Against Mes singer Tim McIlrath once told me that artists are reluctant to speak out because "our culture has been in a stranglehold by this hipster cynicism that permeates art and popular art. That's the currency of the latest incarnation of music. Apathy has more weight than anything else. It's not cool to be political, or to talk about these things in music." His music found a wide audience, he believes,Michael Kors, because "change never comes from the top down and trickles down. It always comes from the bottom up, and music can be a catalyst."