Kill the Autocrat launches new video

People might remember him as the rapping striker, making his voice heard during the Vale labour dispute, but Mike O'Brien's music career didn't start there. And it certainly didn't end there.

O'Brien, Trevor Johnston and Scott Swain, known as Kill the Autocrat, are about to release their first professional music video for Constant Movement.

The track is the first single of their album A New World Disorder, which is expected out early next year. The single is currently available on iTunes, Amazon and MySpace.

O'Brien said it's a “protest song,” like much of his other work.

“It's basically about the state of the world,” he said. “It's time to rise up, because we've had the wool pulled over our eyes for too long.”

O'Brien said after his first band broke up years ago, he decided to step away from music to pursue “normal people stuff” like going to school, getting a job and tying the knot.

The hardships of the strike challenged all the things he worked for though.

“That all just seemed to blow up in my face during the strike,” he said. It wasn't all bad, since it helped O'Brien reconnect with his passion.

Now that music is back on the forefront, O'Brien said he plans to spread the word on “the politics of everything” on a local and global basis.

Thanks to his strike song One Day Longer, O'Brien has had the opportunity to perform for strikers in Mexico and at a number of other stops along the way.

While he's proud of the project, he said he wants to distance the rest of his work from One Day Longer.

The strike was "something for the history books,” he said.

Performing with Kill the Autocrat, O'Brien said he wants to “inspire” audiences by stepping back to the roots of hip hop, which he said are rooted in songs about community and organization within it.

“I love catchy music, stuff that sticks in peoples heads, but at the same time I like to have real, educating lyrics,” he said. “ If (my music) helps one person see something for what it really is, then everything is worth it.”

He said the goal is to have the video play on music channels, but he's not certain how well mainstream TV will take to the controversial nature of it. He said if it doesn't make it to TV, it will be available all over the Internet.

The Constant Movement video was created under the direction of The Shartshooter, a Toronto-based director. He has worked with other hip hoppers like Belly, Bishop Brigante, P Reign, Aristo and Angerville.

The video officially launches at S.R.O. on Dec. 22.

For more information about the release party, visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113465858721507.

The launch will also set the band's website into motion. Check out www.killtheautocrat.com for more information about O'Brien's band.