Ongoing History of Protest Music Podcast Episode 9: They Don’t Give a $$$$ (with Ryan Guay & James Searl)

This episode features two special guests, Ryan Guay of Canadian reggae-rock band Street Pharmacy and James Searl of American roots-reggae band Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. The two recently collaborated to compose the protest tune “They Don’t Give a $$$$.” We discussed the motivation behind that song. We also discussed the importance of using your platform to speak up, the backlash that comes from it and the frustration when your audience doesn’t seem to get the message. Guay and Searl also share a few of their influences, discuss how reggae and golden age hip-hop impacted them and the effect that the current pandemic has had on them and the music industry.