Credit: Dana KleinRage Against the Machine and Audioslave bassist Tim Commerford's latest project is called Wakrat. The band is a punk and hardcore-influenced trio, and you can watch the group's video for their first single, "Knucklehead," now at RollingStone.com.
"I've been dealing with some very deep, dark family stuff in the last year, stuff that left me in tears," Commerford tells Rolling Stone. "I spent a lot of time crying in the last year and feeling trapped and alone. That's what 'Knucklehead' is about. Sometimes the dark side spawns incredible things, and the music came from that."
Commerford formed Wakrat more than a year ago, and the band is currently working on their debut album. In playing with his new band, Commerford was reminded of his early days with Rage Against the Machine.
"This is the kind of music that I grew up on and always wanted to do," he says. "It's the same feeling as 1991 when Rage Against the Machine first started playing. It felt uncomfortable and doesn't feel right, and I love that feeling. I am enjoying myself right now on a musical level more than I've ever enjoyed myself in my entire career."
Earlier this year, Commerford released his debut album with Future User, an electronic-influenced band with a strong political message. Future User's videos were also very graphic -- one showed Commerford blood doping with Lance Armstrong and another filmed the bassist while he was having actual back surgery.
"There are a lot of Rage fans that didn't really get what I was doing with Future User, but I really feel that they're going to get [Wakrat]," Commerford says. "This is some s*** I have not done before. I haven't played in a band that's this uptempo and punk and furious, but this is me."
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