The Agonist
Viva!'s Rose Alexander
meets vegan lead singer of
up-and-coming metal band Alissa White-Gluz can go from a perfect
melodic pitch to a frightening death growl
in seconds - which is extraordinary in
itself - but she does it for the animals!
At 25, she is a woman of talent - strong
conviction, incredible focus; she sings,
paints and is an animal activist - the
complete woman!
Moral music
Canadian-based Alissa fronts The
Agonist, a band which has taken the metal
scene by storm - and they are getting
bigger by the second. Her music tackles
some of her deep moral concerns such as
animal testing, drug abuse,
eating disorders, environmental
issues and man's inhumanity
towards people and animals.
Encouraging people to think for themselvesHowever, she's not prescriptive
and the band 's ultimate goal is
simply to encourage people to
think for themselves, open their
mind and their eyes.
Promoting veganism since 2004The Agonist have been working
together since 2004, writing,
recording music and touring as
far and wide as they can. Alissa
has worked to promote veganism
amongst fans and in the metal
scene and you can see her recent
'webisode' about animal rescue
on the net. It demonstrates why
pet shops should be boycotted.
"I
rescue cats and dogs and find
them homes so they are not
euthanized in shelters," she adds.
London show at The Underworld
I caught up with Alissa at The
Underworld in London after her
show where she had given a truly
impressive live performance. I'd
asked if she'd be happy to be
interviewed for Viva! and of
course she was more than
willing! More than that, she was
incredibly lovely and polite.
Why vegan?
Everyone has their own reasons
for becoming vegan so I was
curious to ask what had spurred her on.
She replied: "I researched the milk and egg
industry and realised I didn't want to have
that kind of cruelty on my conscience, so I
went vegan. I was 13. Since I was old
enough to think, I've felt honoured and
grateful to be able to share this planet with
so many amazing and different creatures.
The joy I get from helping animals is
something I can't live without.
"Being vegan allows me to devote
myself to my cause every day of my life -
and since I have been vegetarian from
birth, I feel like I can be proud to have
never contributed to an industry I
vehemently oppose. I don't discriminate
between race, religion, gender or species
and being vegan is something that I know
is right. I would not be able to live any
other way."
Song writingI asked what makes her such a unique
and successful song writer. "I find the
human race to be a very disturbing and
confusing thing," she replied. "There are
so many injustices committed every day
and we are becoming more and more
desensitised to them. I get quite frustrated
trying to quantify the reasoning behind
certain actions and thoughts. I just write
songs almost automatically -
based on what I see and think
and feel."
Foie-gras
Foie-gras production is
something that she is
emphatically against. "I hate the
fact that people see such things
as a delicacy. They give it a
French name and think they are
high class for eating it. If they
watched what went into the food
they eat they might never touch it
again but people are in denial
and defensive - typical behaviour
for someone who knows they
are wrong."
Women and pig farming
Alissa has a powerful message
for women on the intensive
factory farming of pigs - in
particular the crating of pregnant
sows while they deliver and feed
their young: "I would like every
female in the world, just for a
second, to consider how they
would feel if put into that
situation with their children.
People refuse to admit that it
bothers them... but there is no
denying the cruelty."
Badger cull
She also has a lot to say about
dairy farmers and their failings.
British badgers are still being
accused of being the main culprits in spreading bovine TB, when
in fact the real culprits are farming
practices so intense that dairy cows face
numerous infections because of weakened
immune systems:
"The ignorance and denial of
responsibility of these farmers is
outrageous. It is so discouraging that
people won't open their eyes! The spread
of disease amongst farmed animals is
unfortunately a world-wide problem and it
amazes me that, even with the crippling of
the planet to the point we are now at,
people still want a scapegoat in nature to
escape their obvious fault!
Dairy farming
"Dairy farming over-exploits animals
and is unnecessarily cruel. Cows are just
commodities, not creatures. Clearly we
North Americans don't need to consume
anything like as much as we do yet
corporations still exploit us by pushing
sales for money. The farming of animals is
one of the major contributors to
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."
Factory farming
We talked of her feelings about
the widespread factory farming in the
poultry industry:
"This is one of the most unsanitary
industries of all. Even a heartless
murderer would probably think twice
about eating a faeces-soaked bird... people
are getting better and better at pulling the
wool over their eyes because it's easy."
Food poisoning from chicken
Ironically, the very next day came an
announcement from the UK Food
Standards Agency that 40 per cent of the
chickens on sale in our shops are crawling
with the food poisoning bug campylobacter
- not just in the bird's flesh but all over the
exterior of the plastic wrapping!
Vegan advice
 Alissa had some inspirational advice for
aspiring vegans:
"The best change you can
make for yourself, physically and
emotionally, as well as for the planet is to
go vegan. Read up on the subject, explore
the options and give it a try, at least for a
couple months. There are a lot of good
resources online and once you learn the
awful impact you're having by eating meat
and dairy, it shouldn't be too hard.
"And if you want to do something
extra to help, please join Viva! and make a
real difference!"
Favourite vegan food
As a foodie myself, I was dying to know
some of Alissa's favourite comfort foods.
She didn't hesitate:
"I make a great vegan lasagne but my
real comfort food is rice ice cream!"
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