Posts Tagged ‘rise-against’

Rise Against Plan To Take Break Before Recording Next Album

Ethan Miller, Getty Images For a band like Rise Against , the creative process is always ongoing, but frontman Tim McIlrath says that it may actually be a little while before we hear from them again. The singer tells Rolling Stone that the group wants to “recharge” a bit before starting in on a new record. “We always have new ideas floating around, we always have new songs and new ideas,” says McIlrath. “[But] we’re kind of focusing on recharging our batteries right now. We’ve been a band for 12 years. We’ve been hitting it hard and looking at this band like a marathon, not a sprint. We realize we need to invest time in our music and our songs, as well as invest time into ourselves, our lives, so I think for the next few months, that’s what we’ll be doing.” McIlrath says getting away from the touring life for a while and getting back to normal surroundings will give them a better perspective when it comes time to write again. The vocalist also stated that while they are known for hard-hitting anthemic rock songs, he’s anxious to explore a softer side. That was partly inspired by their cover of Bob Dylan ‘s ‘The Ballad of Hollis Brown’ for the Amnesty International ‘Chimes of Freedom’ compilation. He explains, “It was something we hadn’t done before and I think we all walked away from the studio experience saying, ‘When we come back here, we need to tap into some of the things that we tapped into in this Bob Dylan cover. We took our foot off the gas a little bit, allowed the guitar tones to come out a little more, played things more deliberate instead of as fast as a speeding train, and we realized this could still be heavy.” For more from the interview with Tim McIlrath, visit RollingStone.com . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rise-against-savior-top-21st-century-hard-rock-songs/” title=”Next: Rise Against – Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs” align=”center”]

Rise Against Joined Onstage by Tom Morello + Members of Gaslight Anthem and MC5 in Anaheim

Trixie Textor / Ethan Miller / Ian Gavan, Getty Images Rise Against got a little help from a couple of friends for a star-studded rendition of the Bruce Springsteen  song ’The Ghost of Tom Joad’ in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday night (Sept. 29). Tom Morello , who has spent a good portion of the summer turning up at Springsteen concerts to perform his guitar mastery on the track, was one of the guests. Morello’s band, Rage Against the Machine , also recorded their own version of the song. Morello and Rise Against vocalist Tim McIlrath have found a lot of common musical and political ground in recent years. Rise Against played Rage Against the Machine’s L.A. Rising event last year, and both musicians have spent plenty of time rallying on behalf of unions at events in Wisconsin and immigrant rights in Arizona . Morello and McIlrath also recently appeared on Occupy movement theme song ‘ We Are the 99 Percent .’ Also joining in for the powerful performance were Gaslight Anthem singer Brian Fallon and MC5 ‘s Wayne Kramer. Gaslight Anthem has spent a fair amount of time touring with Rise Against this year, and are currently opening the band’s North American trek along with Hot Water Music . There are a handful of North American dates left this month before the band heads to South America in November for three shows. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rise-against-savior-top-21st-century-hard-rock-songs/” title=”Next: Rise Against: Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs” align=”center”] Rise Against, Tom Morello + More Perform ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’

Tom Morello, Serj Tankian + Tim McIlrath Release Pro-‘Occupy’ Song ‘We Are the 99 Percent’

Monika Graff / Kevin Winter (2), Getty Images Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello , System of a Down  singer  Serj Tankian and Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath have joined forces to create an unofficial anthem for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Morello recently performed a free show to mark the one-year anniversary of Occupy and to help “re-energize” the political faction. Perhaps the most vocal celebrity supporter for Occupy after its members converged on New York City’s Zuccotti Park last year, Morello felt inspired to create an anthem for the movement, which has now taken form in the song ‘We Are the 99 Percent.’ Slightly similar to Ministry ‘s pro-Occupy song, ‘ 99 Percenters ,’ the song’s backbone is in its refrain, which also features field recordings of Occupy protesters from Zuccotti Park and Liberty Square. “It’s our gift to the movement,” Morello tells Rolling Stone about the new song. “I wanted to do a huge riff-rock anthem. It would feel like the excitement of the global Occupy Wall Street movement.” Morello goes on to speak about what he views as Occupy’s biggest strengths. He cites the movement’s ability to “inject into the global dialogue the horrific economic inequality that plagues the planet.” He also believes that Occupy has exposed the “grotesque global poverty and the growing inequality in our country.” Morello adds concerning Mitt Romney’s presidential run, “When is the last time when a Republican candidate for president has had hit feet held to the fire because he’s too rich?” Check out Tom Morello, Serj Tankian and Tim McIlrath on ‘We Are the 99 Percent,’ which officially premiered today on RollingStone.com: [button href=”http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/song-premiere-tom-morello-tim-mcilrath-serj-tankian-and-occupy-wall-street-we-are-the-99-percent-20120927″ title=”Click Here to Listen to ‘We Are the 99 Percent'” align=”center”]

Serj Tankian Challenges Idea That Animals Aren’t Equal to Humans

Peta2 Serj Tankian has spent countless hours trying to raise the awareness of human rights, and now in a new Peta2 video he’s taking the time to address how we view animal rights, as well. The System of a Down singer challenges the idea that animals are lesser beings on this planet, and states, “I think that’s something that we always forget with our self-differentiation and egos – that we think that we’re different, but we are animals.” By putting out the idea that we as humans are actually animals, too, the singer is hoping that it changes the way that we view things like the killing of other creatures. Tankian says that he’s surprise that there aren’t more people adopting animals from shelters. “There’s so many animals in the shelters right now and have been for a good period of time and statistics are that at least 50% of them are killed,” says Tankian. “It’s cause no one adopts them, and it’s a shame.” He also chimes in on the seal slaughter that goes on annually in Canada, stating, “It’s shocking that something like this could still be happening today.” The singer has joined the likes of fellow rockers Dave Navarro , Rise Against ‘s Tim McIlrath, OTEP , Dillinger Escape Plan , Social Distortion ‘s Mike Ness and more in teaming with peta2 in trying to sway the way that humans view cruelty toward animals. Tankian’s peta2 video can be seen below: Watch Serj Tankian Talk To Peta2 [button href=”http://loudwire.com/system-of-a-down-serj-tankian-offers-his-take-on-the-2012-u-s-presidential-election/” title=”Next: Serj Tankian Talks 2012 Presidential Election” align=”center”]