{"id":856713,"date":"2026-09-22T15:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856713\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T15:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:12:12","slug":"tom-morello-talks-teaming-up-with-kneecap-and-his-new-solo-album-its-a-record-for-everyone-whos-had-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856713\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Morello talks teaming up with Kneecap and his new solo album: “It\u2019s a record for everyone who\u2019s had enough”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Morello<\/a> has spoken to NME about the \u201cState of the Union address\u201d\u00a0 of new solo album \u2018Everyone Gets Everything They Want\u2019 \u2013 which sees him team up with Kneecap<\/a> for the incendiary \u2018Unconquered\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Rage Against The Machine<\/a> and Audioslave<\/a> guitar hero turned solo star explained how the \u201cspectre of authoritarianism\u201d and rising tide of politicians globally embracing far-right ideology acted as a catalyst for the album, which also sees him collaborate with System Of A Down<\/a>\u2019s Serj Tankian<\/a>, Beartooth<\/a>, and his 15-year-old son Roman Morello (who has written savage riffs for five of the record\u2019s 11 tracks).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this hour, rebellion is an act of self-care and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is an act of self-defence,\u201d Morello said, of the album produced by Tyler Smyth, Carl Restivo, Zakk Cervini, Dan Carey and Sam Nelson.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Everyone Gets Everything They Want\u2019 is music made out of total necessity. It\u2019s my first solo rock album, my 22nd album in my career and it\u2019s a record for everyone who\u2019s had enough. Similar to the first Rage record and the first Audioslave record, it feels like standing on the precipice of a new ferociously rocking chapter of uncompromising rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the fearsome cut \u2018Unconquered\u2019, Morello recruited kindred spirits Kneecap, having previously described the Belfast rap trio as \u201cthe Rage Against the Machine of now<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat song is about the unconquered spirit \u2013 from college campuses to refugee camps to concert stages from Dublin to Detroit,\u201d Morello explained. \u201cThe ember that does not go out, no matter how great the repression, state violence and state terror directed against people or artists. As long as there\u2019s breath in our lungs and electricity in our Marshall stacks, that spirit will remain unconquered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this song, the idea was to make one guitar sound like an entire revolution,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd this record is my State of the Union address.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out more the rest of our interview with Morello below, where he also discussed attracting the ire of the right-wing for inscribing \u201cFuck Tommy Robinson\u201d on his guitar<\/a> and applauded the \u201ccourage\u201d of the likes of Kneecap and Macklemore using their platform to speak out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NME: Hello Tom! What was inspiring \u2018Everyone Gets Everything They Want\u2019?<\/p>\n

Tom Morello: \u201cWell, this is likely my last album before we all go to jail! But it is my contention that music can be a binding force and an elevating power, an uplifting, unifying, transcendent thing \u2013 and in times like these, a weapon for change. Like music, joy and laughter have suddenly become acts of resistance. There may come a time in the not-so-distant future where the ideas expressed in our art and music, and the people who perform it, may find themselves censored, smothered, evicted, erased. But not today. Because history is not something that happens \u2013 it\u2019s something we make. I\u2019m going to fight the fight and go down swinging.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, what a joy it is to work with my 15-year-old wunderkind son Roman. From poaching his riffs to standing next to him on stage, he\u2019s been my muse on this record. It\u2019s said Van Gogh used all his energy and concentration to sufficiently catch fire. Roman\u2019s input on this record has given me all the energy and concentration I need to sufficiently catch fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Roman remind you of yourself at that age?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 15, and I didn\u2019t start playing until I was 17-years-old. At 15, I was playing Dungeons & Dragons and wondering why I couldn\u2019t get a date! He\u2019s more advanced in a lot of ways, but he has the DNA that allows him to create Morellian riffs \u2013 but they\u2019re riffs I wouldn\u2019t have thought of. Damn all charges of nepotism: if your kid\u2019s that fucking good, it\u2019s not nepotism! He\u2019s a great addition to the world of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Morello live at Pinkpop Festival 2026 (Photo by Didier Messens\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

How did the collaboration with Kneecap come about?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan since their inception. I saw the Kneecap movie<\/a> long before any of the political controversy<\/a> and thought what a great fucking group. I\u2019m named after Thomas Fitzgerald, my Irish great-grandfather, so the blood of Irish rebels runs in my veins too. The fact that a group so fearlessly aligns with the world\u2019s oppressed as part of who they are as a band is something that\u2019s near and dear to my heart. I see a kinship with Kneecap. They\u2019re not just a great group \u2013 they stand up for the oppressed and they\u2019ve got my vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first reached out, I said there\u2019s only three criteria for this song. One: it\u2019s got to be called \u2018Unconquered\u2019. Two: it\u2019s got to have a devastating hook. And three, it\u2019s got to rock a festival like crazy! We checked all three of those boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KneecapKneecap live at Reading 2026. Credit: Andy Ford for NME<\/p>\n

Were you working with them during their High Court case?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d been in touch by then, but it was just after that. But I followed that closely. Here\u2019s the thing: when I played Download festival, a lot of people complained that I had \u2018FUCK TOMMY ROBINSON\u2019 written on the back of my guitar. People kept saying, \u2018Keep politics out of music\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, 35 years too late for that! I\u2019m not your dancing monkey here to entertain you. I\u2019m never going to put down my free speech when I pick up my guitar. From day one, I have made anti-racist songs for anti-racists and anti-fascist songs for anti-fascists. In the case of the song \u2018Date Night\u2019 on my new record, literally anti-Nazi songs for anti-Nazis. If someone has a problem with that, we can all easily do the math. An artist\u2019s responsibility is simple and that\u2019s to speak the truth as you see it in your art.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the Kneecap backlash, they faced both then Labour PM Keir Starmer and Conservative Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch<\/a> calling for them to be removed from Glastonbury. Did any of it remind you of the controversies Rage Against the Machine faced?<\/p>\n

\u201cSure. It\u2019s a one-to-one ratio \u2013 like when we stood up for political prisoners like Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and when we were picketed by the Fraternal Order of Police. Radio stations in the South wouldn\u2019t touch Audioslave songs. But if you\u2019re making art and music everyone can agree on, you\u2019re probably making pretty shitty art and music \u2013 especially in times like these.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important not just to single out artists who speak their mind. You shouldn\u2019t ghettoise music as, \u2018Look, they\u2019re speaking out and are censored\u2019. It\u2019s journalists, filmmakers, students, carpenters, unions, all of whom have come under fire \u2013 which is one more reason why we need to recognise the world isn\u2019t going to change itself. That\u2019s up to us. Courage is contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disturbed frontman David Draiman publicly described you as \u201cshameful<\/a>\u201d over your support for Kneecap. Have you spoken to him privately about his comments?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very wary of giving pull-quotes over something like that because I know him and I\u2019m familiar with the media\u2026 You know, I\u2019m a big proponent of free thought and free speech. People can think what they want to and I\u2019m one of those people that will think what I want to, and do what I want to too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

You also hailed Macklemore\u2019s pro-Palestine protest song \u2018Hind\u2019s Hall<\/a>\u2019 as the \u201cmost Rage Against the Machine song since Rage Against the Machine\u201d. Have you followed the backlash he faced for declaring \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d on stage during the Ed Sheeran tour<\/a> support slot? [note: this interview was conducted before the rapper was removed from the bill]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIts hard for artists to speak up. Whether it\u2019s Kneecap or Macklemore, the idea that somehow stating that you\u2019re opposed to the mass murder of children is a controversial point of view and that\u2019s where the anger and enmity should be directed as opposed to them being opposed to the mass murder of children \u2013 that to me seems like it\u2019s grossly unfair, but it\u2019s common from Middle Schools to Glastonbury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, courage is contagious. I am a proponent of human rights for everyone. When I am critical of the human rights abuses of Russia, that does not mean that I am critical of people who believe in the Russian Orthodox Church. When I\u2019m critical of human rights abuses of Saudi Arabia, that does not mean that I\u2019m critical of people who believe in Islam.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m critical of human rights abuses of England, that does not mean I\u2019m critical of people who believe in the Church of England. And when I\u2019m critical of the human rights abuses of Israel, that does not mean anything against anyone of any religion. I want there to be peace, justice, equality and human rights across the board. And whenever that peace, justice or human rights are transgressed, it\u2019s my duty to stand up against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ZackZack De La Rocha and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. 1996 (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The track \u2018Adjourn It\u2019 features Serj Tankian and takes aim at the tide of anti-immigration rhetoric. What was the spark point for it?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was written at the height of the ICE invasion of Los Angeles and three Angelenos came together \u2013 Serj, myself and Roman who wrote the riff in that song too. Blacked-out window vans were cruising the streets. Serj has been a great friend and comrade for years and his chorus is spectacular. But I wonder why Americans are not turning to pitchforks, torches and guillotines at this point? What\u2019s it going to take? To me, there are three options on the table: tyranny, revolution, or more of this bullshit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most effective tactic the ruling class has is divide and rule and getting us fighting one and other by demonising the most vulnerable \u2013 trans kids, immigrants, etc. The average white working class person in the United States who voted for Trump has more in common with the working-class Mexican immigrant than they do Elon Musk. Somehow that narrative\u2019s been turned on its head. I\u2019ll never censor anything in my music, but it can be a very unifying thing \u2013 the wide net a great jam can cast should not be underestimated. People can be exposed to a different set of ideas because they love the guitar solo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BruceBruce Springsteen performs in concert with Tom Morello and the E Street Band at TD Garden (Photo by Matthew J. Lee\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

You recently finished another tour with Bruce Springsteen<\/a> And The E Street band, which partly acted as a clarion call to fight for democracy, and saw him premiere the anti-ICE anthem \u2018Streets of Minneapolis\u2019. When President Trump lashes out at Springsteen calling him a \u201cnot a talented guy\u201d and \u2018a dried out prune\u2019, does it anger you or do you simply laugh at its childishness?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I mean, laughing all the way to the gulag. It\u2019s very serious. I\u2019m going to use what time I\u2019ve got to rise up to the tide of tyranny, whether that\u2019s playing those 20 shows with Bruce Springsteen on the Land of Hope and Dreams tour, or our upcoming Power To The People Festival, within shouting distance of Washington DC. It\u2019s time to let world know we\u2019re not going to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell us about your Power To The People festival\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, I\u2019ve been putting together charity and activist shows on a smaller scale. Part of the inspiration was doing the \u00a0Back to the Beginning show [Black Sabbath 2025 farewell gig, acting as musical director<\/a>] and realising we can take an idea and do it big. There\u2019s no better time than now at this crossroads in our country\u2019s history. We\u2019re standing up against authoritarianism at a time where it\u2019s not clear where the roulette ball will fall. In the immediate aftermath of [the ICE killings of] Alex Preti and Renee Good, my phone started ringing off the hook with artists reaching out to me. All of a sudden, it felt personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cGestapo tactics were right outside your door, whether you\u2019re an undocumented immigrant in East LA or Dave Grohl. It felt like we are under siege as a people \u2013 and on that day, we can make a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone Gets Everything They Want\u2019 is released September 25 via Mom + Pop Music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Morello has spoken to NME about the \u201cState of the Union address\u201d\u00a0 of new solo album \u2018Everyone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,1740],"class_list":["post-856713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}