Zack de la Rocha

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Zack de la Rocha
Zack de la Rocha performing with RATM at Coachella 2007
Zack de la Rocha performing with RATM at Coachella 2007
Background information
Born January 12, 1970 (1970-01-12) (age 38)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Genre(s) Alternative metal
Funk Metal
Alternative rock
Rapcore
Hardcore
Occupation(s) Vocalist, Songwriter, Rapper, Musician
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Keyboard
Years active 1988 - present
Label(s) Epic, Revelation Records
Associated acts Rage Against the Machine
Inside Out
Hardstance

Zacarías Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970 in Long Beach, California) is a rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.

Contents

[edit] Early life

In his early youth, de la Rocha's father Roberto (known as Beto)—a member of Los Four, the first Chicano art collective to be exhibited at a major museum (LACMA, 1974)—suffered a nervous breakdown and took his religious ideals to extremes. He destroyed his art, and, when Zack visited him on the weekends, he was forced to fast, sit in a room with the curtains closed and the door locked, and help destroy his father's paintings.[citation needed]

After a while, he was unable to cope with this lifestyle and stayed with his mother in Irvine.[citation needed] For elementary school, he attended the UC Irvine Farm School, a laboratory school housed in ranch hands' bungalows associated with a slaughterhouse operation that was formerly on the site - houses that are among the very few still in existence from the Irvine Ranch.[citation needed] Among the people he met there was his future Rage Against the Machine bandmate, bassist Tim Commerford.[citation needed]

[edit] Musical career

[edit] Early career

In high school, de la Rocha became involved in the hardcore punk scene and played guitar and sang for various bands, including Juvenile Expression with Commerford. His interest in bands like the The Clash and Bad Religion turned into an appreciation for other bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and The Teen Idles, and he joined the straight edge band Hardstance.

De la Rocha eventually formed the Hardcore band Inside Out, which gained a large national underground following. They released a single record, No Spiritual Surrender, on Revelation Records in 1990 before breaking up. In de la Rocha's words, Inside Out was "about completely detaching ourselves from society to see ourselves as...as spirits, and not bowing down to a system that sees you as just another pebble on a beach. I channeled all my anger out through that band."

After Inside Out broke up, he embraced hip-hop and began freestyling at local clubs, where he met Tom Morello and Brad Wilk. Eventually de la Rocha's Juvenile Expression bandmate Commerford joined them and Rage Against the Machine was formed.

[edit] Rage Against the Machine

Before long, Rage Against the Machine was on the main stage at Lollapalooza, in 1993, and was one of the most politically charged bands ever to receive extensive airplay from radio and MTV. De la Rocha became one of the most visible champions of left-wing political causes around the world while, advocating in favor of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and supporting the Zapatista movement in Mexico. He even spoke on the floor of the UN, testifying against the United States and its treatment of Abu-Jamal. The music and the message were so intertwined for him that he did not consider any of Rage's albums a success unless they provoked tangible political change.

Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the United States, but did not result in the political action de la Rocha had hoped for. He became increasingly restless and undertook collaborations with artists like KRS-One, Chuck D, and Public Enemy.

De la Rocha frequently made speeches during RATM live performances.
De la Rocha frequently made speeches during RATM live performances.

On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed their last show before breaking up, during which de la Rocha gave a notable speech before playing Killing in the Name:

“ So who went out and joined us for the Democratic National Convention? I've never seen so many fucking cops in my life. It's like everybody knows that everybody went out there; the only thing we were out there to do is express how much we hate both the Democrats and Republicans because they sold this fucking country out. And by expressing our rights to resist, what do they do? They open fire on the crowd. I don't care what fucking television station said the violence was caused by the people at the concert; those motherfuckers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it's ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets; none of us had M16s; none of us had billy clubs; none of us had face shields. All we had was our fists, our voices, our microphones, our guitars, our drums, our timbales and whatnot. And anytime we get beaten in the streets for protesting, we take it to the court system, but the court system don't wanna hear it. Look what happened to Amadou Diallo in New York. They shot that brother 41 times and let all four officers go. It's time for a new type of action in this country. ”

[edit] "Creative differences"

In October 2000, de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, due to "creative differences." It is rumored that Commerford's stunt at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, where he climbed atop of a fixture on stage because RATM had lost the award for Best Rock Video to Limp Bizkit, may have contributed to de la Rocha's decision to leave the band. Commerford later stated he had pulled the stunt in protest that cameras at the awards show were already hovering over Limp Bizkit before anything was even announced, which he disagreed with[citation needed].

The other members of the band sought out separate management and secured the immediate release of the album Renegades. On October 18, 2000, de la Rocha released the following statement:

“ I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed. It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal. I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us.[1] ”

After searching for a replacement for de la Rocha, the other members of Rage joined up with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave.

[edit] Post-Rage work

After RATM's breakup, de la Rocha worked on a solo album he had been recording since before the band's dissolution, working with DJ Shadow, El-P, Muggs, Dan The Automator, Roni Size, DJ Premier, and The Roots' ?uestlove with production partner James Poyser.[1] The album never saw fruition, and de la Rocha started a new collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which around 20 tracks were produced.[2] Reznor thought the work was "excellent,"[2] but said the songs will likely never be released as de la Rocha was not "ready to make a record" at that time.[3]

In 2000, de la Rocha appeared on the song "Centre of the Storm", from the Roni Size/Reprazent album In The Mode,[4] while in 2002, he appeared in a minor role in the first part of the Blackalicious song "Release" on the album Blazing Arrow.[5] A new collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free online in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq. De la Rocha released a statement along with his song:

“ Without just cause or reason, without legal or moral justification, and without a thread of proof that Iraq directly threatens the security of the United States, the Bush administration has headed to war. As I am writing this, bombs are raining upon the defenseless civilians of Baghdad in a continuation of a policy that has already claimed the lives of over 1 million innocent Iraqi people. People just like us who want democracy but find themselves cornered by a dictator on one side, naked U.S. aggression on another, and the oil beneath their country; for which it appears they are to be massacred.

Lies, sanctions, and cruise missiles have never created a free and just society. Only everyday people can do that, which is why I'm joining the millions world wide who have stood up to oppose the Bush administration's attempt to expand the U.S. empire at the expense of human rights at home and abroad. In this spirit I'm releasing this song for anyone who is willing to listen. I hope it not only makes us think, but also inspires us to act and raise our voices.[6]

 ”

The 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, "We Want It All".[2] This album also contained the debut recording by former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello as The Nightwatchman, "No One Left".

On October 7, 2005, de la Rocha returned to the stage with new material, performing with Son Jarocho band Son de Madera. He later spoke as MC and again performed with Son de Madera at the November 22 Concert at the Farm, a benefit concert for the South Central Farmers. He sang and played the jarana with the band, and performed his own new original material, including the song "Sea of Dead Hands".[7]

[edit] Reunion of RATM

de la Rocha performing with Rage at Coachella 2007.
de la Rocha performing with Rage at Coachella 2007.

On April 14, 2007 Morello and de la Rocha played together at House of Blues in Chicago at the rally for fair food with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). At this performance Morello played acoustic guitar while de la Rocha was on the mic. They played a new song that de la Rocha claimed he just wrote about the victory for the farmworkers over McDonalds and Taco Bell and their quest in acquiring fair wages from Burger King.[8]

Rage Against the Machine, as a full band, headlined the final day of the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29.[9] The performance was initially thought to be a one-off,[10] but that was cast into doubt following Chris Cornell's exit from Audioslave.[11] Four more performances are planned as part of the Rock The Bells Festival with the Wu-Tang Clan.[12] [13] Rage Against the Machine also played the 2008 Big Day Out music festival in Australia and New Zealand along with the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans on October 26, 2007.[14] and at Vegoose 2007 on October 28th. Rage Against The Machine are also confirmed to play during the 3 day music festival "Oxegen 2008" in Ireland. Rage Against The Machine are confirmed to play the other 3 day festival also at the time of "Oxegen 2008", T in the Park, on the Saturday night. More recently, RATM have been confirmed to headline the Nova Rock Festival, Austria in June 2008 and Reading and Leeds Festivals, UK in August 2008.

At Rage's first reunion show, de la Rocha made a speech during "Wake Up" in which de la Rocha called numerous American presidents war criminals, citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremberg Principles:[15]

“ A good friend of ours said that if the same laws were applied to U.S. presidents as were applied to the Nazis after World War II that every single one of them, every last rich white one of them from Truman on would have been hung to death and shot - and this current administration is no exception. They should be hung, and tried, and shot. As any war criminal should be. But the challenges that we face, they go way beyond administrations, way beyond elections, way beyond every four years of pulling levers, way beyond that. Because this whole rotten system has become so vicious and cruel that in order to sustain itself, it needs to destroy entire countries and profit from their reconstruction in order to survive - and that's not a system that changes every four years, it's a system that we have to break down, generation after generation after generation after generation after generation... Wake up. ”
 
— Zack de la Rocha

[edit] Solo album

In an article published in Billboard, it was announced that work had been completed on de la Rocha's first solo album, which he had been working on at least since his departure from RATM in 2000 and, by some accounts, as early as 1995. [16] He has been working extensively on the as-yet-untitled project with former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. Sources familiar with the album say it features de la Rocha playing keyboards and that the sound is a hybrid of Led Zeppelin and Dr. Dre.[17] It was also said that a portion of the recording took place recently at Jack Johnson's new eco-friendly studio in Los Angeles. de la Rocha is currently understood to be unsigned and mulling offers for how to best distribute the album.[18]

[edit] Discography

Zack de la Rocha performing with Tom Morello on April 17, 2007.
Zack de la Rocha performing with Tom Morello on April 17, 2007.

[edit] Hardstance

  • Face Reality (1988 - 7" vinyl and re-issued in 1999 on Conversion Records)

[edit] Inside Out

[edit] Rage Against the Machine

[edit] Solo and collaborations

[edit] Footnotes and citations

  1. ^ a b Armstrong, Mark (October 18, 2000). Zack de la Rocha Leaves Rage Against the Machine. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  2. ^ a b c Moss, Corey (May 10, 2005). Reznor Says Collabos With De La Rocha, Keenan May Never Surface. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  3. ^ Gargano, Paul (October 2005). Nine Inch Nails (interview). Maximum Ink Music Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  4. ^ Phillips, Liam (October 17, 2001). In The Mode review. The Manitoban. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  5. ^ Moss, Corey (March 1, 2002). Zack De La Rocha Joining Blackalicious On Blazing Arrow. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
  6. ^ Zack de la Rocha.com, official website promoting "March of Death". Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  7. ^ "Backstage Pass" (February 2006), Spin. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  8. ^ Truth Tour 2007 (April 14, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
  9. ^ Finn, Natalie (January 22, 2007). Rage On at Coachella. E! News. EOnline.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  10. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 22, 2007). Rage, Bjork, Chili Peppers Sign On For Coachella. Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  11. ^ Harris, Chris (February 15, 2007). Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Rumors Of Soundgarden Reunion. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
  12. ^ First reported in the LA Times: Boucher (February 24, 2007). Rage Against the Machine adds more dates. LA Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  13. ^ Later confirmed on RATM's official website: Official website. Retrieved on February 27, 2007).
  14. ^ Voodoo Music Experience 2007 Line Up. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
  15. ^ Interview of Noam Chomsky by Tom Morello in 1996
  16. ^ Post from former band manager
  17. ^ Rage Against The Machine man finishes solo album | News | NME.COM
  18. ^ Billboard exclusive on upcoming solo album

[edit] References

Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Rage Against the Machine
Tim Commerford · Zack de la Rocha · Tom Morello · Brad Wilk
Demo
Studio albums
Live releases
Singles
1993: "Killing in the Name" · "Bombtrack" · "Bullet in the Head"  · 1994: "Freedom" · "Year of tha Boomerang"  · 1996: "Bulls on Parade" · "People of the Sun" · "Down Rodeo" · "Tire Me"  · 1997: "Vietnow"  · 1998: "The Ghost of Tom Joad" · "No Shelter"  · 1999: "Guerrilla Radio"  · 2000: "Sleep Now in the Fire" · "Testify" · "Calm Like a Bomb"  · 2001: "Renegades of Funk" · "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
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