Rock around the revoloution/Sharon Moldavi

Next weekend (June 27th) 'Rage Against The Machine', one of America's prime rock bands is coming to Israel.

Established in 1991, the band made 2 albums but won over their millions of fans mainly because of their on-stage uncompeted stage appearances. I saw them twice.

In London at '93, a year after their debut album (self titled), the band and its fans rocked in a bath of sweat and anger much like the punk revolution 20 years ago. In San-Fransisco in '96, after their second album came out (titled 'Evil Empire'), they were in "Free Tibet" festival, and there, in front of them, I could have actually imagined I was listening to "Led Zeppelin". Rage went on before a Red Hot Chili Peppres show that closed the concert. Rage's energy made the Peppers look like a bunch of yodels.

Rage have good albums and MTV hits (Bullet in the head, Vietnow, Bulls on parade), but more than that they have spiritual and physical energies to offer the highest level of ass-kicking that a guitar-bass-drums set-up can offer. They are the only rock band that could equal the shows of the "new rock" best band, "The Prodigy".

Rage is known not only for their monstrous energies but also, and mainly, for being politically activate, who sing only lyrics with a social-revolutionery messages. This is the band who got the most charities concerts, armed not only with awareness and passion, but also with education level which isn't known for rock bands. Their last album cover, fulls with books covers of people who influenced the band such as Sarter, James Joyce, Che Guevara, Malcolm-X and Mumia Abu Jamal.

For their first visit in Israel I talked to the guitarist of the band, Tom Morello, one of the most talented and creative musicians in the rock scene. Morello is also graduate, with honors, of Harvard University, he learned political-science. When I asked him which books he have taken with him to the European Tour, he said "I just finished reading Noam Chomsky's (who visited Israel a couple of weeks ago) biography, and among books I've taken I got one specially for Israel. A book that will give me some Info and understanding of some of the places we'll visit. It's called the "Bible" (the old testament)."

Q: Less politically committed artist refused to perform in Israel for their thoughts. Did you in mind such consideration?

A: "We're very excited to show in Israel because our fan club at Israel is just fantastic, and through the years we got a lot of letters and feedbacks from Israeli fans. There are some things that bothers us with the policy of the government, as the same we have big disagreements with the U.S government and we perform a lot there. It's important to keep the dialog with the our crowd anywhere, cause preventing that will play to the hands of more-conesrvative forces in any society."

Q: What do you know about the situation in Israel?

A: "I understand that the occupied territories remains a problem with the settlers, and it's likely to me that some of the promises made at the peace agreement weren't fulfilled. That's is my observation as an outsider."

Q: On your last album you mentioned Gaza and Dacau death camp?

A: "It's seems to me that any reasonable man will agree that you can't use one crime to justify other sort of crime. The Palestinians are human just like you and me and they deserve the same rights we have. It's shame that sometimes this understanding get lost."

Q: At the concert at San-Fransisco, Zack attacked "The pigs from the Captiol-Hill", for the involvement of the U.S government in Mexico, and he mentioned Clinton and former Defense minister, Perry. Do you think that the F.B.I handles secret files on you?

A: "If we're doing our job good enough, we're probably in their lists. Different offices of U.S government has a long history of watching bodies which talk against it, it goes as far of silencing them. But we, because we're just a rock band, have the opportunity, how should I say, fly under their radar height' and we could say our criticism infant of massive crowds."

Q: And this messages gets to crowd, or most of it just enjoys the music?

A: "From letters and conversations with people I know that many get the messages, and I remember myself when I was young. I felt very alone and out of society' until I heard bands like "The Clash" and "Public Enemy", which gave expression to my thoughts, and made me feel as part of a whole community of resistance. It's not so complicated to pass our opinions to anyone who will agree to stop getting addicted to TV and mass sports and entertainment shows' and stop playing all they long with buying and selling stocks. You just start paying attention to what's going around and get out of the complacence state you are in."

Q: In interviews with you on TV you seem to be a calm and pleasant. Are you getting cleaned from all the rage and negative energies by music?

A: Exactly. But there is to add that there is time for reasonable conversion and there's time for extreme action. In our shows the power comes because it's also a rock music, and we love playing it. But in the fundamental, the first step in every action is encourage people towards awareness to their situation. I happened at the early days of the "Black Power" in America, an that's also how the women liberation movement got started, and today it should happen at all the work places. People need first of all to know their enemy, which is their own complacency, the acceptation of their oppression."

Q: You lately opened for "U2" in America. How's it been?

A: "It was great. It gave us a chance to donate 100% percent of our profits to organizations in the U.S and Mexico. 400,000 dollars for different and right causes. We get a lot of request from organizations, and it's very complicated to raise money each in separate, and "U2" we helped all of them in one hit. The show themselves were fun."

Q: Maxim from "The Prodigy" claims that you're one of the bands they value. Is it mutual?

A: "Sure. I intend to work wit them on a track for a movie soundtrack, and the admiration is mutual. We performed with them in a festival in Germany, and I was astonished from their on-stage intensity as a band which doesn't have traditional music-instruments. They made the crowd inflame like we do."

Q: Which way will you evolve as a band, in lyrics and music?

A: "The truth, it's hard to know. And maybe you can guess by other's songs we started to do on our shows. We're doing " Sound of the police" of "KRS1"' which is a hip-hop classic, but also, you're not gonna believe this, "The ghost of Tom Joad" of Bruce Springsteen. The lyrics are very strong and suitable for us. I'm closer to Springsteen, who express his social awareness than rock band who get inspiration from 'Beavis and Butthead'."

Q: Being academic in a rock band is a minus or a plus?

A: "I've always thought it doesn't really matter, and it may be helpful to to political job as a rock group. But it turns out it's more than a challenge, cause lots of people don't know how to treat punk-rock guitarist like me, who comes from a background like that."