Everything about Tim Mcilrath totally explained
Tim McIlrath (born
November 3,
1979) is the
guitarist and lead
singer for the American
melodic hardcore band
Rise Against.
He is also a
vegetarian, supports
animal rights and actively promotes
PETA with his band.
Biography
Early life
Timothy J. McIlrath was born in 1979 in
Arlington Heights, IL. At a young age he read books such as
1984 by
George Orwell and
Brave New World by
Aldous Huxley, which would influence his later work. As a child in Catholic school, he was taunted for having one brown eye and one blue eye, known as
heterochromia. As an early teenager, all of Tim's friends were into snowboarding, so Tim saved up money until he'd $400 to buy a snowboard. He had his heart set on becoming a snowboarder (even though he'd never snowboarded before), until the day he went to buy one. One day he walked to the snowboard shop, but entered a nearby guitar shop instead. He fell in love with a 1984 cherry red
Gibson SG and bought it for $425.
Baxter
He began his musical career in his teenage years; he was very active in the
Chicago local
alternative rock/
punk scene. His first band was the
post hardcore band
Baxter, formed in 1995 along with future
The Lawrence Arms drummer
Neil Hennessy and future Killing Tree and Holy Roman Empire bassist Geoff Reu.
Their first release was a full length, self released, cassette,
Troy's Bucket, which was released in 1996. Troy's Bucket was met with warm reception from the scene, and Baxter became a popular band in the Chicago underground scene.
Baxter was introduced to the greater Chicago scene as the local opening act for national touring acts like
Good Riddance, Braid,
Hot Water Music,
Slapstick,
Alkaline Trio, and
Strife.
In 1997 they released a 7" EP
Lost Voices on Static Station Records. After some local touring, the band split up.
Tim played bass and sang backup in the first incarnation of
The Honor System. He sang on their demo and on some songs on their debut album
Single File. He and drummer Neil Hennesy could also be found in a brief lineup of the grind band Yellow Road Priest, whose members went on to form Pelican.
Arma Angelus
Tim then joined a
hardcore band called
Arma Angelus (playing bass) with
Pete Wentz (now in
Fall Out Boy). Arma released a full length with Tim on bass and backup vocals entitled
The Grave End of the Shovel before he left the band to focus on The Killing Tree and what would eventually become Rise Against. Arma went on to release their debut full length album
Where Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares on Eulogy records the same year that Rise Against released theirs. After touring around the midwest, Arma Angelus broke up in 2002. Also that year, Will not Clear man Records released the complete discography for Baxter entitled
Baxter.
Rise Against
In 1999 he formed
Rise Against with former 88 Fingers Louie bassist,
Joe Principe, guitarist Dan Precision (A.K.A.
Mr. Precision), and drummer Brandon Barnes. They recorded their debut album
The Unraveling on
Fat Wreck Chords in 2001. He has won several awards for being a great singer.
In 2003 guitarist Mr. Precison left, and
Todd Mohney filled his role. Later that year they released their second album
Revolutions Per Minute which was greeted with warm success and is considered by many to be their best work. They toured the U.S. steadily that year, though by the end of it, Todd left. In order to replace him, former Reach the Sky guitarist Chris Chasse joined in 2004 and they released their
Geffen debut
Siren Song of the Counter Culture.
With the release of the singles "
Give it All", "
Swing Life Away", and "
Life Less Frightening", Rise Against, became more popular with mainstream fans, but still kept their underground sensibility. After more touring (including a European tour and spots on the Vans Warped tour), the band went back to the studio and recorded their fourth album
The Sufferer & the Witness, which included three singles ("
Ready to Fall, ""
Prayer of the Refugee", and "
The Good Left Undone").
They have ended their tour and are back in the studio in the process of making their next album. Tim is also active in a heavier, more hardcore type side-project band called
The Killing Tree along with former Rise Against guitarist
Todd Mohney, though all members use pseudonyms in concern to the band.
As of
May 2008, Rise Against is currently working on a
new album that's expected to be released late 2008/early 2009. According to a
KROQ interview wih McIlrath and Principe, the band has been recording it at The
Blasting Room in
Fort Collins, Colorado with
Bill Stevenson and
Jason Livermore, who produced
Revolutions Per Minute and
The Sufferer & the Witness.
Role in Rise Against
Tim's vocals and word choice often set Rise Against apart from other Hardcore bands. Tim is credited exclusively for the lyrics of all Rise Against songs. His songs usually reflect his liberal political stand point, though his skills as a writer are broad enough to cover other topics as well, such as love, inspiration, and reflection.
He is also a competent guitarist, but didn't start playing guitar for Rise Against until the "
Revolutions Per Minute" writing sessions. This has been more evident in recent years.
Discography
Rise Against
The Killing Tree
Baxter
Troy's Bucket full-length cassette (1996)
Lost Voices... 7" (Static Station Recordings, 1997)
Baxter two-disc CD compilation (Will Not Clear Man, 2002)
Arma Angelus
Things we Don't Like We Destroy (compilation) (2002)
The Grave End of the Shovel
The Honor System
Single File (four song cassette demo only)
PETA work
Tim is a strict vegetarian, as are his fellow bandmembers. They are active with the animal rights group PETA. Tim often takes part in PETA protests and gives out PETA books and flyers at shows. He has given many interviews along with other bands.
The band serves PETA by offering them their time and money.PETA2 // Out There // Top 10 Reasons PETA2 Loves Rise Against
Trivia
Tim has one child, a daughter, named Blythe with his wife, Erin. They live with him in Chicago.
Tim is featured on the song "Denak ez du balio" by Basque alternative rock band Berri Txarrak from their album Libre ©.
Tim sang the rap section of "Let Them Eat War" in Bad Religion's Live At The Palladium DVD
Tim has one blue eye and one brown, known as heterochromia, as he stated in an MTV program which he was featured in.
Tim sings vocals in the Cancer Bats song, Harem of Scorpions. From their 2008 album Hail Destroyer.Further Information
Get more info on 'Tim Mcilrath'.
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