“I’ve been relegated to being the rhythm guitar player in my family”: Tom Morello on making music with his son

Tom Morello has been talking about his upcoming solo album and how his new single Soldier In The Army Of Love is a collaboration with his son, Roman, who’s all of 13.

In an interview with NME, Morello revealed that Roman is a veritable chip off the old block. “During the pandemic, while the rest of us were baking bread and trying to learn a language, he was practicing guitar for eight hours a day. I’ve been relegated to being the rhythm guitar player in my family as I have a shredding prodigy now who’s giving me a run for my money.”

“One day I was walking by his room and these huge drop-D riffs were coming out of there and I said ‘What’s that’ and he said ‘Oh, I’ve just been working on some riffs, do you think these go well together?’. I was like ‘Son. Those go very well together and we’re about to write our first song together.’

The result is Solder In The Army Of Love. Morello though wouldn’t be drawn over who played what on the single: “It’s got huge Morello riffs from multi-generations and a shredding guitar solo where you have to guess which one of us played.”

It’s not the first time the young man has be heard on record though. In 2021 Morello and son – then aged just 11 - teamed up with multi instrumentalist sensation Nandi Bushell to release the eco-protest single The Children Will Rise Up. Last year online footage also emerged of him shredding Ozzy Osbourne’s Mr Crowley accompanied by Jack Black on vocals.

He also talked about how the new album will be a return to “straight up” rock n’ roll: “Often in the past I’ve had a real preconceived notion of the album that I wanted to make, whether it was a group album with Rage, Audioslave or Prophets of Rage, a folk album with The Night Watchmen or a collaborative record with Atlas Underworld.

"With this, I didn’t have a preconceived notion, I was just letting the music lead the way and the songs that I was writing with Roman were like heavy rock songs.

“It felt like it was time for me to make this album. I’ve made rock records that were hip-hop, rock records that were alternative, rock records that had an EDM influence, but this is the first straight-up rock and roll record with my name on it.”

Although Morello has released records with his name on before – most notably the Atlas Underworld series - the album, when it arrives, will, essentially, be his solo debut. There’s no news yet on a release date or a title. In the meantime, Soldier In The Army Of Love drops on June 28.