Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello Reminisces on Their Early Days (20 Years Ago!): Competition with Tool and Listening to Nirvana, Ice Cube and Soundgarden

Andrew Youssef/OC Weekly

​Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine's guitarist, continues the LA Rising video series with a heavy dose of nostalgia: he talks about the beginnings of Rage Against the Machine 20 years ago in a small rehearsal space in San Fernando Valley, in August 1991.

When they started making the music that would become the first Rage Against the Machine record, he said, "we had no idea anyone would hear these songs...I was just happy to be in a room with guys getting off on playing this heavy, roaring, hip-hop, punk riff rocking music.

We really thought that given the lyrical content and ethnic makeup and the genre smashup of the band, there was no home for it. There was certainly no home for it on radio, on record labels, indie or otherwise, and certainly no place for it in clubs."

He goes on to talk about their relationship with Tool and the grunge bands of the era, plus how they developed their sound. Watch it after the jump.