Prophets of Rage formed in the midst of 2016 Election Year's madness with the mantra "Dangerous times demand dangerous songs."
Guitarist Tom Morello repeats that mantra and tells Q104.3 New York's "Out of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke that the supergroup took pains to prevent word of its gestation from getting out before it could make an official announcement, which came just in time for political convention season.
"When we first formed the band we practiced in secret for months deep in the heart of the San Fernando Valley," Morello says, "you know, in order to forge the live chemistry that then we took across the United States."
Prophets of Rage features Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave; B Real of Cypress Hill; and Chuck D and DJ Lord of Public Enemy.
Morello says the group wrote its self-titled debut album in under a month and is about to get back on the road to promote Prophets of Rage, as well as its message of empowering the resistance and affecting positive change.
"Music, when it's done right, I think can both reflect the times and aim to change the times," Morello said. "And so we're very inspired by the resistance we've seen in sort of the post-Trump world, the resistance we've seen from the women's march to the anti-Nazi marches that any protest movement worth its salt requires a great soundtrack."
Prophets of Rage is a new band but its members have storied histories, and B Real adds that the live environment is unlike anything they have experienced before.
"It's pretty crazy, man, because [the crowds] get stirred up," B Real says. "I mean, because they're hearing three classic catalogs...so a combination of that along with the new music we've made."
And there's no end in sight. Morello says the band has a handful of new songs they've been workshopping during soundcheck and rehearsals. They're looking forward to writing the next album.
Chuck D says he's not the type to let good ideas go to waste.
"Throughout my career, I've never been the guy that like recorded, you know, 67 songs and we released 10 and we're leaving the record company, 57 songs to do and put out after you die," he says. "I'm like, all right you pick 12 ideas, you go into it and you really seriously put your ass up into it...
"We went [into the studio] with 12 to 15 ideas and we ended up with 12 to 15 songs."
Watch the full interview with Morello, B Real and Chuck D above!
Get all of Prophets of Rage's tour dates here. Learn more about the band's favorite charity WhyHunger here.
Keep up with Prophets of Rage on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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Check out Prophets of Rage's video for "Living on the 110":
Thumbnail Photo: Getty Images