Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello has hit back at arguments that musicians shouldn’t be political.
The musician, who is also the guitar player for Audioslave, hit headlines when he wrote “F*** TOMMY ROBINSON” on the back of his instrument for his set at Download Festival earlier this year – taking aim at the far-right activist while doing so.
He also posted a picture of the image on his X account, and insisted during an interview with Metal Hammer that he wasn’t wrong for taking the stance.
He said: “When people say that musicians should not be involved in politics, it means they are people that disagree with your politics.
“The second that you write a song that agrees with their politics, all of a sudden they’re all for it. So one, it’s very hypocritical, but two, I also think that, why should you give away your free speech rights in the job that you do? Because it offends someone?
“I think that the converse is what is actually true, I think you do yourself and your times a disservice by censoring who you are in your world, not just musicians but in your work as a music journalist or in your work as a tour manager or a bus driver, you should not leave behind who you are and what you believe.”
Tom added that there’s an “extra hot layer of hell” for people who “censor themselves and remain quiet” when they “should have spoken out” – just because they’re “afraid of some internet troll”.
He continued the interview to credit both Public Enemy and The Clash for helping change him as a person, because their music was a “beacon of hope” in speaking out against oppression.
The Metal Hammer chat came after Tom took aim at a troll who called him “another successful musician instantly [becoming] a political expert”.
He responded to the internet critic: “One does not have to be an honours grad in political science from Harvard University to recognise the unethical and inhumane nature of this administration.
“But well, I happen to be an honours grad in political science from Harvard University, so I can confirm that for you.”