Tom Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club

May 25, 11:04 PMDenver Music QA ExaminerJulie Wagoner

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Denver Music QA Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Street Sweeper Social Club

If you are headed out to the Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction show tonight at Fiddler's Green, make sure to get there early for Tom Morello's latest project, Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello, former guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, recently joined forces with The Coup's Boots Riley to render "revolutionary party jams" to the masses. Their album arrives in stores June 16th but why wait to hear their music? Join the revolution by seeing them live on tour with NIN/JA this summer.

Examiner: So what are you particularly proud of with the debut album?
Morello: It's definitely the hardest rocking record that I've ever been involved in - in a very long time. Playing with Boots Riley has been pretty amazing. I was a big fan of his work before we formed Street Sweeper Social Club. One of the things I am most looking forward to is exposing his lyrical talents and his exotic dance moves to a bigger audience.

Examiner: You’ve been a part of a band, a solo act, and part of a duo – so why do you choose to be involved with so many different projects?
Morello: It's kind of a matter of following my muse. When Rage Against the Machine broke up, Audioslave formed. When Audioslave broke up, I started doing the Nightwatchman full-time. That's how we became acquainted was the Nightwatchman tour. And, I realized what a brilliant lyricist he was. We were actually friends before we were in a band together. There's a very clear division of labor. I write the music; and, he does the lyrics.

Examiner: Which artists shaped your current sound?
Morello: Since Rage Against the Machine, I've really loved music that is super heavy and super funky. I think that really comes to creation in Street Sweeper Social Club. The idea with this record was to make revolutionary party jams - songs that have an acidic as well as a witty lyrical content but smashingly rocking. And, the tour right now with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. we've only played in our whole history, we've only played about 20 shows. The first show was in Los Angeles at the School of Rock. It was for 11 year olds. Our second show was at the Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in upstate New York. The second audience was of convincted felons. The audience for this tour is somewhere in-between. So, we are well prepared.
Examiner: (laughs) That's quite a range there. Were those audiences harder to entertain?
Morello: Initially, I wasn't sure how the fans would respond because essentially we had very little music. But, the audience has been great. We go out there every night not saying, "Please, we hope you like us." We are there to kick your ass. There will be a salvage ass-kicking in Denver. I gurantee it.
Examiner: Can't wait!
Examiner: If you had to pick one lyric to stick with your audience after the show, which one would it be?
Morello: If I had to pick one lyric to stick in the head - some of my favorite rock & roll lyrics are not necessarily the deepest ones. For example, in the first single, "100 Little Curses," there's a soccer stadium like chant that goes, "Wo ohohoh oh." It would probably be that one because they're going to be remember the song for a long time. I want them singing soccer stadium anthems as they leave.
Examiner: We kind of need that here. Europe has it with soccer. We kind of need that here with our music.
Morello: (laughs) It's long overdue.
 

Part 2 of this interview... AFTER THE SHOW! Stay tuned for the link to part 2.

For more info: Check out their official web site and MySpace page.