RISE AGAINST ACOUSTIC POP-UP + Q&A

The rock band Rise Against formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1999. The band has put out nine full length albums,the majority debuting in the Billboard top ten. Rise Against is about to release their tenth studio album, Ricochet, on August 15, 2025. Ricochet is the first release in over 10 years where the band decided to work with a different production team, in a different studio. The album is produced by Catherine Marks (Boygenius,Manchester Orchestra) and mixed by Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails,5 Seconds of Summer). 

In between  festivals and dates opening for Papa Roach, the band decided to host intimate acoustic concerts in Berlin, London, and Toronto where fans could ask them questions and they could discuss the new record. On June 26, 2025, Rise Against made a stop in Toronto, Ontario Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) where they partnered with Toronto businesses Dead Dog Records and Blood Brother’s Brewery for the event. 

Fans were greeted by a dimly lit room with a boxing ring in the toward the back, and free non-alcoholic beverages. The event was hosted by Canadian radio personality and music journalist, Lana Gay. As soon as the band arrived on stage, Lana dove right in with questions submitted by the fans beforehand. The band immediately commented about how the traffic compared to their London experience and how they “just showed up to the event” moments before the event started. 

Lead singer Tim Mcllrath reflected on how Toronto and Canada were part of their first tours and how that impacted their early careers as a band. The band stated they still use GarageBand when “doodling” up ideas for the studio.

Bassist Joe Principe, and guitarist Zach Blair, talked about how they are always “tinkering” with ideas and how they eventually come up with ideas for songs just by “messing around.” Zach was also asked if he had any favorite songs of Rise Against before he joined the band and even though he said it was a great question and he had never been asked that question before, he did not have a straight answer.

Everyone joked about how their most popular song, “Savior,” was almost cut from their album Appeal to reason. The band was even asked if Ghost Note Symphonies, Vol. Two would be released at some point and they confirmed the compilation album of symphonic arrangements of their songs is in the works. 

Lana Gay then started asking questions about Rise Against’s upcoming tenth studio album and how the band decided to switch things up with their teams and locations when working on this monumental record. Mcllrath, had this to say about the changes when it came to the new album:

“For me something about hearing like ten ya know. I hadn’t paid attention to six, seven, or eight; but ten was kind of like holy shit we’ve made ten albums. Most of the bands we’re listening to did not make ten albums and I look back with a lot of pride and then with a lot of license to just do whatever and then I look back with awareness,” said McIlrath.“I think we switched a couple of the ingredients that were outside of us. We’re not going to switch the four of us, but we can switch the studio, producer, the tools and the toolbox so let’s make a record.” 

Rise Against dove into how they changed their process by bringing in the singer and songwriter Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra for a song and collaboration. McIlrath stated how he was “curious” to see what someone else would bring to the songwriting table –in past releases Rise Against had put a “barbed wire fence” around the band and their process in order to do their “own thing.” 

Even though McIlrath has worked with other bands on their tracks (such as Alkaline Trio), “Black Crown” is the first collaboration in a Rise Against song. The song was also the hardest to complete due to scheduling because they were determined to have Hull sing on the song as well.

After talking about collaborating with Andy Hull, the band went deeper into their working relationship with producer Catherine Marks. The band reflected on how they were with her the morning she won the Grammy for her work on the most recent Boygenius record. Rise Against reflected on being perfectionists when previously recording, however, whenever they were just practicing for their takes, Catherine Marks would sneakily record them “messing around” and “learning” their songs. Those recordings are what made the final cut of the album, most notably the drums in the album’s title track.

 They also described Catherine Marks as still working on the album even after leaving the studio. She would discuss ideas with Tim as he drove her to her home every night. The band added stating at some point they realized they “work really well with females” and at one point in their career they had a “100% female team” so going to a female producer for this album felt natural to them.

McIlrath stated Marks “just captured them in a way she thought was a cool way to capture them” and that she was “very authentic, honest, and in the moment.” Blair commented saying that Catherine “showed them all up” when showing her dedication into making Ricochet the best album it could be. 

Rise Against opened up about some of the songs on the album such as how “Prizefighter” came together effortlessly and how there is a drill in the last chorus of “Forty Days.” They stated the song “Sink Like a Stone” is about changing the world while also “taking care of yourself” because the band doesn’t “just want you here today,” they “want you here tomorrow and the next day.” 

“Damage is Done” has a guitar riff that Tim has had in the archives since their album Appeal to Reason. The riff was originally entitled “Blizzard Wizard” and when Tim polished it off and turned it into a song, the band was already playing the riff from memory of those early recording sessions over fifteen years earlier. 

“Sink Like a Stone,” “Black Crown,” “Damage is Done” and “Prizefighter” are the top choices to hopefully make it into their live set at some point in the near future.

When asked about the title, Ricochet, and what made that title and song resonate with the album as a whole, Tim stated his hope is that when everyone looks “back on it years later and you were to hear it, you would recognize these songs are from this era of Rise Against, instead of them getting lost in the shuffle of all the eras of Rise Against. And I think if there was a track that sort of personified that the most, it's probably Ricochet.” 

Rise Against are very excited to finally share what they have been working on with the world and you can check out the album Ricochet on August 15th wherever music is sold and at your local record stores