Guitarist Tom Morello has confessed that visiting Chile 50 years after the 1973 coup has a special meaning. “My political awakening was learning about Victor Jara and Salvador Allende,” said the American musician, who opened a show in Santiago and reviewed his own discography.
Tuesday, June 6th, at the Caupolican Theater, guitarist Tom Morello He promises to reunite with his Chilean fans at the concert and look back at the pinnacle of his solo and collective careers, and of course the riffs he immortalized in bands such as: Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Prophets of Rage among others.
At the San Diego street venue, the Americans will be accompanied by a full line-up. Freedom Fighters Orchestra the backing band he resumed working with after the cancellation of his comeback tour Rage Against the Machine “Public service announcements” that stopped the line. At Madison Square Garden in 2022 After the vocalist suffered a complicated injury, Zack de la Rocha .
After breaking his Achilles tendon on stage in July of the same year, De La Rocha sat down to sing at the final show of a tour that had already been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This wasn’t the only problem facing the Tour, Morello himself was under pressure.
“I’m not nervous at all, I’m really looking forward to it.” tom morello confesses bio bio chili In his telematic dialogue, he immediately recalls the mythical 2010 RATM recital at Florida’s Bicentennial Stadium. This was the same as established in local pop culture.Battle of Santiago .
“My favorite show of my life was in South America, and probably the best audience I’ve ever seen was Rage Against the Machine in 2010 at The Battle of Santiago.” It’s time you acted. I have never seen a crowd like that anywhere in the world and I can confidently say that Chilean fans are the best rock crowd on the planet. ” – admitted the composer, who is about to give the country’s first solo electric concert.
“I am so happy to be back in one of my favorite countries and playing my life’s work. “What would be suitable for this South American tour?” . It used to be the Rage Tour, the Prophets of Rage Tour, the Acoustic Tour, but I’m going to do 22 of his albums and play them all. Rage Against The Machine has only been to Chile once, so they play Rage songs. Audioslave didn’t come to Chile, so I’m going to play an Audioslave song. I’ve never played there with Bruce Springsteen, so I’ll be playing songs from my Springsteen collaborations and solo career. Thank you Chilean fans, friends and comrades.
(Q): How did you deal with the frustration after the Rage Against the Machine show was canceled? Was it one of the most difficult moments of your career?
(R): There were many difficulties (laughs). When RATM canceled the tour, I went home and spent most weekends playing for labor unions across the country. I stand for the 500-day unemployed miners in Alabama, for the unionized exotic dancers in California, and for the teachers of the American education system. , took off by plane to perform. For me, it’s about music and mission. Sometimes the RATM works for these causes, but if it doesn’t, I won’t stop. Another thing that has allowed us to channel that energy is booking a tour of South America so that we can play in the places we love for our fans we love all over the world. When playing in Santiago, the music and missions will be in “full view”.
(Q): Will Chile play an important role in the final South American RATM tour?
(R): Now there is no RATM tour, no tour plans, no tour plans, so there is no way to answer that. As I said earlier, I don’t know if Rage will come to Chile again all I know is that I will be there in a few weeks and that we will “destroy the place”.
Tom Morello: “My political awakening had to do with learning about Victor Jara and Salvador Allende and the complicity of the US and the CIA in the fraud that happened in Chile.”
Considered one of the world’s greatest rock guitarists, Morello graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a BA in Sociology. His connection to Chile is a mixture of two aspects of him: Victor Jara and Violeta Parra also knows some of the country’s political history over the past half century, from Salvador Allende’s People’s Unity to the Pinochet dictatorship and the aftermath of the October 2019 protests.
(P): Consider your own history and connection to Chile. Does it mean a lot to you to visit this country 50 years after the 1973 coup?
(R): Yes, it is very important. Part of my political and educational awakening involved learning about Victor Jara and Salvador Allende, and the collusion between the US and the CIA in the misconduct that took place across Chile and Latin America. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to attend the 50th Anniversary Celebration. Every time I go to Chile, I visit the tombs of Victor Jara and Allende. I visited the place where the torture center was. That story is very important to me. To never forget it and to keep alive the legacy, work and power that Victor Jara’s music brought us 50 years ago. They had to kill him because he was too dangerous. In 2023, 50 years from now, I hope to be able to make music as dangerous as this.
(P): This year you said, “Every time I go on stage, the spirit of Victor Jara is with me.” Are you planning anything special in that sense?
(A): Yes, of course. I don’t want to reveal my plans, but I definitely have something special planned for the show in this city. Victor Hara , for Chilean fans. There are artists all over the world who, in many ways, epitomize what I believe music can be at its most sublime. Victor Hara is one of them. bob marley There are probably a lot of artists that I admire too. The Clash, Public Enemy the spirit of doing what you do, in this case music, with all your might. That’s what I was born to be a guitarist. Don’t get me wrong, there will be a lot of guitar solos, it’s going to be long and crazy, there’s a lot of rock riffs that have nothing to do with politics, but it’s going to destroy your brain, and hopefully a giant mosh pit. cause. But all that music is played with the spirit that Victor Jara had, and the spirit that I try to embody in my work.
(Q): Do you miss the social consciousness of a new generation of musicians like Victor Jara?
(R): Yes, of course it would be nice if Viktor Jara was still alive and invited to the stage. But his spirit lives everywhere, not just when I do shows in Chile. On my last visit there, I had a lengthy conversation with his widow, and she was just as grieving when he was murdered in 2018. Nothing can take away that sorrow. But I assure you that every time an artist takes the stage and makes a difference, whether it’s a charity show, a performance for the children, the poor, or against fascism, his spirit lives on. increase. He’s alive, and he’ll live forever when he takes the stage with you in a few weeks.
(Q): This is a question for political analyst Tom Morello. A few weeks ago, Chile’s constituency elections were won by the radical right, but today there are many uncertainties in the country about the new constitution that right-wing lawmakers will be able to implement. What do you think of the changes that this country and Latin America have undergone in recent years?
(R): Yes, that worries me. The Far Right is active not only in Chile, but throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America. And I think it’s important to understand why it happens. My view is that the Far Right is using a very old technique that they have always used: divide and conquer, racism. Blame the poor, immigrants, and people of color for the problems of neoliberal nations. This is a simplistic analysis, but it should be considered. And that’s the key, the Far Right is trying to create a constitution that will harm the working class that supports them. So do those who support Donald Trump, who want people to vote against their own economic interests and demonize Muslims and socialists, for example.
We have to understand that, talk to the working class who are drawn to the far right, and make them understand that the world we can create together is not a fascist world. It’s not a toxic world that denies the rights of indigenous peoples and the working class, regardless of skin color. We have much more in common with each other than far-right oligarchy trying to reshape the world in their own image.
Q: Are there any books on politics that you think are necessary to understand our times?
(Tom Morello): Interesting, interesting… There are some books that have helped me understand the world better. one of which he chomsky reader . For those who live in the US and can understand the hypocrisy of the system and oligarchic elites in detail.anything in the catalog Max Weber This helps us understand why society works the way it does. And a very good source of information is the upcoming album. Rage Against the Machine . I will tell you that. Zack’s lyrics and intentions are literary references in modern world history.
Source: Biobiochile
