Rise Against may have made a name for itself as an “extremely political” punk rock band with edgy lyrics about real world problems, but lead singer Tom McIlrath says that wasn’t always the intention. The band had no plan or strategy, no “PowerPoint presentation on what we were going to do.” Just a will to play and a name that fit nicely in the punk rock scene.
“In a lot of ways we grew into it,” he said. “The name kind of set a benchmark in a way, or set this high goal that was like ‘Let’s live up to this name, this really bold, simple kind of statement that this is our band.'”
When McIlrath formed Rise Against with friend and bassist Joe Principe in 1999, he never dreamed its music would reach a worldwide audience. Fifteen years and seven albums later, the 36-year-old musician is still amazed by the band’s widespread reception and recognition.
“It wasn’t the kind of music that you would start playing to become famous and popular,” McIlrath said of the band’s thrashing sound, which he described as a mesh between McIlrath’s hardcore background with the band Baxter and Principe’s punk past with the group 88 Fingers Louie. “Having doubts would (mean) you first have to have faith in what you were doing in terms of some sort of career. To me it was just for fun. I never thought that it would get this far.”
As a young Chicago-based group playing in the underground scene, Rise Against leaned on the ideals and blase attitude of other area bands like Naked Raygun, Pegboy, and Cap’n Jazz — many of whom couldn’t bother to make T-shirts, let alone record deals — for inspiration. “There’s far less delusions of grandeur that happen on the streets of Chicago,” McIlrath said. “You get a lot of real people playing real music for the right reasons.”
So when the band released its first two albums with Fat Wreck Chords, the medium made sense. Punk band, punk label. But major labels like DreamWorks Records started to show interest in the band after the release of its second album “Revolutions Per Minute,” which surprised McIlrath.
Hollywood ain’t punk, which is a problem for bands that want widespread recognition, but are afraid of getting chewed up and spit out by the mainstream world. “It was crazy,” McIlrath said. “It was like, ‘… I never thought this kind of music was something a label like DreamWorks would be interested in.'”
Rise Against signed with DreamWorks in December 2003, and life with a major label gave the band the opportunity to tour the world, score radio singles like “Savior” and “I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore,” and feature songs like “Prayer Of The Refugee” and “Re-Education (Through Labor)” on Guitar Hero. But most importantly, it allowed the group to spread its message of activism.
Rise Against is not just a name for McIlrath. It is a call for action that promotes veganism and political activism through lyrics that raise awareness for animal rights, anti-establishment, social issues and straight edge life, which encourages abstinence from a life of drinking and drug use.
“The hardcore scene was kind of like my secondary education,” McIlrath said. “You know, the stuff that my parents and my teachers weren’t really teaching me.”
McIlrath remembers going to concerts, squeezing to the front row, and watching his heroes strum their guitars and shout messages of change. It was there that he learned the term “sweat shop” and the importance of animal rights.
“That general message of change and awareness changed me and I knew that if I ever had the chance to get on stage and someone gave me that microphone, I knew that all I wanted to do was pass that torch on.”
McIlrath dreams big, but he isn’t delusional. Not everyone who interacts with Rise Against will be changed. Some fans just listen to the music because they enjoy the head banging.
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“But I meet people who really pay attention to what the band is talking about and they understand it,” he said. It’s a pretty amazing thing and it kind of is something that you hope for as a musician. You hope that people are going to get it, but you’re never sure they are. You’re not so cocky to believe that the whole world is going to understand your art, so when people do it’s a pretty overwhelming feeling and pretty validating.”
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, 1300 S. Linn White Drive
Tickets: $29.50-$45 livenation.com