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“I don’t think it’s easy to be in a band and have a point of view that’s not accepted and against the establishment. I think that’s a hard thing to do. Anyone that chooses to do that is choosing a tougher way to go,” says Tim Commerford who’s band Rage Against The Machine are most famous for succeeding in piping up against the world’s great injustices.
His new band Wakrat are cut from the same cloth politically. Their cut ‘La Liberte ou la Mort' discusses how the West create fear in order to carry out wars, and ‘Generation Fucked’ angrily takes aim at the power structures and individuals sustaining Western hegemony.
“Every president that’s ever been in office is a war criminal under the Geneva convention,” says Commerford revealing his way of championing of the subordinated over the greed of the one percent. But despite having an issue with the establishment as a whole, he does recognise a particularly dangerous scenario if Trump wins the election tonight. “I think he may win, and if he does something horrible is going to happen. Sort of in a nutshell Germany is a lot better place now since Hitler’s gone. Maybe him getting elected will bring on a change. Some horrible shit will go down and the world will be a better place.”
Commerford’s heart seems in the right place and takes aim at one of the fundamental regressive characteristics that Trump and Brexit share: “I don’t think anything good is going to happen from creating borders and building walls that’ we’re doing. That’s what Brexit and Trump are about. Those walls are going up more and more every day. We all live on the same planet we all are earthlings we should be together, united and not seperated more and more every day. The more that happens the more negative the world is going to be. I’m not hopeful anything good is going to come of the direction we’re headed in right now. Maybe the best thing that can happen is the worst thing that can happen,” he says indicating the possibility of a full scale revolution if Trump gets in.
Commerford’s distrust towards the state is far from limited to Trump, it’s a criticism of the structures of power in our society as a whole. His opinion on the US foreign policy throughout history conveys this: “I think what our government does is terrorism. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria all the places that we’ve had war look at us as terrorists. It’s cause and effect.”
What does the powerhouse bassist think to the theory of how the government create false flag attacks to create a strategy of tension? “I believe they exist to create fear. Fear is the tool that’s running the world and it’s causing terrible things to happen whether it’s economic fear, racial fear, or as is the case with Brexit, fear of being a part of something that’s not good.”
Getting into political discussions with musicians can sometimes feel like a deviation from what their art is all about but for Commerford everything we’ve talked about in terms of his world view is entirely interrelated to what he’s writing. “My music is a reaction to what we hear on the radio and we don’t want to hear any more. It’s inspired by the music that we hear and we hate and lyrically it’s inspired by the people we see and we hate.”
Evidently, hearing a bias newscaster is part of his fury and fuels his want for more justice. So where does the bassist get a source he can trust? “ For me, an honest news source is being in RATM, seeing the world through that world view. It’s not a good one. Its heavily armed police following our every move on tour, chat lines on our website getting shut down by the CIA. It’s not a free country in America. I don’t worry about what’s truthful and what’s not I think it’s obvious we’re fucked, we’re headed down a wormhole, we’re headed back to 1968.”
Much of this anger is braised onto the debut Wakrat album in knee-jerk fashion rather than in any contrived sense. It becomes a vital source of inspiration for people who are looking for alternatives to the norm. The impact the record can have around the world is helped by the quality of the instrumentation. Brendan O'Brien, who’s one of if not the best producer in the business mixed the album. Meanwhile, having Mathias Wakrat on drums is another massive asset: “It’s hard to find a drummer that to me has a signature style. It’s a short list of signature drummers and I really am impressed by his playing and the crazy patterns that he plays. He’s vicious on the drums,” says Commerford. He gels so well with this drummer who comes from a jazz background that they “recorded all the backing tracks in one afternoon.” And similarly to the way RATM liked to record with Brendan O'Brien, the band opted to do the recording in the practice room they always play in and had producer Eric Colvin bring his gear round.
With Wakrat now becoming a full time gig alongside Prophets of Rage, where does that leave the future of Rage Against The Machine? Is there a chance of another reunion? “I don’t look at them as a reunion. We are not broken up we just don’t play by the rules. The thing about Rage that’s exciting is every show feels like a reunion because of that you know. We truly are a punk rock band even if our music isn’t punk rock. We never did what anybody asked us to do. I haven’t played with Zach in a while although I’m always hopeful.” We’re equally hopeful, too. But for now, Wakrat is where it’s at.
Wakrat's self titled debut album is out Friday 11 November.
