“I’m not sure that pop artists putting a Marshall stack sheen on some shitty pop song is exactly what the world needs right now. “First of all, I would say that guitars falling out of mainstream music says more about mainstream music than it does about guitars,” Morello starts with a grin. Indeed, plenty of mainstream artists – from Olivia Rodrigo (with her pop-punk inspired debut album ‘Sour’) to rapper-turned-rockstar Machine Gun Kelly – have taken influence from rock lately. It helps me inflict my vision of the electric guitar on the present and future generations.” Sure, I believe in the tradition of kicking your ass with a big riff, but I think that by forging these musical, chemistry-based relationships with a variety of unexpected artists, it pushes me as a songwriter and a musician. I’m not a traditionalist like most electric guitar players. It’s a way to create rock’n’roll mayhem and project that into the future. He adds: “’The Atlas Underground’ project is a sonic conspiracy. Or as Morello puts it: “The electric guitar is an instrument that doesn’t just have a past it has a future.” This new album is more about where rock goes next. Cutting thunderous EDM with his signature riffs and featuring collaborations with Vic Mensa, Knife Party and Steve Aoki, it was an attempt to prove that guitars still had a place in the world. Its predecessor, 2018’s ‘The Atlas Underground’, was Morello’s first solo album under his own name. Featuring collaborations with 12 artists – from Bring Me The Horizon to Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi – his 21st studio album is a snarling, forward-facing record that cares more about innovation than history. New solo album ‘The Atlas Underground Fire’ continues Morello’s sense of inclusivity. “We wanted to provide an oasis of common sense and inclusion in this genre, where white supremacy can run free if not checked,” Morello tells NME today. The latter was inspired when he saw fascistic and racist tattoos in the crowd at Ozzfest in 2002. In addition to that, he’s teamed up with members of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill for Prophets of Rage and formed the ongoing Axis of Justice anti-racist non-profit organisation with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian. In the ’00s, after Rage, Morello and his Rage bandmates (besides frontman Zach de la Rocha) went on to form hard rock band Audioslave with Chris Cornell, while the guitarist also started his own folk-rock project, The Nightwatchman. The four-piece, who broke up in 2000 and (after a three-year reunion in 2007) reformed in 2019, are still the gold star of protest music. Formed in 1991, Rage became become one of the most influential groups in history, thanks to their unique blend of rock-rap inspired music, heavily politicised lyrics and incendiary live shows. It’s a bold – if unsurprising – statement from one of the world’s most iconic guitarists, but the Rage Against the Machine legend isn’t content with legacy.Īnd what a legacy he’s built. ![]() “I firmly believe the electric guitar is the greatest instrument ever invented,” says Tom Morello, zooming from his home studio in California.
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