An interview with musician and writer Dave Randall, author of Sound System
When Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour for expressing solidarity with Palestine, it ignited a fierce debate about censorship, solidarity, and the cost of so-called political neutrality in art.
Few are better equipped to dissect this clash of values than musician and activist Dave Randall, who faced his own industry pushback while a guitarist for Faithless.
We caught up with Randall to discuss the decision to drop Macklemore, the politics of stadium tours, what fans can do to support artists against genocide, and how his book Sound System unpacks the ongoing battle between corporate gatekeepers and grassroots music.
In your ‘Rebel Music Manifesto,’ you write that claiming music and politics shouldn’t mix is essentially an argument for maintaining the status quo. Following Macklemore’s removal from his tour, Ed Sheeran explained his own public silence on the Gaza genocide by emphasising a desire to maintain ‘diplomacy’ and keep his platform as a ‘sanctuary.’ Does this high-profile clash prove that music, especially on a massive commercial scale, can never truly be apolitical?
Dave Randall: As the late, great archbishop Desmond Tutu put it, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” When the pushback against Macklemore came, Sheeran chose his side. It’s worth noting that Macklemore has been outspoken in his support for Palestine since the start of the genocide. So the fact that he was booked for the tour in the first place suggests that Sheeran privately agrees with much of what he says on this issue.
Sheeran’s subsequent buckling under pressure is hugely disappointing. It’s a sad irony that multimillionaires like Sheeran, who have no credible material fears for their future, are often the least principled among us. I suppose they feel they have the most to lose, but lose is what Sheeran has done. He has lost the respect of millions of people who feel, as Macklemore does, that we should refuse to be silenced while our governments, big business and much of the media have been complicit in genocide.
In Sound System you recount your experience touring with Faithless, where management issued public statements distancing the band from your vocal support of the Palestinian cultural boycott. What advice would you give to contemporary artists facing that same pushback from managers, promoters, sponsors, or headliners today?
DR: Do it anyway. Follow your conscience. You won’t regret it. And link up with like-minded people who can support you. That latter step is much easier now than it was in 2010 when Faithless’ management issued the statement (misleadingly) distancing the rest of the band from my calls for the cultural boycott of Israel.
Back then I was relatively isolated within the music industry. Others agreed with me, but we weren’t organised. Now, several artist/musician-led campaigns for Palestine exist: Artist’s for Palestine and Massive Attack’s Artist Alliance are two examples. And the Musicians Union has now passed an emergency motion brought to their conference in 2025 condemning the genocide and pledging to “support members victimised at work for expressing support for the Palestinian people, or for other political activism.”
This is a significant and long-overdue step forward. So do it. You might end up having to part company with some colleagues, but you will find out who your real friends and comrades are. That’s good.
How should we view the political role of the stadium gig? Is the suppression of speech on massive stadium tours proof that live music at that level sanitises any genuine collective solidarity?
DR: I acknowledge in the book that stadium gigs can sometimes be life-changing sources of inspiration. Some important politically progressive gigs have taken place in stadiums – the Artists Against Apartheid shows in the early 1990’s spring to mind as one example. Some recent Super Bowl halftime shows provide others.
Like all cultural spaces, stadium shows are politically contested, as recent events have shown. Macklemore was right to bring Palestine solidarity into the stadiums and has had a fantastic impact by doing so. However, as I also argue in the book, grassroots movements, campaigns ‘from below’, which mobilise the broadest numbers of people and often begin in workplaces, pubs, clubs and on the streets are the most important catalysts for progressive political change. Political statements are made in stadiums when the views of a critical mass of people have already reached a tipping point. Political change is a process which involves us all every day.
What can music fans do to support those acts and artists being bumped from tours or taking the financial and career hit by voluntarily pulling out of major shows on principle?
DR: Social media enables us to write messages of support to them. Many artists do read and engage with their social media feeds. And we can call out those responsible for them being deplatformed in the same way. More importantly, we should tell our friends and colleagues why we agree with the bumped artist. The Ed Sheeran saga is an opportunity to explain and discuss important political ideas with a new audience. To be as effective as possible in those discussions, we need to know some details – in this case about Palestine – and be willing to share them in a clear, calm and respectful way that draws people towards our position.
We should also join organisations such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and demand more from the government on this issue – for starters, an immediate end to the selling of arms and sharing of intelligence with Israel. In other words, if you support the artist’s activism, join them.
Dave Randall is a musician, producer and activist. He has toured the world playing guitar with Faithless, Dido, Sinead O’Connor and many others. He also teaches courses on guitar and the creative industries at BIMM University Bristol.
The new edition of Sound System: The Political Power of Music is currently 40% off. Get your copy now.
Interview by James Kelly.
Photo credit: LivHema / Shutterstock.com
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