Tim Commerford on Rage Against the Machine’s Breakup: “I Don’t Know… I’m the Bass Player”

Don’t ask Tim Commerford about the status of Rage Against the Machine: “I don’t know. I don’t get involved in that. I’m the bass player,” he told Rolling Stone in a new interview.

Earlier this year, drummer Brad Wilk announced that Rage Against the Machine would “not be touring or playing live again,” effectively signaling the end of the band. “I am sorry for those of you who have been waiting for this to happen,” Wilk wrote in an Instagram post on January 3rd. “I really wish it was…”

Until now, RATM’s other three members had not addressed Wilk’s proclamation; in the case of Commerford, it was because he had nothing to add.

Asked by Rolling Stone if RATM is indeed over, Commerford responded, “I don’t know. I don’t get involved in that. I’m the bass player. I just wait for someone to tell me what to do. Brad said what he said, but he’s one step above me. He’s in the number three spot. I am the low man on the totem pole. That’s all I can tell you. I’m the bass player. The bass players always are the last people to find out about shit like that.”

As such, Commerford also isn’t closing the door on future Rage Against the Machine activities: “When the Rage light gets shined up in the clouds, like the Bat-Signal that Batman would see and would know that he had to go do some shit…that’s how I live it. And that feels the best for me. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been able to really remove myself from it and be like, ‘Yeah, I live off the grid.’ And that in itself is enough.”

For now, though, Commerford and his RATM bandmates have their attention elsewhere. Commerford told Rolling Stone that Wilk just had a new baby, while frontman Zack de la Rocha is still recovering from the Achilles injury he sustained during the band’s 2022 reunion tour.

As for Commerford, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020 and, though his numbers are good, he remains vigilant. “When you have prostate cancer, they test your PSA [Prostate-Specific Antigen] level. I’m at a zero right now. But I get tested every three months. I’m going to be really stressed before the next test,” he explained.

He also continues to release music with his project 7D7D, which features drummer Mathias Wakrat and guitarist Jonny Polonsky.