The latest, just-aired episode of Lar Ulrich's Beats 1 radio show "It's Electric!" features guest Tom Morello, the innovative and politically outspoken guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Prophets of Rage. Morello discussed his forthcoming solo album, The Atlas Underground, due October 12th, which boasts an all-star cast of guests including Vic Mensa, Killer Mike, Big Boi, Bassnectar, GZA, RZA and more.
Morello also took a trip down memory lane to the earliest days of Rage Against the Machine, when the seed of the group was planted through jam sessions between the guitarist and drummer Brad Wilk. The two couldn't afford their own rehearsal space so they rented "the space in front of [some] metal band's drum kit," and there worked on songs that would become cuts on Rage's groundbreaking self-titled debut. But before the rest of RATM would come together and that album could be made, Morello recalls, Wilk "broke up" with him to join Mookie Blaylock, the band that would become Pearl Jam. While the drummer was rehearsing with them in England — "two-timing" Morello, in his own words — the guitarist was introduced to future-RATM members Zack de la Rocha and Tim Commerford, and the rest is history. Watch the clip below.