| Zack De La Rocha |
Index for Zack |
Website Links For Zack |
Information AboutZack De La Rocha |
|
Zack de la Rocha (born ZacarÃas Manuel de la Rocha, January 12 , 1970 in Long Beach , CA) is the former lead singer of Rage Against The Machine , a politically-inspired band who were highly regarded as one of the most influential rock bands in recent history, having helped pave the way for many of today's bands that fuse rap and hard rock. Early life In 1983 Zack's father, Beto, suffered a nervous breakdown and took his religious ideals to extremes. He destroyed his art and when Zack visited him on the weekends he was forced to fast, sit in a room with the curtains closed and the door locked and help his father destroy his paintings -- paintings which had helped him establish a sense of Chicano identity. After a while, he was unable to cope with this lifestyle and stayed with his mother in Irvine , which at the time had one of the highest percentages of Caucasians in Southern California . Early musical career The lifestyle Beto forced upon Zack brought culture shock upon him as well as an identity crisis. He was alienated from the Chicano community and was an outsider in the California Suburbs where Chicanos were typically only seen doing menial work. In high school he became involved in the Punk and Hardcore scene and played guitar and sang for a Straight Edge band called Hardstance . His interest in bands like the Sex Pistols and Bad Religion turned into an appreciation for other bands like Minor Threat , Bad Brains and The Teen Idles . Zack eventually formed Inside Out , which gained a large following in Huntington Beach and Irvine. They released a single record, '' No Spiritual Surrender '', on Revelation Records in 1990 before breaking up. In Zack's words, Inside Out was "about completely detaching ourselves from society to see ourselves as...as spirits, and not bowing down to a system that sees you as just another pebble on a beach. I channeled all my anger out through that band." Zack's Chicano heritage separated him from the rich, white kids that surrounded him; although he was never economically deprived as his fellow Chicanos, he felt the same tension and rejection as they did. He found himself relating to Hip-hop acts such as Public Enemy , KRS One , and Run-DMC . After Inside Out broke up he embraced hip-hop and began freestyling at local clubs where he met Tom Morello and Brad Wilk . Eventually Zack's friend, Tim Commerford , joined them and Rage Against The Machine was formed. Rage Against the Machine Before long, Rage Against the Machine were on the main stage at Lollapalooza III (1993), and were one of the most politically-charged bands ever to receive extensive airplay from radio and MTV . Zack became one of the most visible champions of left-wing causes around the world fighting for the causes of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal , and supporting the Zapatista movement in Mexico . He even spoke on the floor of the UN , testifying against the US and their treatment of Abu-Jamal. The music and the message were so intertwined for him that he did not consider any of Rage's albums a success unless they provoked tangible political change. Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the USA, but did not result in the political action Zack had hoped for. He became increasingly restless and undertook collaborations with artists like KRS One , Chuck D and Public Enemy . Creative differences In October 2000 , Zack left Rage Against The Machine , due to "creative differences." It is rumored that Tim Commerford 's Stunt at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, where he climbed on one of the fixtures on stage and threatened to jump because RATM had lost the award to Limp Bizkit , was the catalyst for Zack's decision to leave the band. In 2001 , he was recording material on separate occasions with The Roots ' drummer ?uestlove and Company Flow frontman El-P . In 2002 de la Rocha appeared in a minor role on Blackalicious 's Blazing Arrow , on the track "Release." He has yet to release an album, although a collaboration with DJ Shadow , "March of Death," was released free over the Internet in 2003 in protest of the War In Iraq . De la Rocha also worked on an audio track produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails , but according to Reznor, this song will likely never be released, as Reznor stated that Rocha was not comfortable in releasing the material recorded as he believed "it wasn't good enough." Zack has largely remained out of the public eye ever since the breakup. His most recent appearances have been on the '' Songs And Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 '' soundtrack (with the track " We Want It All ") and Saul Williams ' self-titled album in 2004 . Rumors of an impending solo album persist, though little real evidence of such a project exists. Trivia
External links |