ZACH BLAIR of RISE AGAINST: It’s Time To Engage
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
Rise Against has long been synonymous with the term ‘telling it like it is’; their 2008 track ‘Hero Of War’ inimitably encapsulating both the futility and horror of battle. Formed in 1999 and hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Rise Against have released a total of eight studio albums, their latest Wolves influenced heavily by the current state of affairs in the US and the election of the POTUS, Donald Trump.
With an ethos of both engaging while delivering a message through the medium of music, Rise Against are revered by their fans for their explosive brand of melodic hardcore/punk tracks; their live performances often critically acclaimed.
Performing in both Christchurch and Auckland later this month, I caught up with lead guitarist Zach Blair to discuss their latest work and his views on how America can begin to heal…
Hey Zach, we’re all very excited to hear that Rise Against are coming back to New Zealand!
“Yeah it’s going to be really fun!”
Congratulations too on the new album ‘Wolves’ it’s a very formidable piece of work.
“Awesome, well thank you. Yeah it’s amazing when you plan it out and try to get something happening as it were, and finally now the whole world can hear it; it’s a weird process sometimes.”
Rise Against are almost twenty years old now, you yourself having been part of the band for just over ten years. How does that sort of longevity feel? Do you believe that the band have more power, more freedom to express themselves exactly the way they want to?
“Oh I think we have more peoples ears [laughs] and yeah I think it was the type of band that spoke it’s mind and did its thing and said its thing even when people weren’t really listening [laughs] you know it really didn’t care.
It’s just always been that band and you know there might be a finer point on that message and there might be a larger fan base listening to that message, but it’s still saying a lot of the same things. The problem is that people, they listen but a lot of the time – as evidenced by our latest election and things like that – they aren’t paying attention you know?”
[sighs] Yes well … so you’re not tired yet, you don’t feel weary constantly trying to get that message across?
“No, I mean it’s what we do and it’s the only thing all four of us are separately good at, or at least moderately good at in this life and in this world. So we have no choice but to keep doing it, it’s what we do, you know?”
[mutual laughter]
“And I’m a pretty hyperactive person so … I’ve been doing this professionally – touring and playing – for almost twenty-five years now, so it’s really all I’ve ever done. So no, I’m not tired.”
Let’s talk about some of the tracks off the new album; starting off with ‘The Violence’. I personally find this a really powerful song; with its questioning aspect, it perfectly captures how today’s generation feels – the loss of control and doubt about the future.
“Well you know Tim our singer writes all the lyrics so it’s a little hard for me to sort of respond to anything lyrical because even though I know him really, really well, sometimes you never know where his head is.
But we all do agree on the basic points of the bigger things, and I think that song is exactly what you said and I think there is a message of hope as well just like anything else with our band. We try to state a problem and then hopefully state ‘Well here’s what you could do’ [laughs] you know what I mean? ‘Here’s what you could do to help us out.’”
So as an American yourself, how do you feel about the current state of play in your own country?
“Oh … we couldn’t be more disappointed, I mean we were making this record when this unfortunate election happened and this decision was decided for us and there was no way it wasn’t going to seep into what the record ended up being and the overall message of the record.
I think the initial idea was to sort of … be depressed and be disappointed and sort of write about that, write through that; but then the idea changed and it became ‘Well no this is the time to protest, this is the time to speak up, this is the time to engage. This is what this is for; this is what we have talked about this whole time’. So that’s currently what we are trying to do.”
Where do you believe it all went wrong and how does America begin to heal?
“It went wrong when our election was robbed and Donald Trump became the President of The United States; it just seems like some alternate, bizarre world, I think that’s where it went wrong.
People are so mis-informed now days and I feel that people are so distracted, that those that have actually earned the right to be a world leader have no clout [compared to] somebody that is a movie star.
Somebody that is famous for taking pictures of their ass and putting it on Instagram is more famous, well known and respected than somebody that actually deserves that sort of respect. They are more famous than somebody who is talented or who is smart or has a PhD in certain things and that’s a travesty. It’s unbelievable that we live in these times and it’s disappointing to say the least.”
Yeah that’s the crazy thing; we now have a long list of ‘celebrities’ that are famous for creating … well absolutely nothing!
“Nothing … at all. You can’t exactly tell a kid ‘Well you need to learn how to do something, because you can’t just be famous for nothing’ – in fact that’s not true, you can be famous for nothing! You can earn a living for doing absolutely nothing now days and I believe our … well this president is the president for basically being on a reality show and for being lucky enough to be born into a family that was already rich.
The guy didn’t do anything to earn where he is right now, everything has been handed to this president. You look at everything that Barack Obama had to go through to become the US President and it’s amazing, it’s astounding that somebody could achieve that in any lifetime and he deserved the presidency. This guy, you know if he actually did win – which I don’t think he did either – it’s only because he was popular because of a TV show and that’s the sad, harsh reality.”
He had ‘the gift of the gab’; he basically talked his way into the position. I think many of the people of the United States were feeling so lost that they latched on to what sounded good without actually thinking about the long term and whether Trump could actually back it up.
“Absolutely … so you know it’s a time to speak up, and it’s a time to say something about this and that’s what we are trying to do.”
‘Mourning in Amerika’, has the line ‘Once we were the lighthouse, but what we became was a towering flame’ to me that song really encapsulates what you were just saying about being sold a lie.
“Yeah exactly, like I said it was really impossible for the whole of that night not to seep out; we were making a record as this was all happening so you know it was impossible for it not to come out in this record.”
‘House on Fire’ which is the second single that Rise Against released has gone the opposite way and is not political at all; would I be right in stating that it’s a love song?
“It’s actually about Tim’s daughter, so it is a love song, but I don’t think it’s so much in a romantic way [laughs]… But then again Tim is a good songwriter and he has this knack for writing songs that can go many ways; you know it could be political it could be a love song – nobody really knows except Tim. Although from what I believe it is actually about his daughter. But then again I don’t exactly know. I just know I heard him say that, so that’s all I know, you know?”
[mutual laughter]
Interestingly enough you have special guests SWMRS joining you on this tour, how did that come about?
“SWMRS yeah, SWMRS are a great young band. Their drummer is Joey Armstrong who is Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Days son; that’s not their only credential for the band but that’s what a lot of people know of. They’re a fantastic band in their own right and we’re excited to bring them over!”
So how did that come about? Did you guys invite them or did they hit you up?
“We took them to Europe with us one time and it just worked out really well. A lot of touring is just who you get along with and who you can travel well with and we knew that we could do that with them, so yeah it just worked out really well!”
[NB: Unfortunately at time of publication, due to unforeseen circumstances, SWMRS are no longer able to support Rise Against. Support for the New Zealand shows will now be Auckland’s own Dead Favours.]
With the album Wolves now out and the band touring in support of it … where to from here? What’s next for Rise Against?
“After we’re in New Zealand, that’s kinda like the last thing we have going on. Beyond that we don’t really have that many plans. I’m sure we will do some festivals – more than likely in the US – so yeah nothing to comment on yet though.” [laughs]
Finally Zach, any message for your fans here in New Zealand?
“Oh yeah, just that we’re really excited to see everybody and we’re really looking forward to it, absolutely!”
Rise Against are hitting New Zealand for what promise to be some pretty amazing shows in both Christchurch (17th February 2018) and Auckland (19th February 2018). Tickets to both shows are still available (here), but get in quick as they are sure to sell out!
