RISE AGAINST's TIM MCILRATH: 'The Rights Of An Undocumented Immigrant In 2025 Are Connected To Your Rights As Well'

Tim McIlrath — the frontman of punk band RISE AGAINST — recently joined Zach Sang Show in the studio for the first time to give the listeners the scoop on RISE AGAINST's upcoming tenth album, "Ricochet", due out August 15 via Loma Vista.

Formed in the politically charged punk scene of early-2000s Chicago, RISE AGAINST carved a path from gritty basement shows to festival main stages. Their breakthrough came with 2004's "Siren Song Of The Counter Culture", powered by the visceral energy of singles like "Give It All" and the anthemic "Swing Life Away", which earned them mainstream attention without diluting their message. But it was 2008 hits like "Savior" and "Re-Education (Through Labor)" off their fifth LP "Appeal To Reason" that really cemented their rep as a band capable of blending melodic hardcore, fiery activism, and heart.

McIlrath and host Zach Sang discuss all this, plus the making of "Ricochet", RISE AGAINST's decision to switch it up with Grammy-winning producer Catherine Marks (BOYGENIUS, FOALS, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, ST. VINCENT) — a record that was written and recorded before Donald Trump's second term in office and yet seems to perfectly encapsulate the edge and unease we're feeling in these divisive, tense times. McIlrath also opens up about going back to college, being a dad of two grown kids, the Warped Tour, METALLICA and HAWKWIND jigsaw puzzles, the parallels between now and post-9/11 America, mental health, how he and his bandmates are keeping things fresh 25 years in, the story behind "Swing Life Away", and so much more.

Asked why "Ricochet" was the right title for RISE AGAINST's latest collection of songs, Tim said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So it started with a song called 'Ricochet', and then the word ricochet, which I just kind of loved it in and of itself. And I started to think more about the word and I started to think about how it is kind of trafficking in these concepts of how connected we all are. I can pretend in an isolationist way that I am here by myself and my actions are mine and mine alone and the outcome of those actions will only affect me and I want nothing to do with [anybody else in this room]. But you know if I start doing something here in this room, it affects all of us. We're all in this together. We have a responsibility to keep this room operating, to keep it moving forward, to push the rock up the hill. We're in it together. If I start doing something and you start doing something, it creates a chain reaction. And that's kind where the idea of ricochet came from. If I start throwing something around this room, I can't predict where it's gonna end up. I could be doing damage. And then now take yourself outside of this room and now put yourself in the whole city of Los Angeles. We're connected to everybody in L.A. And then that room is also global. We're connected everywhere.

"The rights of an undocumented immigrant in 2025 are connected to your rights as well, whether you are or not," he continued. "It's a connection that is ignored at our peril. And people confuse what it is to rebel. Especially as a band that has thrown the word 'revolution' out a lot in the last 25 years, people confuse what that word means."

McIlrath added: "I come from a punk rock world and a hardcore world where we are against rules and we are against anybody telling us what to do. But I'm not against a stoplight. But someone could argue that stoplight is taking your freedom away from you wanting to just drive… So those are the things that we have to remember. We are citizens. I stop at that stoplight for you, so you can go through, even though it's against my best interest. I'd like to get to where I'm going. I don't wanna wait there… So we're confusing these things where stopping at a stoplight is not impeding on your rights to be who you are. It's asking you to live with other human beings and cohabitate this planet and coexist. And it's okay, because at some point you're gonna get there and it's gonna be a green light. And what a green light means is that someone is stopping for you. And we do this, we coexist, and we live in a world where I think that people are more isolated and they don't think they have to stop at a stoplight, or they think that stopping at a stoplight is 'bowing down to the man'. And it's gotten out of hand, because it's not bowing down to the man… And the way we mess with science now and talking about things like vaccines. We're doing things to protect each other. You don't live in a vacuum. And that's kind of where 'Ricochet' came from. If you start fucking with the room and throwing things around the room, outcomes that you can't predict will happen."

"Ricochet" marks RISE AGAINST's first album in four years, arriving in a world of constant stimuli, where the algorithm wants us all to be angry: like a pile of marbles hit hard and bouncing uncontrollably, continuing to spread further and further. But across these twelve songs, produced by Marks and mixed by Alan Moulder (NINE INCH NAILS, PARAMORE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE KILLERS),RISE AGAINST asks listeners to consider who ultimately benefits from this collective division and displeasure — to look before we leap, to think about the consequences our actions have on each other, as the power structures that prod us remain preserved and protected.

Rooted in unification, "Ricochet" is a record massive in sound, but centered around the small parts of the psyche that lead to the biggest positive change. It all starts with oneself, and on the searing lead single "I Want It All", RISE AGAINST revs the engine and jump-starts a mission of self-determinism that is ardent, ambitious and unapologetic.

"I Want It All" follows recent singles "Nod" — hailed as a "particularly potent rallying cry for the moment" (Rolling Stone),and "the anthem we need right now" (VICE) — as well as "Prizefighter", illustrating the internal battle between making art, maintaining autonomy and meeting the demands of our rapidly-shifting attention span. Throughout the rest of "Ricochet", RISE AGAINST dives deeper into the solace we find in community and the chain reaction of our words and actions – how hurt is not something that can be reversed, and that the fight for a better existence begins not with blind allegiance, but through an unpopular opinion from a minority of voices. While so much of the world is designed to feel like we are in a constant state of emergency, bandmembers Tim McIlrath (lead vocals/guitar),Joe Principe (bass/vocals),Zach Blair (guitar/vocals) and Brandon Barnes (drums) urge us to come together to not simply survive, but to save it now.

McIlrath previously said in a statement: "'Ricochet' is about our collective inter-connectedness. We started with the title track and that being about how we're all — whether we like it or not — stuck in the same room, so to speak. Everything you do is going to affect somebody; everything you throw will affect the next person. We're connected to other countries, other economies; we're connected to undocumented immigrants. We're connected to every decision our leaders make. It's all one big ricochet effect. That idea is the backbone of this album."

In the four years since 2021's "Nowhere Generation", the Chicago band's outspoken messages, bulletproof melodies and deep body of multi-gold and platinum hits have reached more fans than ever, uniting millions in a necessary embrace of vital, progressive issues. Whether they are singing about injustice, instability, environmentalism, animal rights or the way the social and economic decks have been stacked against the youth, RISE AGAINST continues to fill arenas, top charts, break records and earn billions of streams.

This summer, they are back bigger than ever. Having already performed at Los Angeles's Kia Forum and toured across three continents this year, RISE AGAINST return to the road hot on the heels of the album announcement, for an impressive European tour and festival headliner run in June, followed by Vans Warped Tour, and dozens of arena and amphitheatre shows in the U.S.

"Ricochet" track listing:

01. Nod
02. I Want It All
03. Ricochet
04. Damage Is Done
05. Us Against The World
06. Black Crown
07. Sink Like A Stone
08. Forty Days
09. State Of Emergency
10. Gold Long Gone
11. Soldier
12. Prizefighter