Coming to America

"Some of it's a stab at the hypocrisy of America, the mentality of people who have the vision that we're One Nation Under God, or something like that," Wignall says. "I tend to see us more as 'one nation under the advancements of Socialism':my dad doesn't own his house, and if he stops paying the land tax to the government, they'll kick him off the government's land that's supposedly his land. And I guess that's kind of what I sing about in 'California,' the fear that people have of the government taking over and intruding on everybody's rights."

It's not out of fear but out of concern that Wignall also insists on avoiding stereotypes. He's a devout Christian, as are many other Havalina members. Yet America is no more hit-you-over-the-head "Christian" than U2's The Joshua Tree. Just going by their wildly wonderful music alone, the Havalina Rail Co. are pretty impossible to pigeonhole, anyway. "I don't have a problem with people knowing I believe in God," Wignall says, "but I'm in a band—an entertainer, you know? The Beastie Boys aren't a 'Buddhist band,' even though they're really into Buddhism. Yet there are no Buddhist record stores, no Buddhist section at Tower to find the Beastie Boys. And Marilyn Manson isn't in the Satan section, either. It's so easy to get stereotyped into that whole thing, about what non-Christians supposedly believe all Christians are like. But I think the whole idea of 'Christian music' is ridiculous, anyway. Every artist out there has a world-view. There's not one artist in the world who doesn't believe in something that seems weird to other people, and the last thing I want is for people to get these biases about us."