We spoke to Tim McIlrath just before Rise Against headed Down Under to help kick off Rockstar Taste of Chaos in Australia. Check it out below!

It's rare that you find a band who will thank music for giving them more than a record deal and some magazine covers, but Rise Against's Tim McIlrath is an exception to the norm. Passionate about today's political climate and animal rights in particular, McIlrath actively encourages his fans to seek out information and to be educated – something music brought him as a teenager.

"Even before the band was around, I wanted to get the message out there. I grew up going to shows in Chicago and the Chicago hardcore scene was really great at incorporating more than your average elements into show. It wasn't pay $5 and see a show, be entertained, buy a t-shirt and walk out. There was always something more going on.

"If you went back to the table to buy a CD or t-shirt, you wouldn't just find a CD or t-shirt, but you'd find literature on all kinds of different thing. Most of it was simply information that wasn't being reperesented in mainstream media."

The effect this influence had on McIlrath is undeniable. "I'm vegetarian simply because someone in a band decided to bring PETA along to a show or PETA decided to come to a show and that's how I got that information. I didn't get it from school. I didn't get it from television. I got it from shows.

"Now I'm in a position to disseminate that information and am in a band that has the power to bring people on tour with us, and set up a table and pass out information and have an audience of 1000 people each night. It's a really unique opportunity that I'm happy to be a part of and get people thinking."

Rise Against further try to educate with their video clip for single 'Ready To Fall'. A graphic expose of the animal cruelty and environmental destruction prevalent in the world today, the clip was uncomfortable, confronting and thought provoking. Not something you'd expect a homogenised MTV to play. "But the played it a lot!" McIlrath points out. "When you make a video, someone is basically saying: 'You've got three minutes to say anything you want, you can do anything you want and it will be seen by a lot of people.'

"What goes on in the animal industry is graphic, it is extreme, it's gross, it's offensive, you know what I mean? We're not going to airbrush this and tell you that the meat you eat comes from somewhere beautiful and that the animals are happy to die for it. We wanted to present it as it is: it's a disgusting and controversial industry."

"We didn't get a lot of negative feedback about the video. People would scoff at it and go on with their lives, but for the most part there was a lot of support. It was met with much greater approval than I thought which was really encouraging."

It's a message Rise Against will deliver to their fans this October as take up a headlining spot on Rockstar-- Taste of Chaos – their second stint on the tour Down Under. "We had so much fun on that tour," McIlrath enthuses. "We were happy to get this invitation, and to not only get it, but to go back down there and get bumped up a notch on the slot. I think we played first or second last time.

"It's such a great way to tour. Every morning you woke up and met in the lobby, you'd get into a shuttle bus and it was full of 30-50 people who were all on the same tour with you. It's like a tour group of misfits."

Last in Australia in December for a string of headlining shows, it's no secret which type of touring McIlrath prefers. "Touring international you don't get to travel with that big a group, so a lot of the time it can be a very lonely tour as you're the only American and you're constantly going to restaurants and getting screwed because of your accent and whatever else happens when you're an American travelling overseas."

The inaugural tour saw industry legend and tour creator Kevin Lyman set the experience as he came along for the ride. "Kevin made sure we had fun together," McIlrath agrees. "He made it more than just show, sleep, wake up, travel, show, sleep, wake up, travel. We got to do a whole bunch of cool stuff and see a bit of the country."

While it may have been a ball the first time around, this year's event promises to exceed expectations. Rise Against's return Down Under will kind of be like a family reunion. "WiL from Aiden is a good friend of mine, so I look forward to hanging out with him. The Bled are a really good, heavy band and The Used are a great band. I'm looking forward to getting back there.

"I've heard a lot about Gallows. I keep hearing that they're a The Bronx meets Against! Me type of thing. I look forward to seeing if they live up to the hype."

When I speak with McIlrath Rise Against have just wound up a tour with The Bronx - leaders in live music today. Rise Against fans should be thankful, however, as the tour helped Rise Against lift their game, as McIlrath promises they'll return to Australia better than ever this October.

"It was hard to match The Bronx on stage – that's why I looked forward to that tour so much! When I grew up skateboarding, if you skated with somebody who was just as good as you, you just stayed the same. But if you went skating with someone that was better than you, you got better."

And did they come out better? "I think we came out better. They raised the bar as far as live performances go, and I knew we had to go out there and we couldn't just phone it in. We had no choice but to go out there and deliver every single night."