Tim McIlrath, singer/guitarist of Chicago punks Rise Against, has long since distinguished himself as one of the most important voices in rock. For over 20 years and counting, subjects such as school shootings and gay teen suicide have all found expression in his unflinching lyrics, alongside political broadsides, meditations on climate change and much more besides. Yet ahead of the band – completed by bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Zach Blair – releasing their stunning ninth outing, Nowhere Generation, Tim would like to clarify one thing. The image some people may have of him as a rhetoric-venting frontman intent on bending your worldview to his own? That’s not what he’s really about. “When you listen to Rise Against songs on a new reco...
