Timothy James McIlrath (born November 3, 1978) is an American
rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
. He is
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
and
straight edge.
Early and personal life
McIlrath was born in 1978 to Jim and Michelle McIlrath. He attended
Rolling Meadows High School in
Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
In college (
Northeastern Illinois University), McIlrath majored in English and Sociology.
In his junior year,
he met
Joe Principe at a
Sick of It All concert. Principe asked McIlrath to sing over a few tracks that he and Dan Wleklinski had recorded.
It was at this time that Transistor Revolt was formed.
McIlrath left college after Transistor Revolt was signed onto
Fat Wreck Chords in 1999.
In the fall of 2020, McIlrath returned to college to finish his Sociology degree.
McIlrath has a condition called
heterochromia, where his left eye is blue and his right eye is hazel.
Music career
Baxter (1995–1999)
McIlrath began his musical career in his teens and was active in the Chicago local
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
scene. His first band was the
post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...
band
Baxter, formed in 1995 along with future
Lawrence Arms drummer
Neil Hennessy and future Killing Tree and
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
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 a warm reception from the scene, and Baxter became a popular band in the Chicago underground scene.
In 1997, they released a 7-inch EP, ''Lost Voices'', on Static Station Records. After some local touring, the band split up.
McIlrath played bass and sang backup in the first incarnation of
the Honor System. He sang one song on their demo. He and drummer Neil Hennesy were also in a brief lineup of the
grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...
band Yellow Road Priest, whose members went on to form
Pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
. The band broke up in 1999.
Arma Angelus (1998–1999)
McIlrath joined the band
Arma Angelus, a Chicago
metalcore
Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
band fronted by
Pete Wentz, who would later be bassist in the
pop punk band
Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...
. McIlrath played bass in the band until 1999 when he quit to form Transistor Revolt, which became
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
, and the Killing Tree.
Rise Against (1999–present)
In 1999, Tim McIlrath formed the band that would become
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
with former
88 Fingers Louie bassist,
Joe Principe, guitarist Dan Precision (A.K.A. Mr. Precision), and drummer Toni Tintari under the name Transistor Revolt. Drummer
Brandon Barnes did not join until 2001; it was at the same time the band was renamed Rise Against. They officially recorded their debut album, ''
The Unraveling'', on
Fat Wreck Chords in 2001.
In 2002 guitarist Mr. Precision left due to arguments with the band, and
Todd Mohney filled his role. Later that year they released their second album, ''
Revolutions per Minute'', which was greeted with warm success. They toured the U.S. steadily that year, though by the end of it, Mohney 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 four singles ("]Ready to Fall
"Ready to Fall" is the first single (music), single by the punk rock band Rise Against from their fourth studio album, ''The Sufferer & The Witness'' (2006).
An acoustic version of this song was performed live on the CJZN Radio station in Victor ...
", " Prayer of the Refugee", " The Good Left Undone", and "Behind Closed Doors").
As of 2021, McIlrath has recorded nine studio albums with Rise Against (''The Unraveling'', ''Revolutions per Minute'', ''Siren Song of the Counter Culture'', '' The Sufferer & the Witness'', '' Appeal to Reason'', '' Endgame'', '' The Black Market'', '' Wolves'' and '' Nowhere Generation''), as well as a compilation album ('' The Ghost Note Symphonies, Vol. 1'') and EP ('' Nowhere Generation II''), and has remained as the main lyricist of the band.
The Killing Tree (1999–2006)
McIlrath has played in his metalcore side project the Killing Tree along with former Rise Against guitarist Todd Mohney and former Baxter and Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
bassist, Geoff Reu. During the early years of the band, all members used pseudonyms (Tim's being James Kaspar) out of concern for it. The Killing Tree has not produced any music or toured since 2004, but contributed their previously unreleased song "Dressed to Fuck" to the 2006 Thick Records compilation album ''Hair: Chicago Punk Cuts'', which featured Emily Schambra (of Holy Roman Empire) on guest vocals on the song. Schambra also contributed backing vocals on Rise Against's album ''The Sufferer & the Witness'' for the songs "The Approaching Curve", "Roadside", and the b-side "But Tonight We Dance".
Activism
When the band first began, McIlrath stated how they weren't seeking to gather such a large audience in their pursuit for originality, and this defined them as the "black sheep" of punk rock. The original goal of the band was only to create music, never seen as a long-term group until the band came to a realization of similar activist beliefs that led McIlrath to describe music as a vessel for change. These beliefs started to get integrated into the music most prominently after the release of ''The Sufferer & The Witness,'' when McIlrath said that he sought to make a difference in the world he lives in as opposed to being one of the bands in the punk/hardcore scene today that are 'tsaying anything important".
Political lyrics
Having not grown up in a political family, McIlrath says that he was never particularly involved until he began playing punk rock. After entering the music scene, though, he began to feel a strong connection towards his convictions, specifically animal and human rights. While not all of Rise Against's material is political, songs such as " Swing Life Away" and " Make It Stop" have risen to prominence as McIlrath seeks to speak to a generation that he believes is lacking conviction towards their world, as explained throughout the storytelling narrative of the band's albums. The band has begun to seek after more politically and socially challenging lyrics as time progresses, responding to current events such as the song " Help Is On The Way" and its use of support for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
.
PETA
McIlrath became a vegetarian at the age of eighteen as a result of his own understanding of the meat-industry as opposed to having it "shoved ..down my throat". The realization of PETA, an animal rights support group, came through the music scene and McIlrath's own realization of the events that occur within meat-processing and inhumane conditions that animals are forced to live in. As time went on, these beliefs got integrated into his lyric writing such as Rise Against video for the single "Ready to Fall
"Ready to Fall" is the first single (music), single by the punk rock band Rise Against from their fourth studio album, ''The Sufferer & The Witness'' (2006).
An acoustic version of this song was performed live on the CJZN Radio station in Victor ...
" contains footage of factory farming, rodeos, and sport hunting, as well as deforestation, melting ice-caps, and forest fires. The group has called the video the most important video they have ever made. In February 2012 the band released a cover of the Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
song " Ballad of Hollis Brown" as part of a benefit for Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
. After the release of the film '' Black Fish'', McIlrath worked with PETA to create a video in support of releasing animals in captivity, exclaiming how "I make a choice every time I go out on stage, I choose to perform. Animals in captivity don't get to make that choice".
Straight edge ideals
McIlrath, along with most of the rest of Rise Against, follows the subculture ideology of " straight edge", a belief that promotes refraining from using alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, in a reaction to the excesses of punk subculture.
Discography
;With Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
*'' Transistor Revolt'' (2000)
*'' The Unraveling'' (2001)
*'' Revolutions per Minute'' (2003)
*'' Siren Song of the Counter Culture'' (2004)
*'' The Sufferer & the Witness'' (2006)
*'' This Is Noise'' (2007)
*'' Appeal to Reason'' (2008)
*'' Endgame'' (2011)
*'' The Black Market'' (2014)
*'' Wolves'' (2017)
*'' The Ghost Note Symphonies, Vol. 1'' (2018)
*'' Nowhere Generation'' (2021)
*'' Nowhere Generation II'' (2022)
;With The Killing Tree
*''Bury Me at Make-Out Creek'' (2000)
*'' The Romance of Helen Trent'' (2002)
*''We Sing Sin'' (2003)
*''Hair: Chicago Punk Cuts'' (compilation, "Dressed to Fuck" only) (2006)
;With Baxter
*'' Troy's Bucket'' full-length cassette (1996)
*''Lost Voices...'' 7-inch (Static Station Recordings, 1997)
*'' Eastman & Evergreen'' (1999)
*'' Baxter'' two-disc CD compilation (Will Not Clear Man, 2003)
;With Arma Angelus
*''The Grave End of the Shovel'' (2001)
*''Things We Don't Like We Destroy'' (compilation) (2002)
;With The Honor System
*'' Single File'' (four song cassette demo only).
;With Flobots
*'' Survival Story'' (" White Flag Warrior") (2010).
;With Awolnation
*''My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers, and Me'' (" Beds Are Burning") (2022).
;With Alkaline Trio
*''I, Pessimist'' (" My Shame Is True") (2013)
;With Anti-Flag
*''The Fight of Our Lives'' (" Lies They Tell Our Children") (2023)
References
External links
*
The Killing Tree's Website
(Hasn't been updated since 2004)
Rise Against's Official Website
The Killing Tree's Website (archived)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlrath, Tim
1978 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American punk rock singers
American heavy metal singers
American punk rock guitarists
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
Northeastern Illinois University alumni
American multi-instrumentalists
American rock songwriters
American agnostics
People from Arlington Heights, Illinois
Guitarists from Illinois
American male guitarists
21st-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American male singers
Rise Against members
Arma Angelus members
Metalcore singers