For more than 30 years UK activist and singer Billy Bragg has spread his messages and ideology around the world through music. Currently touring in support of his first full length album in five years, Tooth and Nail, Bragg plays MacEwan Hall in Calgary, April 8th. On the phone before a show in Seattle, Bragg spoke with GayCalgary Magazine about politics, his new album, and his career.

GC: Tooth and Nail is your first album in 5 years. What prompted writing and recording this album at this time?

BB: I have been putting songs out for free download on the internet, I made a six track CD of songs from a play I wrote the music for. I put out a ten track compilation of songs from the last decade. What I haven’t done is put out a record that goes into record stores and on iTunes. So you could say I’ve been working in the music industry but shying away from engaging in the recording industry which is a different thing. I’m sitting on a bus in a parking lot behind a theatre in Seattle and what I am doing tonight in that theatre is the music industry. It is not the recording industry. The recording industry is in a bit of a quandary at the moment, their old analog business model hasn’t quite adapted to the digital age. So [I’m] trying to work out, if it is worth the cost of blood and treasure, of making a new Billy Bragg recording that goes into shops is worthy of the attention. So I have been trying to weigh out the pros and cons of that. In late 2011 I came to the conclusion that I did need to engage again so I went to see a friend of mine Joe Henry and we recorded an album in five days. Then I spent the next 12 months plotting how to promote the record and put together a war chest to do what I am doing today, touring the US and Canada with a bus and a band. There is no big label out there waiting to bankroll me. So it is my show and I need to get motivated to do it.

GC: You recorded the album in a week. Was there an advantage to working at such a breakneck pace to complete it?

BB: It keeps you focused. You get a sound and stay with it and are in that intense creative period where you may write some more songs which I did. It is like jumping on a fast ride at the fun fair, it is over quick but you get a buzz from it.

GC: How have you adapted to the changes in creating music in the last 30 years

BB: The last couple of years I have been running it like a college industry and selling things through my website and concentrating on making money from touring which is my main income. To tour with a band on a tour bus will cost a lot of money, if I break even on this tour I will be really, really happy. I have got to really think hard about if it’s worth it. I didn’t need to worry about it before; there was someone from a record company that would cover it and I didn’t have to worry about it. It is like a small business, I have to think about where the money is coming in and going out.  I am fortunate that my partner Juliet has worked in the music industry and knows the business inside out. The two of us make a pretty good team.

GC: With the risk of a financial loss on the tour, what motivates you to keep going on the road?

BB: I get a fabulous buzz from playing live, I would miss that. I have been doing this for more than 30. I feel that I have something to prove, it is one more shot at altering people’s perception of who I am. I don’t expect to be playing the "enormodome" any time soon but it is a chance to reconnect with people that listened to me in the 80’s or enjoyed Mermaid Avenue. That is what I am hoping to achieve with this tour.

GC: There has long been a connection between fans and artists from the UK and Canada. What do you feel connects you to Canada?

BB: I think for me that the political agenda has been similar. Canadian politics configured in a similar way to the UK. You have a third party unlike the Americans. There are so many differences between the two US parties you couldn’t get a credit card between them. At least in Canada you’ve got the NDP on the left which is similar to the labour party in the UK. Me coming to talk about labour politics in that way has resonated stronger in Canada then perhaps it has in the mainstream United States. Last night I was in Portland which has always been a strong labour town so they appreciated me there. Most places in the US I need to evoke the politics and talk about them, in Canada there are issues I can connect with already and make the points I want to make.

GC: Activism and politics are a big part of your music and life. What are the issues that are forefront in your mind currently.

BB: In simple terms in a country like yours which has universal health care, I talk about those ideas and a compassionate socialism. People don’t switch off if I mention the "s" word but in the US that is a big mountain to climb. Interestingly on this tour in America, universal health care has been a big pitch - but also the campaign for equal marriage. It has been a big part of the pitch in the UK, Australia and the USA, to support those people who are actively working to bring equal marriage. I can do it by a state-by-state basis. Tonight I will say to the great state of Washington that it is important still to give people support. I think with equal marriage in the UK we are talking about the right of gay people to get married in church. That is what we are campaigning for in the UK, and that is a push that is happening in the US as well, talking to activists on the ground is the acceptance of the church to get married there if they so choose. I am not a great supporter of organized religion, I can tell you that but if that is what people want and what the church makes available it should be available to everybody not just people that conform to a narrow idea.

GC: You are involved with booking the Left Field on Glastonbury. Tell me about that.

BB: What we are trying to do there, it is an idea that came out of the labour movement that we should have a stage that talks about politics internationally. Glastonbury supports some great campaigns like Water Aid ensuring that people get enough clean water to drink and they support Greenpeace. The organizers felt there needed to be some domestic politics. So he invited the labour unions and they invited me to curate it. What I do is try to put on artists that support the ideas we are talking about. I look for young artists that are trying to get their ideas out there.

GC: Activism isn’t as much a part of today’s music; what are your thoughts on how non-political a lot of today’s music is.

BB: When I was 19 years old if I wanted to say something about the way of the world and express my anger to my peers and my parents I only really had one outlet, to get on stage with my guitar and sing songs. That was how we spoke to our generation and our parents’ generation, through our music and the music we listened to. Now if I was 19 I would have a number of options. I could write a blog or make a film on YouTube or tweet or post on Facebook. The younger generation is still engaging in politics but not in the same way as we did in the 20th century. Plus on top of that, with the end of the cold war ideological politics have dissipated. You look to organizations [that] occupy bringing focus to the struggle in a post ideological world.

GC: What can we expect from your concert on April 8th at MacEwan Hall in Calgary?

BB: I have got a great band with me. We are playing tracks from the new album, from the Mermaid Avenue albums and some old songs I’ve tweaked a little bit. It works really well, we have had a great connection with the audience between the old and new stuff which fits together nicely. I am very pleased with the shows we have done.