Above: The Rude Mechanical Orchestra performing last month at a protest of labor policies at Dylan’s Candy Bar in Manhattan. Michael Nagle for The New York Times.
Note: For more on the Rude Mechanical Orchestra visit their website. Here is their mission from their website:
The Rude Mechanical Orchestra is a New York City-based radical marching band. We exist in order to serve the efforts of progressive and radical groups and causes, including: feminism and women’s rights, immigrant rights, queer rights, labor, the environment, peace, community self-determination, and racial, social, and economic justice. We pledge to fight racism, sexism, homophobia, war and violence in all its forms. Through our music, we strive to bring joy and inspiration to these communities and to bring new people into radical causes. Internally, we work towards being a safe, welcoming place for all genders and gender identities, ages, races, backgrounds, sexual orientations, disabilities and musical skill levels. Through our musical selections, we pay tribute to the world’s cultures and the revolutionary role music has played throughout history.
Among the shouts and chants from a picket line on the Upper East Side on a recent evening were a few sounds of a less discordant nature: the thump of a bass drum, the toot of a trombone, the melodious drone of a clarinet.
For nearly a decade, members of a collective called the Rude Mechanical Orchestra have provided the unlikely musical accompaniment to various rebellious street events in New York City and beyond.
The group, which is named in part after characters in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” was formed in 2004 to take part in a march in Washington organized by the National Organization for Women. Since then, it has performed during antiwar demonstrations, rallies protesting gentrification and parades celebrating the community gardens of the Lower East Side.
The band, whose 30-odd revolving members dress in green and black, usually donates its services. One exception came in 2008 when it accompanied the indie-rockers Matt and Kim at the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn. The proceeds enabled them to buy a biofuel bus that transported the musicians and their instruments to St. Paul, Minn., where they joined protests during the Republican National Convention.
The band’s repertoire includes Balkan marching tunes, Brazilian sambas and klezmer dirges. Some compositions sound as though they could be played during the halftime of a college football game, but for their unapologetically polemical edge. Commonly performed songs include “The Internationale,” “The Smash-a-Bank Polka” and “Which Side Are You On?,” which was popularized by Pete Seeger and is performed with a syncopated swing.
“We are interested in the idea of using music strategically to challenge power,” said Sarah Blust, a bass drummer and original member of the group. “We try to play music that harmonizes our mission and our politics.”
The musicians are often accompanied by a dance troupe called Tactical Spectacle. Decisions are made by consensus, and band membership policy forbids discrimination, even on the basis of musical ability. Orchestra members describe themselves on their website as “a motley mix of rusty players that hadn’t picked up a horn since high school and longtime street bandistas.” One band member, Matthew Arnold, said that the musicians saw themselves “as a political project that supports other organizations working for social justice.” Other members said that the orchestra had formed close ties with advocacy groups like Make the Road by Walking and Picture the Homeless.
“They show the truest form of solidarity,” said Matt Plummer, a member of 99 Pickets, a group that organizes labor protests. “There’s no agenda beyond supporting the struggle they amplify.”
As about three dozen people protested work conditions at Dylan’s Candy Bar on East 60th Street in Manhattan last month, the band played on. A trombone was joined by a trumpet and a bass horn. A snare drum rat-a-tatted next to a majorette brandishing a green and gold flag.
People emerging from a subway station paused to gaze. And Flor Ramirez tapped her foot. “I’m Caribbean, so I really like the drums,” said Ms. Ramirez, who had not joined the picket but said she was there to support it. “The horns are pretty good, too.”
Janna Pea, of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the orchestra had buoyed the spirits of Dylan’s workers who were seeking, among other things, hourly pay that matched the $13.99 price for a pound of bulk candy at the store, which is owned by Dylan Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s daughter.
A spokeswoman for Dylan’s, Lauren Kenyon, said that according to a company official, salaries were based on merit and the pay structure was “in line with comparable companies of our size.”
At times, the authorities have taken note of the role played by marching bands. A police report prepared before the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York said that “increases in beat are used to indicate an attack,” an assertion that Ms. Blust called “pretty ridiculous.” One of the biggest mass arrests of the convention included members of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and the Infernal Noise Brigade, a band from Seattle, who led a march through streets near Union Square.
After the candy store protest, the musicians continued to play as they marched south on Third Avenue. At 42nd Street the group turned west and approached another labor rally, outside a restaurant, where about 50 people were gathered. As the orchestra came into view, the waiting crowd cheered.
“This band brings their own level of energy,” said Lino Diaz, one of those who applauded the arrival. “People are going to be grabbing fliers and dancing down the street.”