3 Fun Facts About Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello

On October 3, Tom Morello and a few high-profile friends performed at the guitarist’s Power to the People festival in Columbia, MD. With help from Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Public Enemy, Bruce Springsteen, and Joan Baez, Morello’s concert was billed as a “celebration of peace, love, justice, music and community action.”

For Morello’s career-spanning set, he was joined by his 15-year-old son, Roman, who, judging by his own shredding, appears to have been paying quite a bit of attention to his father.

So I thought I’d compile a short list of facts about Morello for those wanting to know more about the legendary guitarist.

A Shredding DJ

When Rage Against The Machine dropped “Bulls On Parade” in 1996, Morello left many guitarists staring at their speakers, wondering, what, exactly, am I listening to? The DNA of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin riffs was recognizable. But what is this guy doing in the solo? Instead of sampling old records, Morello mimics the sound of a DJ cutting vinyl with his guitar. His “Arm the Homeless” Strat copy features two pickups. He cuts the volume on one and uses the toggle as a kill switch to turn the guitar on and off while rubbing his fretting hand over the strings to create a record-scratching effect.

A Modest Pedalboard

Morello’s signature guitar style combines classic rock, heavy metal, and hip-hop. And though he manages to create otherworldly sounds from his instrument, he’s only using a handful of pedals to achieve the effects. Many of which are meat-and-potatoes stomp boxes like a Crybaby wah and a Boss digital delay, to name a few. Then there’s his most expensive pedal, a DigiTech Whammy, which he helped introduce to mainstream listeners on RATM’s 1992 debut. It’s a lesson in the power of limitations and minimalism.

An Alumnus of Harvard

Politics remains crucial to Morello’s life in music. The guitarist follows a long line of activists who use music as their protest form. In the spirit of Public Enemy, Woody Guthrie, and Bruce Springsteen, Morello has worked to change the course of American politics, especially those entrenched by the country’s two major political parties. Now, before you tell Morello to “shut up and dribble,” remember: this rock star is also a Harvard graduate.

An e-f-f-e-c-t,
A smooth operator operating correctly.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images