Roman Morello Puts Out First Music That His Father Had No Involvement in Whatsoever
Roman Morello, son of guitar legend Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame, is so tied to his father’s legacy that, in prepping for this article, I couldn’t find a recent picture of Roman that didn’t have his damn father in it. But now, the younger Morello stepping out of his father’s shadow with a new track. The 13-year-old guitar prodigy, Roman, came to a lot more people’s attention after he recently released the song “Soldier in the Army of Love” with his father, but his first actual single came back in 2021 when Roman teamed up with 11-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell for the environmental anthem “The Children Will Rise Up,” which featured Tom Morello in the video but otherwise had no involvement from the elder Morello as far as I can tell. Well, now Roman is putting out his first collaboration that sees his father nowhere in sight, other than in the influence on Roman’s guitar playing.
Roman Morello released a new single “Bang Away” this past Friday with Japanese drummer Yoyoka. The track was released as a Yoyoka solo single with everyone else listed as a guest artist, and it’s a surprising list of talents including, not just Roman Morello, but vocals and guitar from Cali Three, and bass from Leanne Bowes who is the bass player for Demi Lovato and Hatsune Miku.
Here’s what Yoyoka had to say about the track on Instagram:
“Finally, tomorrow, September 14th, my new song ‘Bang Away’ will be released. (The music video will premiere on YouTube at 8 AM PDT on the same day.) This song is co-written by me and [Cali Three] , featuring the super cool 13-year-old guitarist [Roman Morello] , who is the son of [Tom Morello].
“Talented young guitarist [Taryn Haydu] also contributed to this project, and [Leanne Bowes], who played bass in the initial Hatsune Miku band at Coachella, participated in the recording. In the video, [Gregory Garcia] performed the bass.
“The audio mix for the streaming release was done by [Aki Soma, Yoyoka’s father], while [Tsuru Studio] handled the audio mix for the music video, allowing you to enjoy two different versions. The music video was filmed by [Mykl Mariano]. I can’t wait for everyone to hear this rock song tomorrow!”
It can’t help but be noticed that, with Roman channeling his father’s wah-wah guitar style and Cali Three providing rap vocals, the collaboration bears a slight resemblance to a young Rage Against the Machine. Maybe this group should somehow form a band.
