I feel that to truly understand Zack's views you must first understand how he was raised and what he was taught to believe in. On January 12th, 1970, a child by the name of Zack de la Rocha was born in Long Beach, California. 1 year after his birth, his parents were legally seperated. His mother lived in an Orange County suburb, named Irvine, an upstanding community. With a docterate in Anthropology, his mother was very well educated and could easily provide for Zack. His father, Beto de la Rocha, was an established artist and a member of the political group "Los Four", which created murals of the Mexican farmer and re-established Chicano history.
In the fateful year of 1983, Zack's father suffered a nervous breakdown due to his excessive religous ideals and he began to make the bible every part of his life. He gave up his art and he and young zack destoyed much of his art work. Zack would often visit for the weekends and would be forced to join in his father's fasting rituals. He would be made to sit in a room with the curtain closed and fast, from friday to the monday that he would return to his mother. It was because of this fasting that Zack lost touch with his Chicano culture, for no longer would he visit his father, and the neighborhood that Zack normally lived in was predominently white.
Zack felt the hearthache of not being able to see his father, but he continued with everyday life. He went on to play guitar for a band known as "Hardstance" and he also participated in vocals for the group. He then went on to form the group "Inside Out" which released one record and shortly therafter broke up. It was at this point in his life when Zack joined "Rage Against the Machine". A group made up of; Zack de la Rocha-vocals/lyrics, Tom Morello-guitars,Tim Commerford-bass, and Brad Wilk-drums. This band has released several albums and is expected to release another shortly.
As Zack was groing up he was surronded by music and it is this music that played a large role in his life. Zack had this to say about his music and the music that influenced him:
