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<\/a>Easy enough. But having political lyrics isn\u2019t hard; making consistently quality music is. Barnes says that the tough part of being in a band isn\u2019t to make good music; it\u2019s to continue to make good music.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep making good music is the hard part, really,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to truly like your job. As far as to write good music goes, that\u2019s a tough one, because not everyone can write good music. You give two guys Casio keyboards, one guy could make a beautiful song and the other guy might not even be able to do \u2018Chopsticks.\u2019 I don\u2019t know; maybe you\u2019re born with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While musical prowess may be a matter of nature, having an awareness of social issues\u0143something Barnes and his bandmates have in common\u0143isn\u2019t. For example, every member of Rise Against is a vegetarian, with some being vegans; they take animal rights very seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been vegetarian for over 10 years,\u201d says Barnes. \u201cI worked at a grocery store in my early 20s, and it really made me start thinking about where the food comes from, and how it gets to your plate. I started looking into educating myself and reading up on factory farming and the chemicals that go into the food. It just turned me off after a while; it turned me off to the point where I just lost my urge to eat meat. It\u2019s horrible the things that people do to these animals. Anyone that has pets, or brains in their heads, probably wants to end animal abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnes doesn\u2019t limit his social consciousness to animal rights: he feels passionately about many political topics, things that Rise Against aren\u2019t timid to express in their music. For Barnes, along with many others around the world, one contentious issue right now is the American presidential race.<\/p>\n
Barnes describes his choice of Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election between the Democrats and the Republicans as the lesser of two evils.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople that get close to that position of power don\u2019t seem to be just stand-up, good people,\u201d he says. \u201cEven Obama, in a way, there are things at times that seem kind of schwarmy about him. There is a slickness in big-time politicians, the way they act and move; it\u2019s like a front. He\u2019s probably a really nice guy on the outside, but when you see him he looks like he\u2019s almost been trained to be in the spotlight. There\u2019s something fake about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite this sprinkle of cynicism, Barnes remains optimistic, and says that perhaps if Obama is re-elected he\u2019ll have more backbone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019ll have a little more guts,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe he\u2019ll go for stuff he truly believes in. Maybe he\u2019ll come out swinging this time.\u201d<\/p>\n