We have to admit, we were slightly disappointed when the Rage Against the Machine social media accounts began teasing an announcement, which many assumed to be a reunion. But it was something else. Guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk are teaming up with vocalists Chuck D. (Public Enemy) and B-Real (Cypress Hill) for a new group called Prophets of Rage.
Now that the dust has settled and the announcement is official, and our expectations are lowered, I have to admit, I am curious about this project. The group will make their live debut tonight, Tuesday, May 31st, 2016, at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go with tickets on sale for $20 right now only at the Whiskey box office. Ahead of their debut performance, the group offered an interview to Rolling Stone with some interesting tidbits.
The idea was the brainchild of Tom Morello, who first got clearance from his bandmates before reaching out to Chuck D. and B. Real:
It all happened pretty organically. We've been friends for a long time. It's not like we went on YouTube and auditioned someone who could do a convincing version of "Bullet In The Head." That wasn't it at all. We've been musical comrades for a very long time. We've had a tremendous amount of respect for each other musically and politically. They're my idols and friends. I called up Chuck D. I think I texted B.
Tom Morello on the setlist:
This has been a very organic process. Sometimes B will just say, "I'll take the second verse of this" and Chuck is very agreeable. A lot of our records, and a lot of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill records, there's a lot of doubled vocals. Now we're able to do them in a very exciting way with two of the best voices in hip-hop. We're able to explore all of our catalogs, but there's different twists and turns. We've taken some Public Enemy tunes and Rage-ified them. The song "Prophets of Rage" is a pretty obvious choice. "She Watch Channel Zero" has become a Rage-[meets]-Black Sabbath bulldozer. "Fight The Power" has morphed into something that you wouldn't expect. I also want to be able to go deeper into the Rage catalog than we have in the past. Let me tell you, you can put together an insane setlist from these three catalogs. It's insane.
Brad Wilk reveals they are working on new music under the "Prophets of Rage" moniker:
The setlist is pretty evenly split between the three groups. We're also playing a couple Prophets of Rage songs. We're doing some writing, but I don't want to give too much away.
While both Morello and Wilk have said they haven't spoken to Zack De La Rocha recently, Tim Commerford says he has and Zack gives his blessing:
I spoke to Zack and got his blessing, and that's really great. We're a family and there's support across the board. I support him and everything he does, and vice versa. I've definitely been keeping him in the know. You're never going to replace Zack, and we aren't trying to do that. He's a unique artist and showman. It's going to take people that I know he looks up to and that he idolizes and that he's inspired by. We're going to plug them in and see what they can do with these songs, because at the end of the day it's all about the songs. The songs are needed right now, they really are. This is gonna be some cool shit.
Meanwhile Wilk reveals that De La Rocha is working on new music:
I haven't talked to him recently. I know he's making a record right now. I have nothing but love and respect for him. I hope he's doing well and creating the record that I think he's making.
The band says they have no plans to perform live outside of tonight's Whiskey show, but we'll see how that goes.
If anybody happens to attend the show tonight, please send a report to robert [at] metal injection [dot] net
