Banding together

Members of Minnesota Music Resistance believe music can be used as activism. Founding members of the organization came together with a shared passion for music and a shared dream of seeing political change in their community. MMR was created shortly after the 2024 election as a way to connect people through music and to allow members to take a stand against authoritarianism.
MMR’s mission to fight authoritarianism hits home to founding member Claire Luger, who spent years in the Middle East as a practicing Muslim after graduating from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
“I’ve lived in a country where authoritarianism was a thing,” Luger said. “There was a king and it’s just a bad deal.”
Throughout her time overseas, Luger had limited access to different types of music. Eventually, she left religion and brought herself and her children back to the United States. Upon returning, Luger discovered bands like Dead Kennedys and Dillinger Four. These bands blew her mind and profoundly inspired her, she said.
Luger began blending the line of music and politics in 2016, when she first started writing politically-driven music for her band, The Silent Treatment. She finds music and activism work hand-in-hand.
“Even just being in the music community is kind of an act of resistance,” Luger said. “Musicians are kind of fighting to be taken seriously all the time…We use music as a way of getting political messages out.”
St. Paul resident and MMR founder Paul Engebretson also had a passion for music and politics. A year after his retirement from working in marketing at the University of St. Thomas, Engebretson started up MMR out of frustration over the result of the most recent U.S. presidential election, fearing how future legislation might affect civil rights in America. Engebretson passed away in March 2025, a month after receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Most founding members of MMR are also part of other bands. Each of them met Engebretson through the local music community and were introduced to each other through him. The Twin Cities music scene was very important to Engebretson. He was nicknamed “Front Row Paul,” because of his notable and frequent presence at local shows.
“Some days, he’d go to four or five shows a night,” said MMR founding member and Kingfield resident Edie Baumgart. “He’s in the front row, raising his fist – he’s not being quiet… He just loved live music.”
Luger says the beginning stages of the organization were about establishing an identity and mission. The next step was bringing the community in. The MMR hosted its inaugural event, “Fight! For Your Civil Rights!” last month at the Hook and Ladder Theater and Lounge. The event offered live performances by numerous local bands, as well as a space for nonprofits to share resources and information, including a table for voter registration and a phone booth for people to make their “five calls” to local representatives. “Five calls” refers to a nonprofit that provides step-by-step instructions to make five phone calls to state representatives in hopes of influencing policy decisions. Ticket sales for the event were donated entirely to American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that has worked to supply resources for marginalized communities for 100 years.
MMR’s website contains many resources for those in need of support as well as those looking to participate in MMR’s mission. The MN Community Action Calendar provides information about activism events for locals to participate in. Under “Helpful Resources,” a number of categories are listed which each target specific groups of people in need, such as “Anti-Racism,” “Food Resources,” “LGBTQ+” and more. Each category leads to links connecting those people to specific care from local nonprofits that are already taking action to defend human rights.
Each month, beginning in July, MMR will rotate a different local nonprofit to support financially. In July, donations will be sent to OutFront Minnesota, an organization dedicated to empowering members of the local LGBTQ+ community.
“I want people to know that acts of resistance don’t have to be monumental,” Luger said. “Fighting for humanity and fighting for civil rights comes in a lot of different forms.”
As MMR continues its mission in using music as a force to protect civil rights, Baumgart hopes to see a day where the organization will no longer be needed.
“The best thing that we could ever do is not have to need this organization,” Baumgart said. “But I don’t think we’re going to be there for a while.”
MMR does not yet have information about future events, but when it does, details will be listed at its website, minnesotamusicresistance.com.