Perhaps
the biggest album to come from the catacombs of FAT
Wreck Chords this year has been the Rise Against release
“Revolutions Per Minute.” Re-instilling the political
conscience of punk and rock fans around the world, this
band doesn’t want you to do anything until you make
yourself aware. Rise Against finds themselves amid the
oh-so common debate these days stemming from their recent
signing to major label Dreamworks records. Front man
Tim and bassist Joe took the time literally minutes
before their set to give Smash some insight into the
move from FAT to fit and their change in policy to back
everything said by “Dubbya” and released by Mariah Carrey...yeah,
and I’ve got great ocean front property for sale in
Tulsa.
SM: It’s night number two of the tour. Now explain to
me this...Each one of the bands on the tour has very
strong political beliefs. You guys are all very savvy,
you know what’s going on. What, if you could summarize,
is the main message behind this tour?
RA(T): Without speaking for any of the other bands,
I’d say one of the main messages is just be more aware
of what’s going on in your world. These bands know what’s
up ya know? But it’s not like-I don’t think that any
of the bands are like, trying to say they know what’s
best. They’re just saying “hey, we wanna know what’s
going on out there so we keep our eyes open, seeing
what goes on in the world.” That’s what a lot of the
lyrics reflect for these bands.
SM: Telling their stories, not necessarily preaching
what to do.
RA(T): Exactly
RA(J): It’s ok to question what’s going on. Just because
the media tells you one thing, that doesn’t mean that
it’s...
SM: It’s not the absolute.
RA(J): Yeah, totally. The media only wants you to believe
what they want you to believe.
SM: The band is very active. You take on rolls and actively
participate in various organizations, etc. Can you tell
us, just off the top of your heads, what are some of
the ones that are a bigger part of your world right
now?
RA(T): PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
None of us eat meat so when we met some of the people
from PETA on warped tour we realized that a lot of our
ideals are in line with each other. There’s also the
“Turn It Down” white power campaign, music against white
power. That’s an organization that we’re just now starting
to associate ourselves with. And I think they’re going
to put us on a compilation or something soon.
SM: The band recently signed with Dreamworks and came
out making a formal announcement on your website stating
that you were a Fat (records) band and will always be
a Fat band. What have been the differences and how’s
the transition been?
RA(J): Nothing has changed, at least not yet. It’s been
so recent and we’ve still got so much touring to do
on this record so things probably won’t start rolling
with that until next year.
RA(T): They are doing our next record. That’s pretty
much it for now. We’re still in the van (laughing).
There are a lot of misconceptions to being on a major
label. Many misconceptions that even I had just two
months ago.
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