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Mediaslaves: Melodic Punk Trio’s “%” Comments on Growing Gap Between Social Classes

Photo: Daniel Chernetski

Mediaslaves is a power trio from Vancouver, British Columbia that embraces everything from melodic punk to '90s-flavored riff rock to stoner-kissed jams. 2021 proved to be a good year for the band as their debut EP, Fear and Loathing in Outer Space, gained ground with press and indie radio outlets throughout the globe.

Last month, Mediaslaves kicked the year off by releasing “%” (pronounced ‘Percent’), a driving and melodic track with lyrics that observe the ever-growing gap between social classes.

“I wrote this song after a situation where I was unexpectedly charged a banking fee that put me in overdraft when I was a broke student. This led to me being charged even more fees I couldn’t afford at the time,” Mediaslaves guitar/vocalist Johnny Papan tells No Echo. “I started thinking about how much of our money is taken away by taxes, random fees, and interest everywhere we turn. The rich are getting much richer as the lower and middle class are gouged for every little nickel and dime we have.”

To help highlight the song's meaning, Mediaslaves are dropping a lyric video for “%” that you can view below:

Papan also adds this about the track and his lyrics: “We called the song ‘%’ because it’s written from the perspective of someone in the ‘1%.' I’m not necessarily against the idea of having lots of money, making enough to leave our day jobs and live comfortably would be sweet. But I feel like there are a lot of people out there willing to screw people over to make a buck, including those in high circles.

"I think the pandemic was a perfect example of rules being bent to support things like rich corporations, while creating dire challenges for mom 'n' pop shops, small music venues, and other independent businesses.” 

"%" is available for download now at this link, and it's also streaming everywhere.

Mediaslaves on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Tagged: mediaslaves