Tom Morello: The Gibson Interview

Tom Morello: The Gibson Interview

Is it true that a talent show at a homeless shelter helped inspire The Nightwatchman project?

Yes. That was very impactful in the sense of pushing me out of the nest, and making me want to do more than just strum around the fireplace at home. It was a Thanksgiving event at a teen homeless shelter called Covenant House, in Hollywood. Each year they have a talent show and a dinner, and I would go there and emcee. There was a 19-year-old kid there who was really down and out, with a troubled past and a potentially troubled future. He didn’t have a great voice, but he stepped up to the mic and sang as if the soul of everyone in the room was at stake. He obviously just thought, “I’ve got some ideas in my head, and I can put three or four chords together.” What he was doing felt important in a way that a lot of music on the radio doesn’t. I thought, “Man, I really want to get involved in something like that.” It made me want to go out and do this in front of people. more