one what walks the plank and takes a dip. That’s why he’s called Dipp.

SID SQUACKO: That said, it does go a bit woo and wah sometimes like when Jonny Macko got a bit too jiggy with the drum machine and it perturbed the nav gear and we ended up sailing up the Orinoco thinking it was the Mersey. 

When you’re not thinking about smashing the system or writing songs, how do you unwind?

SIDNEY SQUACKO: I likes to kick back with a selection of the finest scrumpies and play punk versions of songs by the Wurzels on MY revved up electric ukulele. 

JONNY MACKO: I like doing 200mph laps of the M25 in my mark 2 Ford Cortina whilst blasting out Cranked Up Really High by Slaughter And The Dogs and playing along on a kazoo rammed in me mouth

What’s the best part about being in a band like Radio Rubbish?

JONNY MACKO: The best bit of being in Radio Rubbish is not being a past-it Trump-supporting muppet like Johnny Rotten.

SID SQUACKO: The other best bit is telling it like it is with the aim of making a positive difference to the world.

Apple Music: https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/maga-maga-single/1769616287

*This interview was made possible by Quite Great PR