Slaves to the rock

Perched on a chair in the dingy bowels of Dublin’s Point Theatre, Tim Commerford – bassist with Audioslave, formerly of the mighty Rage Against The Machine – is explaining in impassioned tones why his new favourite band is his own.

“I’m not sick of the record,” he beams, almost charmed by the novelty. “That’s something I used to go through with Rage a lot – we used to make records and go out and play ‘em, and it wouldn’t be long after we made them before I’d go, ‘I can’t listen to that fucking record anymore cos it sounds like shit.’ But I still love the Audioslave record. It’s beautiful, it’s different, with a vocal that… I just want to sing along. I think the vocal melodies on our record stand on their own – he (former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell) could sing them a cappella and I’d be into it.”

Audioslave is the product of two and a half years’ hard graft. Following the departure of Rage vocalist Zach de la Rocha in late 2000, remaining bandmembers Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk teamed up with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell at the suggestion of producer Rick Rubin. However, management strife, name changes and drug addiction dogged the band’s early months, with Cornell announcing he was leaving in March 2002, before the band had even released a single.

“He was the first guy who we seriously thought we could be in a band with,” recalls Tim. “Then the first day we met him, we wrote the song ‘Light My Way’. That was during a time when Chris wasn’t in the best spot in his life when he was in need of help (Cornell entered rehab shortly after – Ed). I decided in my mind that he could be saved by the rock, I truly believed that. And he has been.”

In September of the same year, Cornell rejoined the group, the band assumed the name Audioslave, and released their eponymous debut two months later. Seasoned as they may be, Commerford is adamant that Audioslave are just as determined to make an impact on rock music now as they were in their previous incarnations.

“I definitely have that competitive edge,” he says. “I’ve channeled my competitiveness into music and that’s where I get it out. I’m not a big lover of all different bands. I feel like the band that I’m in is my favourite band, no doubt about it.

“Who am I in competition with? With everyone! Like, if we were playing a gig and other bands were on the bill, they’d be the ones that I’d be in direct competition with. When I hear other bands on the radio and stuff, I feel like those bands are the other teams. It’s friendly, but it’s real and I can’t deny it. I feel like what we’re doing right now is a sort of a sport and, like, when I step out of here and go into the dressing room it’s not too unlike going into the locker room before a game. It’s the same kind of pumped-up thing.”

This attitude is mirrored in the band’s approach to record sales.

“In the charts in America, we’re about to surpass any Rage album. When we made Rage records, we sold 2 million copies. That was the way it worked. Over time they’ve sold more, but during the time when we were a band, it was 2 million each. Now, with Audioslave, we’re right there. As far as I’m concerned, the minute we go to 2 million and one record, we’re bigger than Rage. With Soundgarden, it was 3 million records. I had this conversation with Chris once and he was like, ‘Well, we’re definitely gonna break 2 million, because we’ve got to break 3 million.’ We’re going to keep at it until Audioslave is bigger than Soundgarden or Rage.”