When you think of protest music, you probably don’t think of an Anal Cunt-inspired grindcore act, but that’s exactly what you get with Anal Trump. Of course, Anal Trump don’t have to reach far to find inspiration, finding content every time the Commander in Chief opens his mouth. The duo comprised of Rob and Travis Trump (obviously their real names) quickly gained notoriety with a series of EPs with ridiculous titles like If You Wanted To Qualify For Health Insurance, Then Maybe You Shouldn’t Have Gotten Raped? and To All the Broads I’ve Nailed Before, the profits of which were donated to charities like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
Because most of their songs are only a few seconds long, Anal Trump were able to combine their first five EPs with three new ones for 11 minutes of comedic grind goofiness. Decibel is pleased to premiere a chunk of The First 100 Songs today, because a single three-second premiere just wasn’t enough. We also checked in with Rob Trump to talk about protest music, the 2016 election cycle and more.
Listen and read below. The First 100 Songs will hit shelves on November 6, which is also election day in the United States, via Joyful Noise.
At what point in the media circus/2016 presidential election cycle was Anal Trump conceived?
I think the timeline was that I came up with it the night of the election and released the first EP the morning of the inauguration, but I could be wrong.
You released That Makes Me Smart just days before Donald Trump was elected as president. At the time, did you think he would actually be elected to office?
Unlike the theoretical movie that too many people think they are the star of, I understand that anything can happen at any time.
The First 100 Songs is 100 songs in less than 11 minutes, which is an ambitious undertaking, even for a comedic grindcore band. Why keep the length so short?
That was just how long the songs are.
You donated the profits from your previous EPs to various charities who vocally oppose the Trump Administration, like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Do you consider Anal Trump to be protest music?
Definitely. I’m a house husband to five children, while my wife works two different hospital shifts. My time to write and record is limited, let alone anything else, so hitting the streets in protest with twin toddlers in tow is a dubious prospect. I can only use what I know to affect change of any kind, and even that seems so self-delusional.
Protest music is boring and usually created by folks that actually want people to pay attention to them instead of the problem. Even when it works, history has shown that as soon as an asshole understands a playbook, it gets twisted into the asshole’s bank account. From love beads at Sears to Crass patches at Hot Topic. That’s why I created this thing from the point of view of the asshole, gave the downloads away for free initially, and then to various charities. It’s funny how many “extreme” people find that offensive. So many jerk-offs act so fucking tough, but an act of kindness makes them get all bent out of shape. Pretty soon, just looking out for one another will seem revolutionary.
You’ve released five EPs since November 2016, and The First 100 Songs includes three more. Do the two of you do anything other than write Trump-hating Anal Cunt worship?
Travis likes to remain somewhat incognito, but it’s pretty easy to figure out he’s got going on. As for myself, I write/record/tour with many bands including Pinback, Goblin Cock, Physics, Optiganally Yours, Third Act Problems, Other, Tit Wrench and this years I’m Joyful Noise’s Artist In Residence and am releasing a boxset of 11 new LPs by all different projects. Also, I sang some on the new Hot Snakes and Author and Punisher records.
Now that Anal Trump has 11 minutes of music, what happens next? More music? Tour? Patiently waiting for bombs to fall on San Diego?
Soon as Travis and I get back from our various tours, we’re ready to start playing shows. I’ve already written a new 140-song album and a split that are just waiting for Travis’ vox.
Have you spoken to many Trump supporters about AxTx? What is their reception generally like?
Not that I can remember, but I can imagine it being positive. It’s mostly just his words and attitude after all, just Yankee Doodled back at them. I have little interest in swinging the pendulum around, rather I’d like people forced into having to deal with why it was constructed in the first place.
