We can’t help being this way. It’s not a choice and it has never made life any easier, especially during the teenage years. There is one thing that is certain for anyone who was born with Punk Rock in their hearts: If you’re not old enough to drink, then you’re going to miss some shows. Kids are the lifeblood of the punk scene, and nobody relates more to the feelings of angst and being outcast then the mohawked teen that has dirty looks and pencil erasers thrown at their back as they walk down their high school hallways. That is why Rise Against have made it band policy to do all ages shows. “Nothing makes me feel worse than if I get an email from a 16 year old kid that says, listen, your band has changed my life and I’ve been waiting for two years for you to come to my town, and now I can’t go,” says Tim McIlrath, an admitted punk rocker and lead singer of the Chicago quartet, “Punk rock, or at least the brand of punk rock that we do, it’s designed to speak to a younger audience. Our hope is to get these songs out to people who can relate to them at a time in their life when they’re sort of figuring out who they are and are trying to identify with something out there. The songs that we have are so relevant to younger people, and that’s my attempt in all the lyric writing is to try to relate to somebody else my own experiences in hopes that they might not feel so alone in their experiences. So, excluding them from the show makes no sense at all.”
Rise Against rose up out of the windy city, home to a strong all age’s scene, after becoming fed up with the negative, woe-is-me attitude that runs through punk music today. “I think there is a way to be pissed off but still be hopeful,” explains McIlrath, “Our songs are hopefully motivating people to think about different issues, or change or social awareness. It’s just how you channel the anger.” Determined to shine some positive light on the punk world McIlrath teamed up with ex-88 Fingers Louie axe-man Joe Principe. The two were test driving drummers for a while, until they were stopped in their tracks by Brandon Barnes, formerly of Denver’s Pinhead Circus. In March 2004, as the band sat down with Gggarth Richardson here in Vancouver to record Siren Song of the Counter Culture, they were completed by guitarist Chris Chasse, formerly of Reach For The Sky.
Since then the band has been touring constantly, which can begin to take its toll on any one; even someone that eats healthy and doesn’t drink. And especially on a singer like McIlrath who gives it all every show with one of the strongest screams in the business. “It’s definitely tiring, it’s exhausting, and some days are better then others,” says McIlrath softly. He is trying to give his vocal chords some rest, as this interview was conducted in between two sold out shows at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom where they are playing with “brothers from another country,” canuck rockers Alexisonfire. “But that’s what we’ve decided to do with our lives, even though touring is hard and it’s long, and it drives you insane and pushes you to the edge; at the same time it’s hard to complain because I just played for 1000 kids an hour ago and it was an amazing experience that I never take for granted. The fact that we can do music for a living, that’s something I don’t take for granted. Even at its worst, it is hard to complain about it.”
Doing two shows obviously makes the day much longer and harder, but if thats what it takes to give the fans a choice between an all-ages matinee or a beer-soaked evening gig, then so be 
it. As nearly all of the bands shows are all-ages, save for exceptions like today, McIlrath and company are probably a little rusty on their bottle dodging skills, but he isn’t worried. “I think where you get the different vibe is when you play the age restricted shows, like tonight, will be a different vibe,” says McIlrath, “When you get an older crowd, there are people who don’t spend a lot of time at the front anymore, they kind of hang out at the back which is understandable, but the people at the front make the show, they make it happen.”
If McIlrath could have his way, he’d be sneaking every kid he possibly could through the back door tonight, because he knows that a missed show is the hardest to forget. “Canada has an acoustic artist, Hayden, I was a big fan and he played a 21 and over show with Juliana Hatfield at the Double Door in Chicago,” reminisces McIlrath, “I remember going to the show and finding him, meeting him, and begging him to let me in. I was like 18 or 19 at the time, and I was like you gotta let me in. He said I can’t let you in, I’m sorry, and now playing in a band I understand that you just can’t let people in, especially if you’re serving alcohol, because it’s just such a risk. I can’t just sneak kids in, which is a bad thing, but that’s why we do all ages.”
Hayden and Alexisonfire are not the only Canadian exports McIlrath enjoys. “I’m a big fan of Adbusters, I don’t have any affiliation with them at all, but I am definitely a big fan of what they do,” says McIlrath of the Vancouver mag. There is a link on his bands website to the Adbusters inspired T.V Turnoff week campaign. “Our website is simply a tool to spread stuff like that, and to get exposure for things like that. Obviously T.V Turnoff is a great campaign, whether they’re actually participating in it or not, just to get people to think about the role of television in your life. It plays such a huge role, and too big a role in a lot of people’s lives. And if people could spend a week with a book or hang out with their friends or family, or taking a walk, then you could really discover how you spend your time and where it could be spent.” So turn off the boob-tube and bring the wife and kids down to an all-ages punk show.
Mere hours away from the show, McIlrath is thinking more about food than he is about the sold out show he has coming up. But that’s not a problem because the Commodore is on one of his favorite streets in the world -Granville- where there are “veggie hot dogs everywhere you go, which is so awesome. We just don’t have that in the states… I don’t know what it is.” But thinking too much about the show may cause McIlrath to lose his appetite, and the way that Rise Against plays live, he is going to need some nourishment. “The less I think about it, the better I am. If there is a long break before we go on stage, then you start over thinking it, but if you go out there and just do it, and be the most open and honest person you can be, then that’s what works. I always try to maximize my time up there, and there is so much I want to say and so little time to say it. And obviously you want to get some songs in there. If I talk to long, then we can’t fit all the songs in. We don’t have any pre show rituals that go on. I mean I warm my voice up for 20-25 minutes before every show. I wear the same clothes every show, which are these disgusting, disgusting clothes that you wouldn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, and that’s about it.”
