Q & A With Tom Morello, The namesake shoots back! Options

[Martyr]

Tom covertly browsed the forum, located our question thread, and called up dpb to get the answers posted over here. Some hilarious stuff here, and if some of it sounds overly sarcastic, its meant it jest, folks. Except for Ivax, because you deserve it, man.

First of all, a huge shout out to 'dpb' for throwing me a line about this, making it happen, and transcribing it all. Big thanks to Tom for putting up with Nori's persistent, weird-as-hell thread-hijacking...oh, and for visiting our four-year-old project, even in it's current spartan state.

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Hello tommorello.net, this is Tom Morello. Miraculously I’ve used my limited computer skills to find this site and I have found a slew of questions that I will now attempt to answer in a Tom Morello-piranha-feeding-frenzy-answer fest.

Q: How does it feel to be reunited with Rage Against the Machine ?
A: It feels great.

Q: What political plans do you/ratm have for the future?
A: The only plans we have, currently, are to play a few more shows this summer.

Q: What is the connection between Wu Tang Clan and the band?
A: Wu Tang Clan opened up for RATM ten years ago on abig summer tour and we’re delighted to be reunited with them for the “Rock The Bells” shows this summer.

Q: What's the situation with unreleased Audioslave material (Sleight of Hand, etc), will it see the light of day, or nothing planned for it right now?
A: There is nothing planned for right now, although, if I have my way, it will all see the light of day and there are some real kick-ass jams that didn’t make it onto the records.

Q: How can you support a terrorist organization, guilty of genocide, in a country that you have never set foot on or seen with your own eyes (Sendero Luminoso)?
A: I’m glad that you mentioned that it was Sendero Luminoso because I thought you might be talking about the US army in Iraq. Sendero, as you may know, has been defunct for, I believe, over a decade now. While I would never support any violence against any civilian populations, Sendero’s mission of bringing a more just and more equitable society to Peru is a worthy goal. It is my hope that your indignation about civilian casualties and human rights can be directed against your own government who are currently committing such crimes in the Middle East.

Q: Why have you never been around 3rd world latin america, touring or just making an appearence?
A: RATM cancelled two or three tours of Latin America in the 90s and it’s a darn shame. I hope to, in some incarnation, play in Latin America in the very near future.

Q: What do you think about your fans?
A: (laughs) They are adorable.

Q: How do you feel about communism?
A: Oh dear… are you talking about North Korean communism, Chinese communism, Cuban communism, Marxist communism, Lenin’s communism, Trotsky’s communism… how much time do you have man? Seriously, whoever wrote this question the next time you run into me we’ll talk about it in person because we don’t have time here to go through all the machinations of the various forms of Communism- both the theoretical communism and communism in practice, in the real world.

Q: Have you spoken to Matt Bellamy from Muse about a tour?
A: Nope.

Q: Why did you change to a Phase 90 from your trusty Ibanez DFL?
A: I’m not entirely sure what you’re talking about but the Phase 90 pedal is the one that Van Halen used on ”Unchained” and that’s good enough for me.

Q: Are those tubes really the original?
A: Yes sir, as far as I can tell they’ve never been changed.

Q: Ever break a string on the Arm The Homeless or Soul Power during a gig?
A: Not for a very long time. Those strings are kept fresh and I play with a subtle touch- with a light and subtle touch.

Q: Will soul power now be used as an arm the homeless back up, or will you use the old ibanez roadstar?
A: The Arm the Homeless backup guitar is a Ibanez duplicate, it is not a Roadstar guitar. So I guess the short answer is no, the Soul power guitar will remain the Soul Power guitar.

Q: Do you still have the steelcaster?
A: If you’re talking about the James Trufant steel Telecaster, I absolutely still have it. It is still made of steel, and still shines brightly.

Q: Will you use the burnt lp at all with rage?
A: I don’t know.

Q: Where did you get the hippo stickers for ATH?
A: Those are not stickers, they are painted on the guitar. Hippos are the only thing I can draw and I can only draw them facing in one direction. That’s the direction they are on the guitar. They are facing the right way- those hippos.

Q: What do you use to write ATH and SP?
A: Arm the Homeless I use black and red magic marker. Soul Power I wrote with a little paint pen.

Q: In a Iceland performance of Bullet in the Head on youtube, you are seen standing backstage hopping around while a beefy 80's looking guy is playing your ATH in your place. What's up with that?
A: We invited two members of our crew, Slim Richardson, my guitar tech, and Bannon Richardson, his brother- at the time Timmy’s bass tech, to play the guitar and bass parts for “Bullet In The Head” because we were in Reykjavik, near the top of the world. That was quite a laugh and afterward all the Icelandic girls attacked them.

Q: Another youtube vid- view here you have a crazy looking talman. Is this one of the Kenyan Talman's predecessors, or something entirely different?
A: Well I’ve not seen the youtube video to which you are referring but I do have another Ibanez Talman that is cream colored- perhaps that’s the one you’re thinking of.

Q: Has your Whammy pedal ever gone out on you?
A: Yes, it does occasionally. I have several of them but they are old and creaky.

Q: What kind of tubes do you prefer and what kind of speakers are in your cabinet?
Q: I have no idea- I’ve never changed the tubes and never opened up the cabinet to look at the speakers. So whatever speakers come with a Peavey cabinet, circa 1987 or 1988 are in there and I don’t know anything about tubes so- sorry.

Q: Do you really use a Talk Box?
A: On several songs I have indeed used a talkbox.

Q: What new effects did you use for the last Audioslave album?
Gearheads...(laughs) - I did use a ring modulator for several songs. I think that was the only new effect I used on the last Audioslave album.

Q: Do you enjoy listening to your own music?
A: Generally when you write, rehearse, do preproduction, record and mix the songs from the album, you’ve heard them about 10,000 times apiece. You don’t tend to go jamming them around the clock on your iPod. Whan I do hear Rage or Audioslave songs on the radio, I must admit that I do crank that shit up. The Nightwatchman songs I haven’t heard a million times so I do sometimes play those to listen to my sweet, crooning baritone voice.

Q: Are you still a socialist?
A: Absolutely.

Q: Who was the better captain of the Enterprise in your opinion, Kirk or Picard?
A: Hmmmm….. Picard is more cerebral, Kirk is more kick ass… apples an oranges.

Q: Your Arm The Homeless guitar sounds like it has single coils. Did you make any changes to it to make it sound like it?
A: It does indeed have single coil pickups even though they look like double coil pickups.

Q: You've said in past interviews that you use a DOD Digital Delay, but all your gear pics show that you use a Boss Digital Delay. What's up with that?
A: Well, if the picture is showing there’s a Boss digital delay, then it’s probably the delay I use. I honestly don’t pay much attention to the brand of digital delay that’s in my set up-the same one that’s been there forever. If the photo shows a Boss digital delay, then that’s what it is. My apologies.

Q: Why don't you expand your sonic possibilities with something like a G-Force or G-System?
A: I don’t know what either of those things are but they both sound very silly.

Q: Do you use Gotoh Tuners?
A: I believe there actually are Gotoh tuners on my Arm the Homeless guitar. I must say that I don’t think that the kind of tuner you have on your guitar makes any difference whatsoever.

Q: EMG 81's or 85's?
A: Who cares?

Q: I'm aware you have said you can't figure out rack setups but now you have a tech to do that. You current rig's "weird noise solos" are getting a bit predictable especially with some of the more recent Audioslave outings
A: I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that you asked a question. Thank you.

Q: Will you consider playing some Audioslave songs on the RATM set (Because of the RATM songs on the Audioslave set)?
A: Nope.

Q: Have RATM written new songs during the rehearsals?
A: Nope.

Q: When will a new Rage album come out?
A: There are no plans for a new Rage album.

Q: Did you get scared or pissed off when what apears to be Zack stood on top of your amp to get by the statue in the Sleep now in the fire music video?
A: I was neither scared nor pissed off by Zack’s excellent rock move.

Q: What about Eventide Harmonizers? They are much better than that Whammy.
A: Hmmm… thirty million fans disagree with you.

Q: We often hear your political views. How about your religious views? Do you believe in the existence of a supreme being?
A: From Gotoh tuners to “do you believe in the existence of a supreme being”- I’d like to alter my earlier answer on “what do I think of my fans”- they are more than adorable, they are sublime.

Q: Have you had the chance to read any new books lately?
A: Yes, I have. I’ve read a bunch of new books lately, now I must think of what they are. “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. Another book called “The Ruins” by Scott Smith- I do not recommend that book, it’s very depressing. I’m currently reading “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, which is a fine book. That’s three, that should be enough.

Q: Thoughts on the modern-day genocide of Darfur?
A: It is a horrible crime and the US and other countries should be doing much more to prevent it.

Q: Thoughts on Barack Obama, as well as the 08' candidates in general?
A: Well Barack Obama and I weirdly have a lot in common. We both have Kenyan fathers, white American mothers, we’re both from Illinois, we’re both Harvard graduates and we’re both devastatingly handsome. Having said that, there’s really not too much to say about the other ’08 candidates.

Q: Thoughts on Palestine?
A: It should be free.

Q: What is your opinion, if you even heard about it, on Yang Wu's predicament in China? This sounds like something you would have supported.
A: I’m not familiar with- I don’t know what this is but I will look into it.

Q: What direction would you like to see your career heading (Nightwatchman not included)?
A: (laughing) My career is heading in the direction of The Nightwatchman so if you take that out of the equation then I’ll just be hiking my dogs through the Hollywood Hills.

Q: How do you feel about Rage's music ending up in porn films? Do you feel that Roll Right might have started a revival of porn music?
A: I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Q: What current musicians/groups do you listen to/follow?
A: I’m a huge fan of the Arcade Fire. I greatly enjoy Bright Eyes. I love Bruce Springsteen. I don’t know- that’s plenty. I like the new Dylan album-it’s really good. That’s all I know for now. I also have my iPod on shuffle when not listening to the above.

Q: Are you into jazz? Who influences you?
A: I went through a jazz period where I would jam along to Charlie Parker and Jon Coltrane solos and that pretty much influenced my playing. I’m not so much into jazz now.

Q:You used to play Dungeons and Dragons. Care to tell us about your best character?
A: I was usually the dungeon master where I would spend countless hours creating spooky fantasy worlds for my friend’s characters to be killed in, and seek treasure and fortune. Though my dungeons tended to be more about overthrowing the king and like that. As far as my characters- I was an axe-wielding, dwarven fighter with an attack dog. I had a name for my character which I don’t remember right now. I also played a myriad of other geeky, role playing games including Villians and Vigilantes where you are a super hero, crime fighters where you are a twenties mobster and Gamma World where I was a huge radioactive hippopotamus.

Q: So I heard you like Mudkips? Is this true? Show us your Pokeymans.
A: I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to have to end this questionnaire on that sad note.

I’d like to thank all the members of tommorello.net for having a website about me (laughing). It’s very cool, I’ve poked around a little on it. Specifically thanks to Skatewitch for his/her passionate fandom, I’d like to thank Nori Chan for her NC17 posts, and I’d like to thank Ivax for his or her hilariously grumpy, curmudgeon-like diatribe. Special thanks to Spaceta for creating the site and for helping to fan the flames of discontent. Hope to see you all soon.

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[Mog]

That's pretty awesome. Word up, Tom!

[Ivax]

Nice. I got a shout out. Kinda makes up for the fact that the only new gear info we got was the single coil bit in the ATH.

[allpowertothepeo...]

THAT WAS GREAT!!!

[Ricardo]

Yes interesting, too bad no news on Brazil tours and info about the tubes, i cant possibly beleave that the tubes never went down, they would be making a huge hum like noise now i beleave, its too old!

[Salva Veritate]

For the love of god please tell me he didn't actually answer Nori Chan's question about Pokemon.....if so this place just lost a shitload of credibility...

[GageAgainstTheMa...]

Q: In a Iceland performance of Bullet in the Head on youtube, you are seen standing backstage hopping around while a beefy 80's looking guy is playing your ATH in your place. What's up with that?
A: We invited two members of our crew, Slim Richardson, my guitar tech, and Bannon Richardson, his brother- at the time Timmy’s bass tech, to play the guitar and bass parts for “Bullet In The Head” because we were in Reykjavik, near the top of the world. That was quite a laugh and afterward all the Icelandic girls attacked them.

Can anyone help me find this video?

[Ivax]

Yes interesting, too bad no news on Brazil tours and info about the tubes, i cant possibly beleave that the tubes never went down, they would be making a huge hum like noise now i beleave, its too old!

He's full of it with most of these questions. "Oh, I don't look at my delay. Whatever one is there is the one I use" Right....

Morello doesn't want to seem like a hypocrite and thus doesn't state what he uses to avoid the unavoidable product endorsement because his "adorable" fans want to play accurate covers of his songs.

For the love of god please tell me he didn't actually answer Nori Chan's question about Pokemon.....if so this place just lost a shitload of credibility...

This place had credibility? I coulda sworn it was a fun place to shoot the sh**.

[Ricardo]

Alright, when is next Q & A topic will be made and awnsered?????

btw, its not covers too be played, it happens that some people really enjoy morellos tone, the best way to get near it is knowing the guitar and amp/tubes... not every one here play covers, there are people that happen to have ideas to do theyre own songs/works, actually when 14 i saw the germany ratm show, that made me want to learn to play something, since then one of the best tones i admire is from morello, so actually when i make any kind of song its more like a almost insignificant tribute made from someone that admire his work, actually i am thankfull to someone ive never seen in life because making music, and playing instruments rocks!

AWESOME first time to see any activity from tom on this site since 2003! i apologize if he ever got in contact before lol

This post has been edited by Ricardo: May 25 2007, 08:27 PM

[abSurd]

Hmm, they don't really look like single coils...

[Martyr]

For the love of god please tell me he didn't actually answer Nori Chan's question about Pokemon.....if so this place just lost a shitload of credibility...

I couldn't catch that to delete before it got in, stupid I know...but if the dude was cool enough to answer such an inane thing, why would it make "this place" lose credibility...?

Q: In a Iceland performance of Bullet in the Head on youtube, you are seen standing backstage hopping around while a beefy 80's looking guy is playing your ATH in your place. What's up with that?
A: We invited two members of our crew, Slim Richardson, my guitar tech, and Bannon Richardson, his brother- at the time Timmy’s bass tech, to play the guitar and bass parts for “Bullet In The Head” because we were in Reykjavik, near the top of the world. That was quite a laugh and afterward all the Icelandic girls attacked them.

Can anyone help me find this video?

I've tried to relocate it man, I think it's been deleted.

Yes interesting, too bad no news on Brazil tours and info about the tubes, i cant possibly beleave that the tubes never went down, they would be making a huge hum like noise now i beleave, its too old!

He's full of it with most of these questions. "Oh, I don't look at my delay. Whatever one is there is the one I use" Right....

Morello doesn't want to seem like a hypocrite and thus doesn't state what he uses to avoid the unavoidable product endorsement because his "adorable" fans want to play accurate covers of his songs.

Frustrated at being called a curmudgeon haha? I think he was just answering off the cuff, being that it's sort of pointless info.

[Mog]

I really like how Tom danced around Peru's question, and then made an allusion to Peru being American, lol.

I liked his answer about the hippos too, if I ever met Tom it'd be awesome if he drew a hippo for me. That would just make my day and then some.

[kgonzalez164]

The longest answer was about which D&D character he played..haha

Oh...and ATH uses single coils?! We must rewrite the history books!

This post has been edited by kgonzalez164: May 26 2007, 08:00 AM

[Ivax]

I'm flattered by the fact that I was even acknowledged, curmdgeon, or not. That he noticed, it's almost like the culmination of every flame I've instigated.

I did think it was B/S that he danced around, in true political fashion, the religious beliefs question and almost every guitar related question. Only thing new is that he has Gotoh's on the ATH and probably uses a coil-tap.

New mod project, kiddies.

This post has been edited by Ivax: May 26 2007, 09:29 AM

[Mike_Muse_Rage]

Haha that was awesome. He answered maybe 40% of those questions. Gotta love him.