Who is Reverend Billy?
By Roger Paradiso
Reverend Billy and his choir preaching Love of the Earth. Photo credit: Reverend Billy Talen.
The Reverend Billy character was developed in the mid-1990s by actor and playwright, William Talen. Billy and I spoke recently. I should add that Billy preached a bit too. Here’s what he had to say.
What is The Church of Stop Shopping?
The Church of Stop Shopping features Rev. Billy preaching against consumerism and its impact on the Earth. Performances are designed and directed by Savitri D. The Stop Shopping Choir are activists who sing while trespassing at places like Chase Bank, the East River Park, Union Square and our birthplace, Times Square.
In a consumer society we are doomed to talk about the Earth (and climate change) like it is far away. The virtuality of consumer life is basic to our right-wing politics, our continued poisoning of the Earth (even by lefty types), our ongoing racism and violence. Trying to have a compassionate worldview in America is like trying to make love while you’re fall-down drunk.
What does the Earth mean to you?
We are in a climate crisis that we don’t understand. We are in a new phase of extermination—a species without an ecosystem. But the Earth is alive and we are going to learn how to live with the new biosphere. We must make it happen by talking and listening to each other.
The consumer experience hijacking leaves us with silence down the middle of our vaunted electronic communication system. Sky-rocketing global heat is changing our physical life. In the electronic age we don’t seem able to communicate the basic survival instructions. We are insisting on killing ourselves on purpose!
Our performers are street artists. We started performing in Times Square, went to community gardens in the East Village and the back aisles of Walmart. We also took on Disney and Minnie Mouse. We’ve spent years rehearsing our songs in downtown places like Judson, St. Marks, Theater for the New City and the Lower Eastside Girls Club. The converted bank on Loisaida Ave. was the Earthchxrch, our home for three years. Now we’re back on the streets and in the parks and looking for a new home.
We hope the Quakers will adopt us
We perform at the Quaker Meeting House which is about as strange as singing The Earth is Alive! in rock arenas. But it feels like we are turning into Quakers who are very interesting. They were heavily involved in eliminating segregation and worked to abolish slavery three centuries ago. They have a solid moral rigor and fierce immigration lawyers. We have been immigration activists for years. Loving the stranger is key to defending the Earth.
How does the Earth tie in with Quakers?
We need a new kind of activism for the Earth. For a long time, our music has taken us into the private property of the poisoners, like JPMorgan Chase, Monsanto/Bayer and UBS. Music invites a closeness with the Earth, speaks the Earth’s language, unites us with the electricity of a healthy wetlands, a forest, an ocean shore. We are asking the Quakers to help us with our songs and to protect the new Earth talk.
Tell us about the Neil Young and the Love Earth Tour.
We met Neil Young and his then partner Daryl Hannah during our work against Monsanto and Roundup, the most carcinogenic week-killer in the world. They were searching for a deeper meaning related to defunding the Earth. Neil is always testing the boundaries of the rock concert. He had farmers planting seeds and throwing seeds on the stage at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Then he handed out organic seed packets to everyone in the audience.
Neil and Daryl preside over a music show that is a spiritual experience, based on his compositions and his voice. Daryl’s new movie Coastal captures the stage experience that they have created. It’s better than church.
This fall we will tour with Neil for the third time. We will preach and sing in 19 amphitheaters. The tour ends in the Hollywood Bowl on September 15. Yikes! On Ave. C our audience was about 60 people. In Joe’s Pub, 200. So, it’s a jump to 20,000 in the Hollywood Bowl. By the end of the tour, we will bring our message to about 380,000 people.
What’s happening next?
Look for You Need This, a documentary produced by Adam McKay. The director Ryan Lough showed up with a big crew at the Earthchxrch on Ave. C. They followed us into the subways and Times Square and filmed us preaching, singing and doing our The Earth is Coming! routine. The movie will premiere in New York during our Quaker House shows on June 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
Promises, Promises
Rev. Billy can’t promise you salvation. But he can promise you will have a good time saving the Earth.
