Over the past twelve years songs laced with anarchist slogans and confrontational lyrics has seen Chumbawamba grow into a commercial-sounding tour de force. Their last studio album, simply titled "Anarchy", was their most complete to date, and with the recent release of "Tubthumper" , and the backing of EMI they are ready to set the record straight.

In many of their recent interviews the fact that they are self-confessed anarchists has been either ignored or, more often the case, written about by someone with as much understanding as a dead baboon.

For this reason Freebase decided to allow Alice Nutter (lead vocals and team coach) the chance to express her anarchism in full.

Did you form the band to voice your political views?

"No, we didn't consciously form a band. We were all squatting together. Our background was pop music ranging from the Beatles to punk rock. We were all in bands before Chumbawamba. We were in bands because we knew we didn't have to be able play instruments because we came from that DIY mentality. If we just wanted to talk politics we would have written pamphlets."

The first single,"Revolution", leant heavily on the sound and pacifist politics of Crass. Was there a time where you purposely changed the style of your music ?

"We've copied alot of people over the years. Each album is in many ways what album we're listening to at the time time. But the biggest change was in 1989 and "Slap" when we moved into dance music because we didn't only change the music. We said everyone who writes this kind of thing is writing about being a victim and what the state does to you. And its no advertisement for politics."

"We decided to write about winning. From "Slap" onwards we consciously put lots of dotes of optimism in because the idea of being an anarchist is that you want things to be better, not that you're a victim and the state is bigger than you."

Was there a particular time or event where you decided to become a self-confessed anarchist?

"I didn't know what anarchism was in my teens. It was punk rock that introduced me to anarchy. But I don't think that's real anarchy, it's more lifestyle. But hopefully lifestyle leads you to something deeper."

So what lead you from punk to a deeper understanding of anarchy?

"It was people. I think we decided to live in ways that most people don't live. When we started squatting together we thought 'what's the point in having personal money?' We had a different approach from most of those around us. That was the biggest influence...as well as the miners strike, which was nothing to do with with anarchism at all. It just made me realise you can't spout theories and you can't stand by theories if they don't stand up in practise. The reason we wanted to leave Crass behind is they were still spouting pacifism in the miners strike and it just wasn't applicable."

Considering the idea of being anti-dogmatic does your anarchism lean towards pragmatism and individualism?

"I think we're practical anarchists, but we're not individualists. I'm a class struggle anarchist and you can't be an individualist and think class is massively important. The reason we've survived as a band is that we work in an anarchistic way. And the reason we've kept the politics as people is that anarchism does allow you to change your ideas and opinions. It's not like being in the Labour Party. Having said that I still believe you need movements"

But isn't the problem of dogma caused by movements?

"The idea is not to be scared to tackle dogma. There's a real problem where you get real authoritarian people who try to impose their dogma on you. You shouldn't be intimidated. You can get put into an anarchist ghetto by people who say 'anarchism is this, and in order to be an anarchist you have to do this, this and this.' I'm not interested in that sort of anarchism at all. If I wanted to be in a cult I'd get religion."

What is it that you dislike about the capitalist society we now live in?

"I don't like the values of the capitalist system. The way that everything is measured on how much it can earn you and how much you've got. Even if you're in a band you suddenly require more value when you have a hit record. And that's a wrong value system."

Has there been any added pressure to comply with EMI's ideas of what a pop group should do since the success of the single?

"Not at all. People can request that we do certain things but we can refuse. EMI UK didn't sign us and wouldn't have signed us. They've been quite upfront about that. It was EMI Germany that signed us and we approached them with a finished record. It wasn't the case of this is what we're like and you can do a few brush strokes here or there. We were already a fully formed band."

But has their attitude changed now that you've had the hit single?

"That's why EMI signed us. They believed we could make loads of money. It wasn't the politics they signed us for. We have different agendas. We've never made any noises that EMI signed us because of our politics. EMI signed us despite our politics, and we couldn't exist without them.

So do EMI not show any concern over your politics?

"EMI just want us to be pop band, and we are a pop band. It just so happens that we're anarchists. One Little Indian didn't want to put this album out. They said it wasn't good enough. They said we had to take a year off and write some stronger songs. If anyone wanted us to change our politics it was them, rather than EMI."

Getting back to anarchism it was Murray Rothbard, an anarcho-capitalist, that wrote equality doesn't equate to freedom.

"That's wrong to me. My background is coming from having nothing. All we had was the freedom to be poor. The freedom to run out of money on Wednesday when my father got paid on the Thursday. You have no choice whether you are equal to somebody if you can't afford to get through the week."

But by creating equality aren't you merely taking freedom away from some people in order to give to others?

"I'd take it all away from those who are rich. You only need a certain amount. But I wouldn't make everyone generic. I just don't think people need two houses when some people have none. It's a dead basic thing."

Rothbard has also argued that inequality is natural.

"You can bend natural law to anything. Just because a system has been around for 2,000 years it doesn't mean it's natural. That just sounds like right-wing think tanks."