Rock's axis of activism

What are your thoughts about George W. Bush now?

Tankian: He doesn't deserve to be there. Most of the people voted for another guy.

Morello: It's immaterial who is there because of the amount of compromise it takes for one to maintain the seat of power. Whether it's Bush or Gore is not that big of a difference. [They] are beholden to their [funders]. God rest Sen. Cranston -- he was a nice guy, but he would be on the phone every waking moment asking rich guys for money. At the end of the day, yes, you want to save the desert, but those phone calls don't come for free.

So you would argue for further campaign finance reform?

Morello: It will never happen. I'm a firm believer in the adage that if voting mattered, they'd make it illegal. If it really mattered, if it would change the balance of power, the polls would be closed.

Would you agree with Ralph Nader's philosophy, about what he calls the two-party duopoly?

Morello: Absolutely, but I'm about 15 degrees to the left of Ralph. Who wants Gore to be president? I believe progressive change doesn't come that way. There's a long and obvious history of what makes change, and that is average people standing up to power.

Do you ever get resigned, as if it's futile?

Morello: Not at all. That's why we're doing what we're doing. Each day with each breath, you try to do the right thing. Axis of Justice is about organizing this mass of intelligent, energetic, alienated and often pissed-off group of people who can make a big difference.

Tankian: I think there's always hope and possibility of changing things. It only takes a small 1 percent of a focused public to make any historic change in reality. I don't even mean a fully active 1 percent. Do you think the French Revolution took 90 percent? A lot has to do with timing and focused energy and people that can visualize things and make things happen.

Are the rest of your band members as compelled toward social and political matters as you are?

Morello: Probably not, but I don't think that lessens the participation and support. Some band members may be uncomfortable with questions about union organizing in Guatemala. So with the Axis of Justice, a separate entity, we can sort of separate it out from the band, and the band can just support Axis.

Tankian: My band is not very involved. They're aware of the issues. They completely back it up and go with it. But I represent the political stuff. Everyone has what they spend their time doing. This one is my realm.

It seems that most bands these days shy away from making political statements with their music. Do you think there are bands out there who will help your message proliferate?

Morello: Absolutely. There are many artists who express strong political viewpoints who are not at the top of the Billboard charts. Rage Against the Machine was an anomaly, like the Clash or Public Enemy, and a number of others who are short-lived. But that is not something I overanalyze. The silent majority of rock bands are looking for a way to plug in. And Axis is a way to divorce a band's mundane business from the politics.

What politicized you?

Morello: I've always been political. My mom was involved in civil rights causes, and my dad was a Mau Mau. The [Mau Mau freedom fighters] were the Kenyans that led the rebellion against the British in East Africa. I integrated the small, white town of Libertyville early on and then worked for Sen. Cranston as his scheduling secretary while playing in rock bands at night.

Tankian: For me, the Armenian genocide was the firecracker -- seeing the injustice behind it and discovering the whole industrial reasons for it not being accepted by America and Turkey. I say industrial reasons because that's what they are. They're profit motives. Post-World War I, when Turkey was defeated, America, Britain and the other powers that defeated Turkey went over, and there were supposed to be borders for Armenia. All of the war criminals from Turkey that perpetrated the genocide were incriminated by the world court at the time, the international court. They were given sentences and all that, but all those people never served their sentences and were allowed to reenter the government, because the Ottoman Empire owned what is now known as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It brokered some deals with the West for a lot of oil rights. In lieu of that, they looked away from the Armenian genocide.

Would you relate these "industrial" reasons to what goes on in other conflicts such as Israel and Palestine?

Tankian: Everything in American foreign policy is profit-based. But not even for the benefit of the American people, only for a few companies that don't even consider themselves American, that would cut American jobs in a second to go hire 10,000 people in a Third World country, then put up the [American] flag. They're not doing the American people any justice. Neither is the administration, especially not the CIA and some of its operatives.

Do you think that artists have a social responsibility?

Tankian: No. The only reason people think they have responsibility is if they're open enough to reflect on what's already in the universe. Everyone has that ability, not just artists. If there were no feelings of change and disappointment and everything going on at the time, if that mood wasn't already in the air, the artists wouldn't reflect that. They wouldn't have been the spokespeople for the '60s revolution. They would not be in the forefront.

We're all instruments, tools of the universe. I don't "have" anything; whatever music I create doesn't belong to me really. In my belief, the artists are just speaking the message that is just moving through them. Artists don't create anything that isn't already in the universe. I do believe in talent and working and developing your skills to be able to deliver in a nicer way. But again, the message isn't purely from the artist, although most artists don't recognize that.

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