Audioslave striking a political chord

Audioslave are (left to right) Brad Wilk, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello and Tim Commerford.

It's a comforting thought to know that Tom Morello was no child prodigy. The Audioslave axeman was 17 when he first picked up a guitar. Not so comforting is that he practised eight hours a day at the same time as studying for an honours degree at Harvard.

"It was an obsessive-compulsive disorder," he says lightheartedly, while in Auckland to talk about the band's third album, Revelations.

"Regardless of illness or an exam that day or a job or social life, none of that mattered. It was all about playing the guitar."

It's still all about the guitar. Revelations boasts some serious fretwork, whether on the Earth Wind and Fire-style funk of the first single, Original Fire, the powerhouse riffs of the title track, or the Wagnerian metal monster Moth.

Morello uses just about every guitar-playing technique imaginable. On Jewel of the Summertime, his instrument sounds like an angry kid.

Although he's charismatic - "the only one in the band who likes talking to people," he laughs - Morello was an angry kid. He suspects that's what drove him to the "insane" workload he imposed on himself.

"I think it was a way to overcome the fact that I've always felt like the outsider. I was the black kid in an all-white town, I was the only anarchist in a conservative high school, I was the only heavy-metal musician in an Ivy League university.

"Socially, I wasn't so adjusted. But with the guitar I had total control. With this piece of wood and these six wires and my determination, I could express myself, I could feel creative, I could feel growth in a way that was very controllable. I'm a very controlling person."

Morello's contradictory traits of control and rage continued to thrive in Rage Against the Machine, with his venomous riffs on classic tracks like Killing in the Name and Bullet in the Head, and through the band's stance against corporate America, cultural imperialism and government oppression.

Rage performed outside the 2000 Democratic national convention, went naked at Lollapalooza to protest against censorship, and inadvertently shut down the New York Stock Exchange when Michael Moore directed their music video Sleep Now in the Fire.

Eventually, the band experienced their own political problems and split.

Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk went on to form Audioslave, with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell. It was an exciting time, says Morello, but he found he was the only one with a dedicated political agenda. His bandmates were "very, very, different people", particularly Cornell, the brooding rock star cum restaurateur who has since got over his drug and alcohol addiction. He's now living in Paris and has two babies.

So Morello and System of a Down's Serj Tankian started Axis of Justice - a non-profit political organisation dedicated to "sticking it to the man" - in which Morello performs as a solo folk musician as the Nightwatchman.

Earlier this month they held a benefit concert for Leonard Peltier, a man imprisoned for 30 years for murder despite debate over his guilt and the fairness of his trial.

"If the union calls me up and they need me to play in Washington DC or Auckland I just pick up my acoustic guitar and go and sing my songs of bitterness and retribution in the name of the people," Morello says.

"Artistically, too, it's been a real turning-point. I'd come off these big arena tours with Audioslave very confident, never nervous.

"We'd rock every night and I'd come home to open-mic night in Hollywood with 50 people and someone making cappuccinos in the background and I'd be nervous as hell, really terrified."

That he is particularly incensed by the gulf between rich and poor makes it all the more tricky when posed with the question of his tremendous wealth. "Yeah, we don't give it back," he says. "The way I look at it is, as long as there's a lower class, I'm in it. As long as there are people standing up for the oppressed, I'll stand shoulder to shoulder with them, period. I would do this free. I love it.

"What does make a difference is being able to look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day. Have you stood by what you believe?"

You'd expect he might have mellowed with age but Morello has always disagreed with the line in a Clash song: "You grow up and you calm down".

"Not me," he says. "I'm angrier now than when I was 17."

LOWDOWN

* Who: Audioslave

* Superpowers: Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden), Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford (formerly of Rage Against the Machine)

* Releases: Audioslave (2002), Out of Exile (2005), Revelations (2006)

* Trivia: Morello calls himself "the hard rock policeman" of the band.