The Agitator

This rabble-rousing act feature 24yr-old Derek Meins on vocals, accompanied by both Robert Dylan Thomas and ‘T-Train’ on thunderous double-drums. Derek’s force-of-nature voice and rallying-call songs are unashamedly political but aim to inspire and energise rather than dictate some dubious ideology. The Agitator’s music is stripped-down, loud and in yer face. No frills, primal. “Guitars are for decadent capitalist sissies!” Though starkly contemporary, their sound contains classic ingredients harking back to the fifties and depression-era thirties. It will undoubtedly be a crucial soundtrack for the coming era of austerity and unrest. “I wanted a new kind of music, nothing more than banging, stamping, clapping and voices, something anyone could do anywhere, on a march, at a protest, on the barricades…” Derek’s career began early, he signed to Rough Trade at the tender age of fourteen with his Berwick-Upon-Tweed schoolboy band, Eastern Lane. They released two albums on RT before going their separate ways. Derek’s Scottish burr was next heard on his 2008 solo album, ‘The Famous Poet Derek Meins’. Robert Dylan Thomas is already highly-regarded for his drumming on The Maccabees first album. And this is the first serious outing for recent addition, 20yr-old ‘T-Train’. Seeing The Agitator’s storming live performances, your faded faith that rock’n’roll might again be inspirational, might again be a force for change, will be renewed. “This financial crisis brought everything to a head for me – The blatancy of social injustice, the rising unemployment, the mortgaging of this generation’s future, the never-satisfied greed of the super-rich, and the incompetent weakness of our politicians. I couldn’t just carry on writing arty songs hoping someone else would do something about it. That’s all The Agitator is – One man’s small attempt to do something. LOUDLY!” The Agitator released his first double-A-side single, ‘Get Ready’ / ‘Let’s Start Marching’, in June 2010 and his second, ‘Give Me All That You Got’, in November. His album, to be titled simply, NO!, will follow in early 2011. The Agitator recently launched a protest campaign based around a simple idea: NO!-ism. Just say NO! – to all that’s badly wrong with the present ridiculous state of affairs. He’s convinced it could change everything if our fearful politicians discovered how many of us are angry and ready to voice their discontent loudly, scrawling the simple exclamation, NO!, across the nation’s walls and consciousness. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.