Tom Morello has the kind of confidence that could be mistaken for arrogance. He is, undoubtedly, a man on a mission, and with his new project Street Sweeper Social Club, he plans resume the fight against injustice that Audioslave just weren't all that interested in.
yourGigs (yG): How did you and fellow Street Sweeper/hip-hop insurgent Boots Riley hook up?
Tom Morello (TM): We've been friends since 2003 and we've played many shows together. He was always the first one to say yes when I asked him to play some benefit concert, rally or protest. When Audioslave broke up he and I had dinner and I said, "We're in a band." It wasn't even an offer; it was a statement of fact. I said, "It's called Street Sweeper Social Club and it's revolutionary party jams."
yG: Can you shed some light on the dynamic between you and Boots both personally and musically?
TM: Personally we're like an old married couple with a sense of humour. We get along very well, we rock together great, and we irritate each other. I love him. He's a brilliant lyricist and a charismatic frontman. When Audioslave broke up it was a no-brainer for me to make a hard, funky record with Boots. We are more than a band, we're a social club with a very low bar for entry: you just have to rock to our jams.
It's some of the heaviest music I've been involved in, in a very long time. There are a lot of fans of my guitar playing that like it when I rock this hard. There are no ballads on this record, it's a full-throttle affair from beginning to end.
yG: Any plans for you and Boots to come to Australia?
TM: We're thinking of coming the beginning of next year. I don't know when the invitations for Big Day Out go out but I love the Big Day Out tour, it's super fun.
yG: Will you always be involved in making political music?
TM: I loved Audioslave but there was always something missing for me, and that was that the music didn't always completely reflect my world view. So when that band broke up I really made a vow to myself that I'd throw all my energy into a project that was really necessary. That means being involved in the fight for social justice, freedom and equality; the fight against exploitation.
yG: Do you feel it's your duty to reach younger people with political messages through your music?
TM: It's not a duty. I didn't choose to be a guitar player; that chose me. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do the thing that I was born to do, and that's to play music, but I was also born to fight injustice. If I were a carpenter it would be via the carpenters union, but I'm a musician so it's through the recording studio and the concert stage.
yG: Is political music more important than straight pop music?
TM: I'd disagree with the premise on which that question is based and say that all music is political, it just serves different ends. Escapist music diverts people's attention from examining the things that they might be able to improve about their world. I love my hip-hop booty jams as much as the next guy but I'm cognitive of the fact that it's not like there's political art and there's non-political art. All culture has a class basis and it either serves the status quo or it questions it. I like to be involved in music that questions it.
yG: By that notion, do you have to be aware of your politicism for it to be meaningful and purposeful?
TM: Most artists aren't. I believe the music of John Coltrane is tremendously political in a positive way and he wasn't aware of it. It completely challenged the conventions of the genre and by challenging the conventions of the world in which you live, whether it be a musical world or whatever; that's a radical political act, and as soon as you start pulling on that thread you're gonna find that the whole sweater unravels.
yG: So if you're Miley Cyrus and you're distracting people with your escapist music are you still serving a good purpose?
TM: Let each decide for themselves if that's a good purpose. I know that tonight there are 65,000 homeless people on the streets of LA and the discos will all be full. I enjoy a nice dance party but until all are fed and all have beds, maybe we should be doing more than just dancing.
Aimee-Lee Curran
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