During a press conference at this past weekend’s Hellfest in Clisson, France, Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello discussed being a guitarist who tries to make a positive impact on the world and its curses.
When a reporter suggested there’s ‘little hope’ for humanity due to global crises, Morello responded:
“These are really difficult times that we’re in. The planet has been in difficult times before — sometimes as dire as, or more dire than this. And when it has come out on the right side of history, it’s because people just like you, even in times when they could despair, didn’t despair. That’s how the world changes. This is a dire historical moment, but it is not a unique historical moment.”
The guitarist also admitted that he was stuck being a guitarist, how it was a curse for him and how one can bend it:
“And the way I look at it, I’m stuck being a guitar player. I’m cursed. It’s my calling. I didn’t choose it; it chose me. So now I’ve gotta find some way to win to bend this weird hobby that I picked up as a teenager and try to change the f*cking world with it. And it’s not easy, but wherever you are and whatever your job is, whatever your life is, whether it’s standing up to illegitimate authority in your home, your place of work, your school, your country, or whatever, like I said before, history is not something that happens. It’s something that we make. So I would encourage you and your listeners, or whatever, to not despair — to act.”
Metalheads Should ‘Get It Together’
In the same press conference, Morello pointed out that activism requires time, effort, and energy—things that average Americans often lack while struggling to make ends meet. He urged metalheads to step up and make a difference by telling them to ‘get it together’ like he did on his 21 records. He explained:
“At any given historical moment, you stand in the place where you live and you stand in the place where you were. That’s it. So some people are, like, ‘You guys made Rage records 30 years ago, and now look at the horrible state of the world.’ Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t make Rage records 30 years ago. At every moment, you do what you can, when you can, where you can. That’s the way that I look at it.”
He added:
“And the arc of history is a long one, and there are very, very challenging times now certainly in my country, and I know here as well. And in part, literally the fate of the planet is at stake over the course of the next few decades. So it’s time for metalheads to get their sh*t together.”
You can watch the rest of the press conference below.