Tim McIlrath - Rise Against 'Music is One of the Few Places We All Co-Exist'

The notion of politically inspired music is to denote a particular portion of time of the highlights (or lowlights) from that particular era. It should serve as a timeless reminder of struggles, revolution and resolution.

Coming out the wake of 9/11 a whole new generation of political Punk took aim at those causing further divide instead of calling for worldwide unity. NOFX churned out the ever classic The War on Errorism, Anti-Flag would go ballistic with The Terror State, and of course the all time Punk Rock-Opera that was American Idiot from Green Day were just partial summaries of troubled times. But for Rise Against, it was just another day. 

The Chicago based Punks that came to the forefront in 2001 with a level of intensity that many lambasted as “Un American” have been a staple in the modern punk scene with a discography that is undisputedly generational. Gearing up for their 10th record, 2025 sees the release of Ricochet, the band's first album since 2021s Nowhere Generation. In an age where songs that started the band's career still have incredible (and almost ironic relevance) how does a band approach a new record thematically after doing it for almost 25 years? 

Fresh from a run of major European festival shows, Wall of Sound were lucky enough to speak to vocalist/guitarist Tim Mcilrath about the band's upcoming record, diving into the connected chaos that shaped its foundations, working outside of their establishment and why politics will always have a place in the music the band creates.

Watch the full interview here or read on for key features...

When asked if Ricochet was approached the same as previous records or if there was more of a direct approach on what there was to cover, Tim had the following to say

“I think that our approach was very similar to previous approaches and then the biggest thing in the formula that we changed was our production team. Like your T-Shirt [Descendents] we’ve made 6 records with Bill Stevenson and ‘The Blasting Room’ and so that is a pretty signature Rise Against Sound. 

The thing we did on this record that was different, we were like, let's switch that up. Let's do what we do but hand the songs over to somebody that doesn’t really know Rise Against.”

With the band now working with Australian born, London based producer Catherine Marks (Boygenius, Wolf Alice, St Vincent) McIlrath would go on to explain why the new approach was something the band wanted most.

“I think it was something about it being our 10th record, this self awareness that we are just four dudes who have been doing this for long enough and we’re pretty set in our ways.

So we were like, that’s not going to change. We’re not going to change our personnel, you know? But, what can we change? 

What that turned into was like 'Oh here, we have a Rise Against song' where instead of people hearing and saying 'Oh this is Rise Against' they’re hearing it and going, Wait. This is Rise Against?'

And that’s a hard thing to do, going into your 10th record.”

With the current day and age of Social Media, there has been a wave of commenters that are instructing bands to “keep politics out of music”. Instead of asking if Politics should be a part of music, we asked Tim why using their platform to raise awareness on these issues is still important.

“I feel like music is one of the few places where we all co-exist together in the same room no matter what side of politics we’re on. And we live in a world where there are fewer and fewer of those places.

That’s something that has been bad for society, that we aren't co-existing in the same places enough. Music is one of those spaces. It’s one of those places that if you get a political band like Rise Against, it's one of those few places where we’re feeling that friction. We can go on about our day very frictionless, we can comfort ourselves with people that agree with us and ideas that we are all on the same page. And that’s cool, that's what the song 'Nod' is about.

But we still need to not forget that there is another side that we need to interact with.” 

And of course, with the country gearing up with festivals and end of year shows, we asked about the touring plans for Australia, to which Tim only had the following to say.

“We had a blast on that Blink run. We are conspiring to get back as we speak. You will see Rise Against on the Ricochet tour in Australia hopefully sooner than later.”

Time will tell if they pop up on any rumoured lineups - looking at you Good Things Fest - until they announce any shows, fans can get all up in their new album Ricochet - out Friday, August 15th via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order/save here

Interview by Cody-James Henderson @Cody_J_Henderson

Rise Against - Ricochet tracklisting

1. Nod
2. I Want It All
3. Ricochet
4. Damage Is Done
5. Us Against The World
6. Black Crown
7. Sink Like A Stone
8. Forty Days
9. State Of Emergency
10. Gold Long Gone
11. Soldier
12. Prizefighter