By JASON CARPENTER
Photos from ratm.com

By now it's no secret that Rage Against the Machine is simply not just a band. Rage is a movement, a message and a subculture involving may tiers of participation by millions of fans.
What may come as a surprise, however, is that a good number of the band's fans are not necessarily fans of the music. It is also safe to say that another healthy chunk of those fans are completely oblivious to the fervent political message and listen to Rage's music solely for the head-thrashing power chords and dope beats.
So, what does this massive melting pot of varying tastes, interests and styles amount to? These ingredients come together to form The Movement known to us simply as Rage Against the Machine.
Formed in 1991, the band has recently stepped to the forefront of several international causes, playing more benefit concerts than any other major act. The band has lobbied for the release of Mumia Abu Jamal, the journalist and activist currently on death row for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Jamal was sentenced to death after a controversial trial in the cop slaying.
In fact, Rage Against the Machine made headlines when the Fraternal Order of Police threatened a boycott of NBC after the network booked the band to perform on "Late Night With David Letterman" in early November. The police group vehemently opposes Rage's public support for the alleged cop-killer. Still, the band performed outside the studio on the streets of Manhattan, belting out a chilling rendition of "Testify" from the band's election-day release of its third album, The Battle of Los Angeles.
Another prevalent issue on the band's social conscience is the incarceration of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement leader who has been behind bars for 22 years. Peltier is considered by Amnesty International and scores of others to be a political prisoner, and many have demanded he be granted an act of executive clemency.
In an era where censorship organizations (hiding behind the façade of concerned parent and citizens groups) are always looking to point the finger at someone or something for the ills of society, the band stands firm in its message of revolution and defiance. Guitarist Tom Morello told Spin magazine in June that violent acts like last year's Columbine High School massacre, where two students opened fire on their classmates, killing 12 of them and a teacher before committing suicide, are not the fault of music or any message portrayed by bands.
"There is a culture of violence in this society and it's not propagated by music. In Japan and Scandinavia, they listen to the same music, watch the same movies, play video games, but there's far less violent crime. What is it about America that's different? It's not the music, obviously," Morello told Spin reporter Maureen Herman.
In fact, Morello said music has the power to have positive influences and that Rage's message is to do just that.
"There is tangible evidence that it creates positive change, while there's no tangible evidence that any rock band, song or rap lyric has ever caused anybody to do so much as jaywalk. We're very issue-specific. We say, 'We would like you now to march in front of this building and demand this.' And people show up to do it," Morello told Spin.
In addition to the subculture and political overtones of the band, Rage has still managed to create a mystique around the band's existence. Rarely conducting media interviews, band members almost rely entirely on the stage to act as their soapbox. With his wild-eyed expressions and intense stage presence, Zack de la Rocha is known to give passionate speeches about politics, injustices and leftist views during performances and set breaks rather than sit down with reporters.
"One of the things I wanted to ensure was the band's integrity," De La Rocha told Ben Myers about his reluctance to conduct formal interviews in the October 1999 issue of Kerrang Magazine.
"(To ensure) that we were walking what we were talking, as opposed to just talking. We're dealing with a monstrous pop culture here that has a tendency to commodify and pacify everything ? it's happened to so many bands in the past. It's important that artists in my position set an example and there's a fine line between the promotion of a product and the promotion of an idea. And so, to protect my integrity, I decided to refrain."
Despite remaining scarce to the media, the band has made itself more than accessible to its fans, playing benefit concerts and music festivals around the world, playing small clubs in the United States and remaining vocal whenever there is a justified cause to support.
Currently in the throes of a major U.S. tour, the band is again at the forefront of popular music after a three year lapse between albums. So how has the recording layoff affected the band? Not a bit, say their fans.
It's clear that many fans recognize the difference between Rage and the slew of other "metal" sounding bands. Rob Jagodzinski, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not your typical metal-head, recently began listening to the band after a friend turned him on the de la Rocha's lyrics.
Jagodzinski, a newspaper reporter and editor, said one key element sets the band apart.
"The overriding difference is Zack's socially conscious lyrics and his tireless defense of oppressed people and the way he champions the causes of justice for everyone ? not just those who can afford it," Jagodzinksi said. "His lyrics are stripped down and powerful. They hit me like a claw hammer, and they strike at something at my core. I know of few other headlining bands that go for the throat of social issues like Rage does."
And like true revolutionaries do, de la Rocha has the presence and power to command full attention. His words, while maybe falling on some deaf ears, motivate others. For those who are willing to hear the message, Zack speaks loud and clear.
"Other headline bands often ignore the horror of racism, class struggle, war instigating and these ills that surround us all every waking moment. But Rage faces these horrors squarely, calls them for what they are, not worried about what power structures they might offend," Jagodzinski said. "What more could I ask of a band?"
So if Rage doesn't have a lot in common with the genre of music it is classified under, what comparison can be made between the band and the history of music? The answer is no further than the band's liner notes. In the song "Down Rodeo," from the band's 1996 release Evil Empire, Zack cries, "Dem belly full but we hungry," giving props to the king of all music revolutionaries, the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley.
For hardcore fans of the political side of the band, the rhythm and the music is simply the medium that carries the message. While Marley spread his message of rebellion and revolution with his trademark natty dreads and cigar-sized joints ? all cleverly cloaked in upbeat funky Caribbean rhythm and grooves ? Rage has gone for the straightforward, matching power with power featuring tooth-rattling jams with Zack's nose-to-the-grindstone lyrics.
"They have more similarities to Marley's protest songs than to Metallica's ballads of heavy metal masturbation and heartbreak. Marley, Peter Tosh, some of John Lennon's work, and a few others resonate with Zack's philosophy that the power structures on Earth have to be changed to favor the people, and it has to happen now," Jagodzinski added.
Despite the overt message, some fans are oblivious to the band's fervent leftist views. Some would argue this is the apathetic majority that needs to be motivated; a group that needs to find a cause to direct its potent energy toward. But the band can only provide so much impetus. In the end, it is the decision of the individual to decide for what cause, when and where they will unleash his or her passion.
"It ain't Rage's fault if no one takes up the torch. Zack sure as hell can't scream any louder," Jagodzinksi concluded.
Nolen Strals, 21, of Baltimore, Maryland, says he doesn't like the music at all. In fact, he owns none of Rage's records and has never been to a Rage concert. Yet, his passionate leftist views have gravitated him toward the message that Zack's lyrics deliver.
"I learned about the band's politics when their first album came out, and I said, 'Wow, here's a band that's on a major label and they're singing about leftist politics,' and I was very impressed by that," he said.
Strals said he has seen it happen often in the hardcore scene where a band will rally its fans around a particular cause, but never on the massive level Rage is spreading its message. A student at the Maryland Institutional College of Art in Baltimore, Strals is a leftist activist who attended the Jericho rally in 1998 to raise awareness of political prisioners in this country. He said he praises the band's activism, particularly in the cases of Abu Jamal and Peletier.
"I think they're doing something that is very important in that they are trying to get this message out to people who otherwise would not have found out."
Despite being on a major label, a complete no-no in the leftist model of thought, Strals said the band is not a bunch of posers.
"They're totally true to the game," he said. "A lot of people give them shit for being on a major, which is obviously a huge corporate entity, but that's stupid because if they stayed on a smaller indie label, they'd still be reaching people, but if they passed up (being on a major), they'd be hurting their own cause. I buy almost no corporate music because I think most of it is shit, but the message here is more important than the label."
Strals, who owns none of the bands records, has a message for the defiant leftists who look down on the band for their mass marketing strategies.
"I would just say Rage is fucking trying and you're just sitting on you ass and complaining about it. I think it's smart what they're doing. They're using the system against itself. They are exploiting what it has to offer for their own cause," Strals said.
With their incendiary message, Rage Against the Machine, and de la Rocha in particular, attarct a great deal of attention in the U.S. and other countries, including Mexico. The singer is an outspoken supporter of the Zapatistas, a community of Mexicans in the rugged mountain terrain of southern Mexico near the Honduran border. De la Rocha has publicly spoken out against the Mexican government for the slaughter of dozens of Zapatistas after the group sought independence from Mexico, triggering a conflict between the heavily armed Mexican army and the outgunned mountain folk of the region buried deep in foxholes defending their land.
"I think the government is most likely watching them," Strals said. "They probably think (the band's message) is a threat, which hopefully it will be."
Samantha Gwynn, a 24-year-old crime analyst and graduate student in San Diego, California, said she is one of a small number of female Rage fans. She has been to two shows, which she said were both killer productions. Gwynn is an example of the idealistic fan of the band, interested in both the talents of the musicians as well as the message spewing from Zack's lips.
"The music and the message are important, equally. If the message was there but the music was lame, nobody would want to hear it. And if the music was as good and aggressive as it is, but they were just spouting out a bunch of stupid shit like a lot of these joke bands that have come out recently, then I know I wouldn't buy their CDs or go see their shows," she said.
Gwynn said she is definitely in the minority, being a woman at a Rage show, and her experiences at the concerts have been both enlightening and frustrating.
"It is mostly guys, 'cause they go there to mosh and look tough. You can tell who really digs them and gets the message, 'cause they're the ones who know the lyrics and really get into it. Some people will crowd surf or push people around, and they're not even watching the band, which pisses me off. I'm trying to get into it and some asshole has his boot in my face. I'm not saying everyone should stand face forward or anything, 'cause I like to jump and yell and all that, but it would be nice if everyone there really liked and understood them," Gwynn said.
"Zack is fucking incredible, that's about how I would put it. He has more energy than any performer I've ever seen, and he really gets the audience into it. He's not afraid to tell people what the songs are about, and what he thinks," she said.
After listening to the band for five years, Gwynn said she has been able to read de la Rocha's lyrics and apply them to her life. Not that the man is a prophet, but she said there are few people out there willing to take a stand for the underclass, unfortunate and oppressed. By filtering the messages perpetrated by the government and the mass media, Gwynn said Rage's lyrics offer an underground interpretation of situations unfolding around the world.
"I think it basically says that any kind of oppression is wrong, and people should fight back if they can. It exposes a lot of injustices and things that are fucked up about the government, police practices, conspiracies, etc., things you wouldn't hear about anywhere else. I'd say it's effective because it got through to me, I know that much. There are so many things that I didn't realize when I started listening to them, and even now, when I listen to new songs and old songs, I'll go, 'oh, they're talking about the Black Panthers, or sweatshops,' or whatever. Now I can take what they say and think about it even more critically."
Imagine, a band that invokes critical thought. Hmmm?could it be possible that more fans are into the message than the band themselves or the powers that be thought? What would happen then? For all the truths that de la Rocha proclaims in his lyrics and his on-stage speeches, it appears that at least one of them is wrong, figuratively, anyway. In the song, "New Millennium Homes," off the latest album, de la Rocha says, "Hungry people don't stay hungry for long."

Sorry, Zack, millions of your fans are hungry for your message and it doesn't look like there's enough food end that famine.

To be published in part in January 2000 issue of Yellow Rat Bastard