Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
In an extensive new feature with Rolling Stone, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tom Morello addressed a broad spectrum of personal, political, and professional topics, as per theprp. While centered primarily on his newly issued solo LP, “Everyone Gets Everything They Want”, the dialogue expanded into his long-standing political activism, his voting choices (notably abstaining from voting for Harris), collaborating and touring alongside his son Roman, and processing the passing of his mother, Mary, earlier this year. Morello also revisited the early struggles of Audioslave and offered insight into the ongoing ambiguity surrounding the future of Rage Against The Machine.
Additionally, the discussion addressed the recent controversy surrounding Ed Sheeran and Macklemore‘s joint summer/fall tour. Macklemore was removed from the lineup following pressure from venue operators and pro-Israel lobbying groups critical of his outspoken advocacy for Palestinian causes and his onstage statements. In the wake of his removal, Sheeran’s scheduled opening acts and backing musicians pulled out of the tour in protest. Known for his unflinching political commentary on and off stage, Morello weighed in on the fallout during the interview.
In some ways it’s a distraction, and in some ways it’s the whole thing. It’s a distraction because Ed Sheeran is not a victim or someone we should be focusing on, nor is Macklemore. The war crimes that were brought to the fore on the stage by Macklemore’s speech are the ones that should be the primary focus. And not be distracted by whether or not Ed Sheeran is crying today or crying tomorrow. That’s what I think.
But on the other hand, it’s the whole thing, where the idea that a handful of ruling class billionaires get to decide what speech can occur on a concert stage is a very worrying element. But it’s indicative of the moment that we’re in. Who decides what the truth is? Who decides who gets to say what? There’s a handful of extraordinarily super rich people who believe it should be them in every instance. And I disagree with that assessment.
And I think that at this crossroads of our democracy, the people who are gonna make a determination of whether or not that stands is no one different from you and from me. History is not something that happens, it is something that we make, and there is absolutely no neutrality in this particular moment.
When asked if the shift in focus to Ed Sheeran rather than the situation in Gaza and Palestine was a diversion, Morello responded as follows.
Yeah, 100 percent. It’s all right to shame him in this moment because he deserves the shame, but not the focus. The focus is your and my tax dollars are going to commit horrific war crimes in the Middle East, and that, I believe, should be the focus and what we should be doing our best to stop in its tracks.
It’s a clickbait, it’s salacious, it’s, ‘Oh my gosh, poor Ed Sheeran.’ First of all, has Ed Sheeran never seen a Macklemore performance before in the last three years? He certainly should’ve known what he was getting into.
The one thing that’s sort of adjacent is, this is a time where speech is being vilified and is a crime, where the truth is a crime, where skin color is a crime, where immigrant status is a crime, where gender is a crime, where sexual orientation is a crime. And it’s my belief that the true crime is the rise of authoritarianism, and the true crime is the erosion of freedoms, and the true crime is an impending environmental disaster.
And so my hope at each one of my shows, I deputize the audience as anti-fascist crime fighters, and that’s really the way that I think you have to look at the world right now. Like, what are the real crimes that are happening, and what is it that you and I can do to stop it?
