21 February 2011
by Sarah Hanneken

After graduating from UW-Milwaukee with a double major in history and anthropology, Milwaukee native Andy Hurley rocked his way to the cover of Rolling Stone as the drummer for the Grammy-nominated pop-punk group Fall Out Boy.

A vegan of 14 years, the tattooed redhead chatted it up with his old college newspaper, discussing his favorite vegan eateries around town as well as issues related to animal liberation and the government's view of animal activists as 'terrorists.'

Growing up in the Dairy State, living amongst brat-loving wearers of foam cheese wedges on their heads while rooting for a football team called the Packers, you weren't exactly surrounded by a culture that fosters veganism. Do you think growing up in an environment so saturated with icons of animal agriculture makes it more difficult for people to recognize animal exploitation for what it is?

I suppose it depends on where in Wisconsin you live and who you associate with. It's probably easier in larger cities since you come into contact with more people of various lifestyles and beliefs than you would living in rural areas. For me, being part of the punk-rock world as a kid, I was automatically hard-wired to question everything anyway. I was already into Rage Against the Machine and became aware of different political issues through them, so animal liberation stuff really resonated with me right away. But there's no doubt that in our society, and in this state especially, the acceptability of animal exploitation is engrained in us at an early age.

Right. But you yourself are a testament to the fact that it's not impossible to break free of that engrained mindset.

Oh totally. It's like joining the civil rights movement living in the South. There's a lot to overcome psychologically.

You went vegan at 16, meaning you had been following the diet already in high school and throughout your time at UWM. What kinds of foods did you live off of as a college student?

There's pasta of course. And living on the Eastside I ate a lot of falafel from that place on Oakland, Shahrazad [2847 N. Oakland Ave.], and lot of Thai food. It's a lot easier now with places like Comet Caf' [1947 N. Farwell Ave.] and Beans & Barley [1901 E. North Ave.], and other places with a lot of vegan options, but back then that's pretty much what I lived off of, a lot of ethnic foods.

What are your favorite places to go eat when you're back home in Milwaukee nowadays?

I'd say Beans & Barley is my favorite. Their Balsamic Tofu Sandwich is great. Other than that, I'd say EE Sane [1806 N. Farwell Ave.] has my favorite pad thai in the world, Thai Kitchen [2851 N. Oakland Ave.] has the best yellow curry, and Beans & Barley has my favorite vegan pancakes. I've heard the National [839 W. National Ave.] has vegan French toast, although I haven't had it there yet. And I guess the Palomino in Bay View [2491 S. Superior St.] has vegan mozzarella sticks. It's awesome you can get all these different foods made vegan now.

In previous interviews you have described yourself as an anarcho-primitivist. Could you explain what that is exactly?

Well, obviously I'm an anarchist ' that's the 'anarcho-' part ' and a primitivist; I understand that humanity evolved over hundreds of thousands of years as gatherer-hunters before civilization existed. Up until about 10,000 years ago, that's the way humans lived: in different forms, in different places. There wasn't one all-encompassing society but different bands of societies responded to their ecosystems and environment in different ways depending on where they lived.

Does this philosophy at all play into your decision to follow a vegan lifestyle?

My choice to be vegan is largely a response to civilization. Even if you buy meat from locally raised, locally butchered animals, it's not ethical. There is nothing ethical about the commodification of life. You can't be an 'ethical butcher' because you're still taking lives. In our society today, veganism is a civilized response to a civilized problem.

Given your strong political (or anti-political) beliefs, how do you feel about large animal organizations like PETA and HSUS, which are basically just large institutions with little governments in and of themselves?

I definitely think the most important groups are groups like the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), but I also think PETA and the Humane Society and larger, more bureaucratic groups like that have definitely made a difference to relieve suffering. They have celebrity members who care and who will get involved in different campaigns they're promoting, which helps attract attention to the issue. So I think that's important, but I don't think it's the ultimate answer. It is only dealing with the symptoms of a greater problem, so it definitely shouldn't end there.

There are people out there doing tons of work, even going to jail for it. With the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act passing in 2006, consider just how insane it is that people who are defending lives in nonviolent ways are going to jail for life! These situations are absolutely absurd; nonviolent activists are being labeled as terrorists.

The point is, I hope people don't think that the extent of their responsibility is to donate money to PETA to help lessen the suffering in factories making fucking chicken nuggets for KFC.

Let's talk about the ALF. Whether they deserve it or not, their reputation has become one of violence; they are seen as a militant, violent organization. What would you say to that? Do you agree with those type of tactics?

It's sad that we live in a culture that's so materialistic that people view property damage as violence. Essentially, destroying the tools and technology of death and suffering ' that's what's targeted ' is considered violence! There's never been human causalities from the ALF.

Yeah, that would kind of go against the idea of respecting life.

Exactly. And that's one of the highest mandates: harm to any sentient being, humans included, is just not part of the tactics of the ALF. And yet damage to laboratories that kill and torture is still somehow seen as violent. People aren't willing to look past [media hype] and get a clear understanding of the ALF's actual goals.