Rise Against‘s Tim McIlrath went back to school last year, and he recently explained how taking a midterm exam made him more nervous than opening for Metallica in front of thousands.
That’s how the vocalist and guitarist put it to Alternative Soundcheck in an interview in October. Rise Against supported Metallica during the second night (Oct. 10) of this year’s Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, Calif., where Metallica performed two different nights.
Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.
McIlrath says, “On Sunday night, this was just a few days ago, we opened for Metallica in Sacramento in front of 40,000 people. On Wednesday night, which was last night, I did a midterm in statistics and probability, and I will tell you I was absolutely more nervous last night ahead of that midterm than I was going on stage in front of 40,000 people — I was stressing so hard.”
But that’s not the only emotional juxtaposition that resulted from the rocker’s reignited academic pursuit. He also had to work out the timetable of being a rock star who takes college tests.
McIlrath illustrates, “I was just looking at my schedule, and I’ve got a test scheduled for the same night we play a show here in Chicago. So I’m already trying to figure out what I’m gonna tell this professor for why I can’t be there for the test.”
Amid the first days of the pandemic, McIlrath went back to school for an interdisciplinary degree, he told Kerrang last year, “so that way I can kind of pick from the whole buffet.”
He added, “But it’s mostly philosophy and sociology and political science. … It was something that I’d always thought about doing, but that time never came. And then all of a sudden, this year happens and the lights go out, and it’s like, ‘OK, it’s now or never!'”
Last month, Rise Against released the Nowhere Sessions EP. It followed the band’s ninth studio album that emerged in June, Nowhere Generation. They’ll be on tour next year.
See McIlrath’s Metallica comparison at 2:30 in the clip below.
Alternative Soundcheck’s Casey McCabe talks with Tim of Rise Against about attending college, being back on tour, new song ‘Talking to Ourselves’ and the best place for deep dish.
Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath Appears on Alternative Soundcheck – Oct. 14, 2021
Tim McIlrath on Loudwire Nights – April 2, 2021
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