Former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello was asked about a possible Rage Against The Machine reunion in a recent Gitarre Bass interview. The interview was posted in German and below is a translation, so the verbiage may not be exact.
Do not you feel that the modern world desperately needs a band like Rage Against The Machine? If only to wake her up?
Tom Morello: Sure, that would be the perfect time for Rage today. But ten years ago that was not very different, and in ten years it will certainly be similar. It’s always a good time for a band like us, but it’s not an easy journey either. If you want to be a successful musician, it’s definitely easier to write songs about drugs and women than about how fucked up the world is. Most people get along better with a nice melody and a shallow text, than with an angry melody and a snappy text.
Meanwhile you have your first [Prophets of Rage] album with twelve own songs at the start. How many Rage Against The Machine classics are still in the current live repertoire?
Tom Morello: Our first gigs were exclusively songs by Rage, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. But I have to say: The Rage songs fit incredibly well today. That’s why it’s right and important to bring them. But we also tried from the beginning to write our own songs to explore our chemistry as a band and not a nostalgic act. We did not stop in the 90s, but live and work in the here and now.
