Tom Morello says he’s not sure what’s going to happen with his genre-bending band, Rage Against the Machine.
He’s not sure if Rage will make up the dates that were cancelled last year when frontman Zach de la Rocha got hurt onstage. The band had been in the middle of their reunion tour when de la Rocha tore his Achilles tendon. The band cancelled 38 gigs.
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In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Morello said of the future, “We’ll see. If there is to be any more shows, we will announce it as a band. I don’t know. I know as much as you do, honestly. Right now we’re in a time of healing.”
He added, “If there never is another show, I think that this tour made the case. It’s not about how much you tour. It’s about what it’s like during those moments when you do. Rage Against the Machine has played 19 shows in the past 12 years. And the resonance of those 19 shows feels, in talking to fans, like those were historical events that further the idea of what that band is like live onstage.”
Morello joked, though wryly, about the passion for Rage even after decades since breaking in the ’90s.
“Rage Against the Machine is like the ring in Lord of the Rings,” he said. “ It drives men mad. It drives journalists mad. It drives record industry people mad. They want it. They want the thing, and they’re driven mad. If there are Rage shows, if there are not Rage shows, you’ll hear from the band.”
Morello, asked if the band would make up the 38 shows, said, “Do Rage Against the Machine fans around the world deserve to see the band? Yes. Of course, they do. Would the times benefit from a culturally, spiritually, rocking-ly, potent band like Rage being onstage? Of course. I don’t have news for you on that. I apologize. There’s nothing internal in our discussions that says either yes or no.”
Morello was even asked point blank if Rage is a band or was a band. To which Morello replied, “I would refer to the official Rage Against the Machine statement on that point, in which there’s none!”
. Photo by Ollie Millington/Redferns