Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello is posting a series of "Guerrilla Videos" leading up to the band's July 30 show at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In the latest video, he talks about the humble genesis of Rage Against the Machine 20 years ago in a "hot and grubby" rehearsal space that was "about 110 degrees" in San Fernando Valley, in August 1991.
He went on to talk about playing "
very competitive gigs early on with Tool".
"When we got that first batch of 15 songs, everything changed", he said. "We started playing gigs opening for Tool, who was a local band at the time who had been the subject of a bidding war, and they were good friends of ours, and so we played some very competitive gigs early on with Tool, which were pretty exciting. I think it sharpened both bands' edges."
When it came to making the first Rage record, grunge and rap of the '90s were at the forefront of band members' minds.
"I remember the jams that were coming out of Zack [De La Rocha]'s truck at the time and my band at the time were Nirvana's first record; Soundgarden, 'Badmotorfinger'; the first Cypress Hill record", he said.
"And then I remember very clearly having the conversation and we were talking about what we wanted the first Rage record to sound like sonically, in terms of other bands, and we were looking for somewhere between Nirvana's 'Bleach' and Ice Cube's most murderous track... [Laughs] I think we got pretty close to that."
Thanks for the report to Anne Erickson, Gibson.com.
I've got no patience now. So sick of complacence now.