In recent years, there has been a lot of debate over whether or not political messages belong in music or other kinds of entertainment. In an interview on the Scars and Guitars podcast, former Iced Earth singer Matt Barlow shared his stance on the whole situation, explaining that he purposely tries to keep politics out of his music.
“I don’t preach politics,” Barlow said. “It’s a personal thing for me that I don’t do, because I’m not trying to alienate people that are friends or fans of music or just my friends in general. ‘Cause I have friends that are on all sides of the spectrum, where that’s concerned. And it’s just not my job.”
“And I feel that responsibility a lot with music too, man. I think that that’s one of the reasons that I don’t — in my lyrics or anything like that, if there’s anything that’s political or socially something, I try to leave it as ambiguous as possible so you can fill in your own blanks. A lot of the stuff that I do is thought out. I can release my rage and my demons in the music and make it aggressive because I know that that’s what a lot of people need to release. That’s what I needed.”
He continued, referencing several bands who are well known for using their music to express their political beliefs:
“But I’m not gonna be a Rage Against The Machine guy, or Five Finger [Death Punch] or whatever. And I don’t really follow Five Finger Death Punch, but everybody’s, like, ‘Well, they’re conservative.’ But I’m just not gonna put myself out there like that. I just choose not to. That’s not the kind of music that I wanna do, and that’s not the kind of music that I will do.
“Because I feel that I have a responsibility as an entertainer because I am an entertainer, and I have the privilege of performing these songs and writing these songs and performing them for people of all types, of all walks of life. I don’t discriminate against anybody that’s a metal fan.”
