Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello Starts Label, Firebrand Records

2015-06-12

Story by Cat Badra

Tom Morello has launched his own record label, Firebrand Records

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has started his own record label, Firebrand Records, and he’s thrilled at the new venture.

“The label gives you one-stop shopping for all your rebel-music needs,” Morello told Rolling Stone. “It’s the kind of label that I wish had existed my entire artistic life.”

To kick off the beginning of Firebrand, Morello has unleashed a digital sampler with a variety of genres. The first full-length album to drop on Firebrand will be from a performer named Ike Reilly, who Morello totes as “part (Bruce) Springsteen, part Replacements.”

“There are always artists on the frontlines of social justice struggles, and now they have one home and one label,” Morello said. “But first and foremost the music has to be great. It’s not just like, ‘Hey, you wrote a song about Guatemala labor unions, come on our label.’ There’s an extensive vetting process. Separating the wheat from the chaff is key.”

In other news, Morello is also busy working on the first album he’ll release under his name. He doesn’t plan to release it on Firebrand, though.

“We have a very clear mission, and that is to bring global revolutionary music to everyone who wants to hear it,” Morello said. “As someone who’s spent a couple of decades with various labels, I see it exclusively from the artist perspective. We’re not trying to get rich off Firebrand Records, we’re trying to enrich people’s hearts and minds.”


Cat Badra
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