Held outside the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, a rally in 2022 reunited two former members of a disbanded rock act and set the wheels in motion for a new project to revive their partnership.
“We ended up at a protest together after Roe v. Wade was overturned,” said guitarist Khadejhia Kassenbrock, who stood in solidarity with singer Carrie Rapaport and countless others at the gathering.
There was live music at the protest, including a cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” The iconic metal group’s songs have resonated with both Rapaport and Kassenbrock for years, but hearing that one in particular against the backdrop of a pro-choice rally struck a chord with the duo.
“Shortly after, Carrie messaged me [saying], ‘I think I’m putting together an all-female Rage Against the Machine tribute. Would you want to be my Morello?’” Kassenbrock recalled. “I said, ‘Absolutely.’ Tom Morello has always been one of my favorite guitarists, and that sounded like a really cool idea.”
The pair later recruited bassist Caroline Juhasz and drummer Marisa Testa to rage with them. The quartet became Babes Against the Machine and plays multiple gigs a year in various cities. Some of the tribute’s upcoming shows include local stints in both Lompoc and Morro Bay, on Sept. 27 and 28, respectively.
The group picks songs that span all four of Rage Against the Machine’s studio albums, from familiar favorites to deep cuts, while dishing out “winks and nods that only real hard-core Rage fans might get,” Rapaport said.
The cover they consistently play at their shows is the song that brought them together, of course.
“It’s undeniable. The effect [“Killing in the Name”] has on people,” Rapaport said. “The fact that you can tell that song means so much to [fans] and takes them back to wherever it was when they either first heard it, or something about their lives where that song just really resonated, really clicked in, and they lose themselves in that moment. … The passion is just tangible. It just goes through the crowd.”
Another essential anthem most attendees of a Babes Against the Machine performance can expect to hear is “Freedom,” Kassenbrock said.
“It’s just a very meaningful song for both of us, for all of us, I’d say. We always have to include that in the set list,” the guitarist said. “I feel like we really get a collective kind of rage going between the audience and us, and just being so frustrated with the way that this country is run.”
Rapaport agreed with Kassenbrock that there’s something palpable in the air at the tribute band’s concerts that correlates with current events and attests to how universal and timeless Rage Against the Machine’s music remains.
“The fact that it’s an election year is getting a lot of people riled up, regardless of which party you vote for,” Rapaport said. “There are a lot of people that are frustrated and … looking for something to be released, and music has always been for both Khadejhia and I a huge catharsis, a way for us to channel energy.”
Channel your thoughts with Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 19-29, 2024.