Axis of Justice | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2002–present |
Labels | Columbia, Serjical Strike, Axis of Justice |
Members | Serj Tankian Tom Morello |
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello in 2002. It was founded "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together." They "aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice." [1] The group has worked for such causes as immigrant rights and death penalty abolition. Its recommended book list includes such authors as Karl Marx, Che Guevara, George Orwell, Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Grant Morrison. [2]
Morello and Serj Tankian of System of a Down are the co-founders of Axis of Justice, a political group whose declared purpose is "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together." They "aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice." [1] The group has worked for such causes as immigrant rights and death penalty abolition. Its recommended book list includes such authors as Karl Marx, Che Guevara, George Orwell, Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Grant Morrison. [2]
In a 2003 interview, Tom Morello remarked that he formed Axis of Justice with Serj Tankian after witnessing some members of the audience at Ozzfest 2002 promoting racist symbols and imagery: "I was sitting there stuck in traffic on my way to the show, and I was really shocked at the number of people who were sporting SS and Klan tattoos. I was like, 'That’s just crazy, this is my music, too'." [3]
In an effort to promote an adamant anti-racist and anti-fascist message, Axis of Justice allied with Anti-Racist Action shortly after its formation. [3] [4]
Axis of Justice tents appeared at music festivals where either Audioslave or System of a Down were playing, as it did at Lollapalooza 2003. The Axis of Justice also puts out a monthly radio show that can be heard on Pacifica Radio station KPFK (90.7 FM) in Los Angeles, California, and on XM Satellite Radio. The shows are archived in MP3 format on the AOJ website and are available as free downloads. They also have a number of books on their website that they recommend to support their views. [5]
In 2004, they released a live album/DVD entitled Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1 . It contains performances by Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, Serj Tankian from System of a Down, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Pete Yorn, Tim Walker, Maynard James Keenan of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, and Wayne Kramer among others. It was recorded during a concert at the Avalon in Los Angeles. The concert was a benefit to raise money for the Axis of Justice and a variety of causes. [6]
On April 6, 2006, Morello was honored with the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award for his support of worker's rights and for his AOJ work. [7] Morello has worked on numerous labor campaigns: the Guess sweatshop boycott, the LA janitors strike, the Taco Bell boycott, the southern California grocery workers strike & lockout, and the Democratic Socialists of America's Starbucks unionization campaign, [8] among others.
Morello was a strong supporter of the 2006 United States immigration reform protests around the US. Morello played as the Nightwatchman at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles and has featured many articles on AOJ. [9] On September 28, 2006, Morello was one of 400 protesters arrested protesting in support of immigrant hotel workers' rights, in what organizers called "the largest act of civil disobedience in the history of Los Angeles". [10] [11]
System of a Down is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of founding members Serj Tankian ; Daron Malakian ; Shavo Odadjian ; along with John Dolmayan (drums), who replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian in 1997.
Serj Tankian is an Armenian-American musician and activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994.
John Dolmayan is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American musician, best known as the drummer of System of a Down. He is also the former drummer for Scars on Broadway. Dolmayan ranked number 33 on Loudwire's list of Top 200 Hard Rock + Metal Drummers of All Time.
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk (drums). Critics first described Audioslave as a combination of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile, it was noted that they had established a separate identity. Their unique sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock and 1990s alternative rock, with musical influences that included 1960s funk, soul and R&B. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, with emphasis on Cornell's wide vocal range and Morello's unconventional guitar solos.
Thomas Baptist Morello is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was also a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Under the moniker the Nightwatchman, Morello released his solo work. Together with Boots Riley, he formed Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK in Los Angeles.
Live & Rare is the first live album and the first compilation of material by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine. Released on CD only in Japan on June 30, 1998 by Sony Music Japan, the album was only available overseas as an import. It comprises "official bootlegs" previously available on other singles as well as a pair of tracks from the band's 1991 demo. In 2018, the album was released on vinyl in the United States and Europe. The album was released digitally for the first time on July 14, 2022.
The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello. Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing apolitical music with Audioslave.
Live in Cuba is the first live DVD from the American rock supergroup Audioslave. Performed in front of an audience of 70,000 people, Live in Cuba is considered an historic event as it marks one of the few times that American musicians were permitted to play in Cuba. Despite the bureaucratic obstacles resulting from the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba, Audioslave received permission to perform in Havana and altered their tour schedule to play a free concert on May 6, 2005. With special approval by U.S. President George W. Bush and Cuban President Fidel Castro, the concert was organized through joint authorization of the United States Department of Treasury and the Cuban Institute of Music. At the time, guitarist Tom Morello declared that Audioslave was the first American rock and roll band to play a concert in Cuba. However, other American musical artists played in Cuba prior to 2005. At the Havana Jam in March 1979, Billy Joel, Stephen Stills, Weather Report, and several other American pop and jazz artists performed at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre. The Fabulous Titans, an American reggae/ska band, performed in Cuba in 1981.
"Calm Like a Bomb" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine from their third album The Battle of Los Angeles. Like their song "Tire Me" from the 1996 album Evil Empire, “Calm Like a Bomb” never had a music video or was released on any media formats. It did, however, receive enough radio airplay to become an album favorite.
"Show Me How to Live" is a song by the American rock supergroup Audioslave. It was released in June 2003 as the third single from their first album, Audioslave, released in 2003. It peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 4 in the Modern Rock Tracks.
Cort Guitars is a South Korean guitar manufacturing company located in Seoul. The company is one of the largest guitar makers in the world, and produces instruments for many other companies. It also has factories in Indonesia and China.
"Revelations" is a song by American rock supergroup Audioslave. It was released in November 2006 as the second and final single from their third album Revelations and also the final single of their career.
Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1 is a live CD/DVD by various artists in support of the Axis of Justice organization.
"Year of tha Boomerang" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It originally appeared in the film and on the soundtrack of Higher Learning in 1994 and was eventually included on their second album Evil Empire (1996). On the back of the soundtrack, the song is called "Year of the Boomerang". Although the track was released as a promotional radio CD single, it was never given a domestic release.
The Rage Against the Machine reunion tour was a concert tour by American rock band Rage Against the Machine that took place from 2007 to 2011. It was the first tour for the band since they broke up in 2000. This tour saw Rage Against the Machine performing live worldwide sporadically for four years, with the exception of 2009, before going back on hiatus; the band would not tour again until 2022.
The Fabled City is the second studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on September 30, 2008.
Lie Lie Live is a digital download EP by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian exclusively on Rhapsody featuring live tracks, and remixes. There is no known promo release of this EP, however Warner Chappell released a promo sampler containing all the remixes in unmastered form.
This is the discography of Tom Morello, an American rock guitarist who is most known for his work with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club and as his folk alter-ego The Nightwatchman. Morello started playing guitar in the mid 80's in the band Electric Sheep together with future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass. After graduating cum laude from Harvard University in 1986 with a BA in political science, he moved to Los Angeles, where he briefly worked as an aide to Senator Alan Cranston. Later Adam Jones moved to L.A. as well; Morello introduced Jones and Maynard James Keenan to Danny Carey, who would come to form the band Tool. In the late 80's Morello was recruited to replace original guitar player Mike Livingston in the rock band Lock Up. In 1989 the band released its only album Something Bitchin' This Way Comes. In 1991, Morello left Lock Up to start a new band. After being impressed by Zack de la Rocha freestyle rapping, he invited him to join. He also recruited Brad Wilk, who had previously auditioned as a drummer for Lock Up. Zack convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to join as the band's bass player.
Dorians is an Armenian rock band founded in June 2008 by Vahagn Gevorgyan. In February 2009 the band participated at the first qualifying round of the international Eurovision Song Contest, which brought popularity to the band.
Jonny Polonsky is an American songwriter, rock guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.