Tom Morello

We visit the past, present and future with one of the greatest riff writers and guitar innovators of his generation to find his righteous rage undiminished – “This is missionary work,” Tom Morello tells TG,

“I’M ON A ZEALOT’S MISSION OUT THERE”

- Rob Laing

When we meet Tom Morello he’s sat on a leather sofa in the green room backstage at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium with a setlist on the table in front of him. He’s supporting Muse here tonight and as we shake hands our eyes dart across the room and fix on two familiar sights. We’re guitar lovers so can’t suppress a smile when we spot Arm The Homeless and the Sendero Luminoso Tele, the two instruments that have played an integral part in Morello’s greatest music since the early 90s. But the man who has stood as a member of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club, Prophets Of Rage and even the E Street Band over the years is now touring under his own name for the first time. And while his solo outings as The Nightwatchman saw him strumming his trusty Ibanez ‘Whatever It Takes’ Galvador nylon-string, playing folk songs, this is very different.

“The challenge with this tour is I’ve made a collaborative record with 20 artists and none of them are on tour,” he says of taking this year’s The Atlas Underground album on the road. “So how do you curate an event that’s going to be impactful? And you can see for yourself at the show that I’ve worked hard to create an event that is both very much looking towards the future but also respectful of my past with Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave. Sean Evans, who was the artistic director for Roger Waters’ last two tours, he and I put the show together. The idea was, what is a punk rock show in 2019? It’s not four dudes in leather jackets spitting on one another. It’s something that is both musically and politically very challenging to the audience.”