Since 1999, Rise Against has released a consistent collection of rock numbers and toured the world numerous times over. Along the way, they have garnered multiple platinum records and millions of devoted fans. For the Chicago-based four-piece, the journey to becoming torch bearers of the punk genre began when ex-88 Fingers Louie bassist Joe Principe tapped Chicago vocalist Tim McIlrath to front his new project rooted in traditionalist hardcore rock. Ultimately dubbed Rise Against, the band signed to Fat Wreck Chords and went on to release their debut record “The Unraveling” in 2001. Last month, the band celebrated the ten-year anniversary of its sophomore breakthrough album “Revolutions per Minute” (now named “RPM 10”), which includes ten bonus tracks of demos along with the originally recorded album and expanded packaging. We caught up with Rise Against bassist Joe Principe on his way to the band’s Orion Fest gig in Detroit to discuss this milestone and other issues that fans want to know about.
So Fat Wreck Chords just celebrated the ten year anniversary of Revolutions per Minute. By now it’s considered one of your older records, so I’d like to spend some time today diving into the band’s past. As far as I know, your band started when you met Tim [McIlrath, singer] at a Sick of It All concert, is that right?Yeah. Our original guitar player and I drove to Indianapolis because we were really close with AFI and they were on tour with Sick of It All and Hot Water Music. [My friend Dan and I] were starting a new band. At the time, we kind of had a drummer and we tried out like 20 singers. No one could…well, everyone says they can sing but they really can’t (laughs). But then I ran into Tim at that show. He just happened to be there for a cover band on the bill and I remember I sort of always liked his voice from his old band so I was like, “Hey, you wanna try out for this new project I have?” It was a little different for him. He kind of grew up more on like the Fugazi kind of vibe and I grew up on the faster hardcore – like Minor Threat and Bad Brains and all that. So it was a new style of music for him to sing, but it worked out. It took a little while for us to get used to each others’ styles but it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
To me, there seems to be two versions of Rise Against: the version that existed on Fat [Wreck Chords] and the version that that has blown up on a major label ever since. Now that your fan base is much larger, do you ever wish that more of your fans today took the time to explore your band’s older song material?Well, yeah. I do, personally, because the ferocity and aggression that comes out of Revolutions per Minute and The Unraveling is just very raw punk rock and I think there’s some real life behind it. Bands get older, their studio budgets grow and they can do more in the studio because of it – which is awesome because you can grow as a band. But there’s something to be said for just having two guitar tracks and recording things live. I would hope our newer fans would check out our old stuff just to get a taste of our roots. I mean, some of my favorite records were recorded live. Like the first Bad Brains record. For those bands, it really shows their talent. There’s no Pro Tools or overdubbing. Some of those performances are just insane, you know? It’s definitely a cool glimpse into a band’s history and where they came from. So yeah, I would hope our newer fans can look back and appreciate that with Revolutions per Minute.
I’ve seen you guys at different stages in your development. The first time I watched you all was in November 2001 at Club Nation in Washington D.C. with AFI, Death by Stereo and F-Minus.Oh yeeeeah…(laughs)
Yeah, long time ago. And by the way, it was an awesome show and I ended up writing a college admissions essay about it. Now that you are headlining arenas, what do you miss most about the period in your life when you were playing club gigs?We’re still punk rock kids at heart. Our first love is a punk rock show and the interaction you get from the crowd with no barricades and minimal interaction from bouncers. I’ll always miss that. That still gets me going. I love going to see bands play at small clubs. But it’s like the bigger a band gets, you have to accommodate your fan base. We try to play multiple nights in smaller venues but you can’t do it all the time ’cause then you end up being on tour a lot longer. It’s like a Catch-22. You end up being away from your family for more time. But we try our best to figure things out.
Who wrote the song “Six Ways Til Sunday” off The Unraveling? I wrote all the music on that record and Tim wrote all the lyrics. Tim writes all of our lyrics. You don’t want me writing any lyrics, let’s just say that. They wouldn’t be any good (laughs). But musically, that song was me. In between The Unraveling and Revolutions per Minute, we did a song for a Fat Wreck Chords compilation called “Generation Lost.” Tim played guitar and sang in his old band, Baxter, but that was the first time he brought his guitar to practice and told us he had an idea. I liked it. It really worked with my style. I think that’s why this band works really well. It’s just a melding of all of our styles and it makes it pretty interesting, I think.
What does the title of The Unraveling signify?You know what, Tim more or less names all our records. His lyrics and his album titles are a little bit more abstract. You can kind of interpret them however you want. That’s what I love about his lyrics for the most part. We have some more straightforward songs like “Blood Red, White and Blue” and stuff, but it’s hard to say what that title means because Tim writes from a very personal perspective. I’ve never actually asked what was going through his head when he wrote that song. It could be anything he was experiencing that day he wrote it. Like I said, that’s what I like about his lyrics. I appreciate bands that are pretty direct and to a point. But at the same time, I like to mix it up a little bit. That whole record has a very general theme. There’s always this overlying sense of hope on all of our records. A light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes that comes through in different ways, if that makes sense.
At the time we started the band, there were so many doom-and-gloom-bands starting. There were a lot of goth-themed punk bands and we appreciated it. Our friends do that stuff really well. But we just wanted something that had some positivity to it, that inspired change for the better. That’s why when we started this band, it was very intentional, but unspoken, that we would do this band in a way that our influences did their bands–like 7 seconds and Minor Threat–they were very inspiring. It’s like we were carrying that torch.
Speaking of Minor Threat, I know that most of the guys in the band are straight edge. Tell me about your decision to pursue that lifestyle.I think that’s a decision that everybody needs to make for themselves. When I was growing up, there were a lot of people getting into it with kind of a gang mentality. It’s like they were doing it more to be a part of a group. For me, it was a personal choice. I guess I was pre-wired in a way where it just wasn’t for me. That’s the right reason to be “straight edge.” The [straight edge] label was kind of like whatever. It’s taken a little bit out of context actually if you read the lyrics to [Minor Threat’s] song “Out of Step” or “Straight Edge.” But I think over the years, it just kind of formed into this thing that it wasn’t mean to be. It’s the “gang effect” (laughs).
Have you ever met Ian Mackaye?Yeah, he’s a very awesome person. When we were on tour with Bad Religion, [Bad Religion and former Minor Threat guitarist] Brian Baker took us to the Dischord Records house and Ian made it a point to be there to meet us. That house still looks exactly the same as it does on the cover of that Minor Threat record. [Ian] still has every demo he’s ever gotten tucked away. It’s amazing. We went to the basement where Minor Threat got to practice and he’s just a very genuine person. When you accomplish that much, it’s sometimes unavoidable for it to affect the way you act. I don’t mean that I would expect him to be arrogant, but it’s just hard to maintain a sense of normalcy when you have that much on your shoulders and everyone credits you with starting this crazy movement that you never intended to start. But yeah, he’s a very down to earth guy and definitely one of the highlights of me playing in Rise Against was meeting him.
You mentioned Bad Religion, who you’ve toured with several times. I watched you on tour with those guys in 2004 along with another punk band, From First to Last, whose singer Sonny Moore has obviously become a giant in the EDM space under the Skrillex moniker. Are you a fan of EDM? Looking back now, was Sonny’s transition from a screaming frontman to an EDM megastar a surprise? I’m not a fan of that genre, but I do respect Sonny. He was definitely the creative force behind From First to Last. He was 16-years-old on that tour and he always had these crazy visions of song ideas that he was working on backstage. I would always pay attention to him because he would always have a guitar in his hand and he always had GarageBand [software] open on his laptop. So it doesn’t surprise me that he went [the EDM] direction and that he’s successful at it. I respect him because some of the guys in Rise Against went to this party where he was performing and he actually stopped the show and said something to everyone like, “Put your phones down and enjoy the moment!” I always thought that was so cool of him to say because a lot of people are missing out on what’s actually happening because they’re too busy filming what’s going on. I mean, I see the pros and cons of that, but yeah, I respect him. He still comes from a very punk rock attitude and I love that about him.
Do you still get nervous before you play?It depends on the show. I think this festival that we have in Detroit, Orion Fest, we’re playing with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and although I’m not like an enormous Chili Peppers fan, I obviously respect Flea for his bass playing and what he’s accomplished. It’s pretty nerve-wracking to play in front of somebody like him.
You play Fender basses exclusively. Was this the case even before you got a sponsorship from them?Yeah. The very first bass I had was a knockoff of Fender. It was from a company called Memphis. It was a jazz bass but it was just a cheap knockoff. That was given to me because, well, originally I played guitar. I played guitar for like a year and then a friend of mine asked me to start playing bass in his band. It just became supernatural and I just kind of had the ear for it and I liked it better. The first bass I actually bought with my own money was a Fender jazz bass. I just fell in love with it. It was like $400 for this used ’70s jazz bass. Over the years, I switched to a P-Bass just to kind of have a beefier tone. But yeah, it’s always been Fender. They’re just really comfortable for me. I’ve tried a Rickenbacker here or there or a Music Man, but the pickups are always in the way of where I pick, so…
You’ve been influenced by many bassists including Matt Freeman of Rancid. What is the biggest thing you have learned from him as a musician? If Rancid ever needed someone to fill in for him at a show, what song of theirs would you be most excited to play?Man, I would love to play “Rejected” off their first record if I could pull it off–you know, if I practiced a little bit (laughs). That song kind of has a special place in my heart. When I first heard Rancid, it always just stuck out to me. But yeah, what I’ve learned from Matt is that he uses his thumb to fret strings as a shortcut. I never thought about doing that until I toured with him and I was like, “wow.” It’s such an easy thing to do and you can kind of open up the way you chord that stuff so sometimes I do that.
How would you say your bass playing style has changed from albums like The Unraveling and Revolutions per Minute to more recent ones like Endgame?I think I’ve toned it down a little bit. I’ve realized that you don’t have to go crazy all the time. I respect bass players that can do that, but for what we do now as a band with bigger rock songs, sometimes the bass can get in the way or take away from the intent of a chorus or something. So yeah, I try to step back a little bit and play for the song, not for myself, you know?
We’re approaching almost a year since [No Use for a Name frontman] Tony Sly’s death, which was big news to anyone in the punk scene. Where were you when you heard of his passing and what was your initial reaction?I was actually washing my car in my driveway and I had gotten like 15 texts from different people all at once. When I started reading them, I couldn’t believe it. [NOFX frontman] Fat Mike was one of the people that texted me. Hearing it from him made me realize that it was real. Not that people would ever, ever joke about that, but hearing it from him, yeah…I had such a long, long history and friendship with Tony and that whole Fat Wreck Chords team. Over the years, I’ve had acquaintances pass away, but no one that close to the scene that I grew up in and no one that close of a friend. It was really hard to accept. It’s tragic. He was so talented.
Will Rise Against be contributing any songs to the tribute album that Fat Wreck Chords will be releasing?Well, probably not, but Tim did “For Fiona”–the No Use for a Name song–for the Revival Tour compilation that Chuck [Ragan] from Hot Water Music put out. It’s just an acoustic compilation, but Tim tackled that. All last summer when we were on tour, Tim played that song acoustic and we showed this slide show of Tony on stage while Tim played it. It was done in good taste and with respect.
How often, if ever, do you check out your band’s live shows on YouTube or elsewhere on the internet? And if you do, what’s going through your mind when you’re watching those clips?You know, I do watch them sometimes, mainly for the performance. I always have a hard time watching myself so a lot of times I think, “Man, that was stupid doing that” or whatever (laughs). That’s just kind of how I’ve always been though–a little self-conscious. It’s a little bit awkward for me to watch us on YouTube, but I still do it.
What was the last tattoo you got?The last tattoo I got was a lion head on the side of my neck.
That must have been painful…Actually, not as bad as you would think. I kind of did it as a nod to Chicago because the Art Institute in downtown Chicago has these great lion statues in front. I kind of did it for that.
A large part of your band’s identity is its liberal tendency. On just about every social issue, a lot of music fans could not agree more with where you all stand. But faith in politicians from either party on non-social issues that are increasingly important today – such as fiscal and economic policy – seems to be waning. How do you feel about punk rock fans taking openly conservative stances on these things? Is the punk model evolving or is there no space for these types of opinions in the scene?I think the whole intent of the punk rock movement was originally based in politics and change. Whether you’re left or right, punk rock is a great platform to voice your opinion. You’re always going to notice the extremes. That was the intent of punk rock initially. I guess I really haven’t noticed that there are more people voicing conservative opinions overall. But unfortunately, sometimes a lot of people change with the majority and with what’s going on around them. That kind of sucks. Even in the punk rock scene, I have kind of noticed that. Today, everyone is so quick to bash the Obama administration and it’s like, “yeah, okay.” He didn’t do everything he said he would do, but he had a ton of bullshit to try and fix and clean up. No one could possibly take that on and be 100% effective in everything they said they would accomplish. You’re going through too much red tape and bullshit because that’s kind of the nature of American government. I guess with politics I just go with the lesser of the two evils – like maybe the candidate that’s less likely to bring us into war (laughs). I remember Ian Mackaye saying that in an interview once and it always stuck out to me.
Believe it or not, there is an entire generation of kids today that have never heard of, or at least not taken the time to appreciate, bands on a lot of the t-shirts you wear when you play–bands like Misfits, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Bad Brains, etc. What’s your reaction to that?You’re right. For me, it is kind of like a, “Hey, check this band out because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be up on stage.” That’s why we do some of the covers we do. We cover Minor Threat. If only 10% of our audience can look beyond us performing that live and find out who Minor Threat actually is, it might open up a whole new world for them. But yeah, it’s kind of weird – we played with FLAG (featuring three original members from Black Flag) in Germany and the audience had no idea who they were or what they were doing. I was like, “C’mon guys, what are you doing? These guys on stage paved the way. These songs are so important!”
Any last words for your fans?Thanks for the support and go listen to the first Bad Brains record!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eh sì, bella lunghetta, ma molto interessante
Potrei avventurarmi nella traduzione, ma non garantisco xD
