Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian have teamed up alongside Morello‘s 15-year-old son, Roman Morello, to release a new collaborative track titled “ADJOURN IT“. In a newly released video, the trio broke down the creative process and the real-world events that drove the creation of the protest song.
Tom Morello explained that the project stems from his decades-long musical and political relationship with Tankian, combined with creative inspiration found directly at home.
“What inspired us to create the song together, the ‘ADJOURN IT‘ song together, were two things. One is my longstanding relationship with Serj. We’ve worked on a number of songs through the years, played many shows together through the years, have had political organizations together. Also, Roman Morello‘s my kid, and so he’s trapped at home, and I steal his riffs to make songs all the time, as I have done with the song ‘ADJOURN IT‘,” he said.
Roman Morello, who penned the track’s driving guitar riff, expressed his excitement about contributing to a project with a heavy social message after gaining a clearer understanding of his father’s career.
“When he first showed me the song, I was, like, ‘Wait a second. That kind of sounds familiar. Where’d you get that riff?’ And it turns out he stole it from my voice memos on my computer. But it’s just an honor to be part of this project. And with the political message, I think they said it great. And it’s just really great to be part of this.”
“Back when I was littler, I didn’t really know what my dad did for work,” Roman added. “When I first actually saw the effect that he had on people and the effect that he had on music, I really started to take inspiration from him and really research into what he does and learn what he’s done in the past and the political messages that he conveys to millions of people around the world.”
The motivation behind the single was directly sparked by aggressive immigration enforcement tactics observed in Southern California, prompting the musicians to respond through their art.
“The idea to create a song like this came up during the DHS and ICE raids in Los Angeles, when the streets of L.A. were being terrorized by Gestapo-like tactics, people combing through the neighborhoods, businesses having to shut down, children being abducted from school — an absolute reign of terror on our city. And I thought, ‘We have to do what we can while we can with what we can.’ And with us, that’s making music,” Morello stated.
Tankian emphasized the need for artists to address systemic issues and administrative crackdowns on families, noting the widespread trauma caused by the enforcement strategies.
“Like [Tom] said, we’ve done a lot of songs together, a lot of projects, and been friends for a long time. And this disturbed all of us. It’s still disturbing all of us, the kind of tactics that have been used by the administration in cracking down on families, separating families, and children without parents. I mean, I read that there’s 27,000 children whose parents have been deported. And it’s really a trauma for this country. And we have to learn how to deal with these things the right way. We have to learn how to stand up to fascism in the right way. And so this is a great way for us to do. This is what we do. We do music,” Serj said.
For the Morello family, social activism has always been closely intertwined with daily life. Tom Morello pointed out that both Roman and his brother Rhoads grew up attending demonstrations, making political music a natural evolution, while also praising his son’s innate musical instincts.
“Roman has been going to protests with his brother Rhoads and our family since they were very, very little. It’s been a part of the fabric of our lives. It’s just sort of what we do. And so it’s very natural that it should come into our music as well.”
“One thing I will say about Roman here is he is a tremendously talented guitar player,” Morello added. “He started playing during the pandemic. I didn’t start playing until I was 17 years old. He started playing at — what? — eight or nine, something like that, and really advanced quickly. He’s got a natural ability. I had to fight hard for every scrap of it. He seems to be able to do it very, very naturally. But the thing that was the big surprise was he was able to write riffs that felt like they had the Morello DNA in them, but they’re not riffs that I would have thought of. So it’s like having a great bandmate who you kind of go, like, ‘That’s a kick-a** riff. It sounds kind of like something I should’ve thought of.’ And that was very much the case with — the main riff in the song ‘ADJOURN IT‘ is one that was written by Roman Morello.”
The accompanying music video integrates archival clips from the 1954 independent film “Salt of the Earth“. The blacklisted Hollywood production, which focuses on the true story of Mexican-American zinc miners striking against exploitation and institutional oppression, serves to reinforce the song’s core themes of solidarity and resistance.
All three musicians involved in the new track are scheduled to perform live at the upcoming “Power To The People” festival, curated by Tom Morello. The event will take place on October 3, 2026, at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
The festival lineup features high-profile acts including Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, and Dave Matthews. While officially billed as a “non-partisan celebration of peace, justice, solidarity, music, and community action”, the gathering serves as counterprogramming to MAGA-aligned live events organized by the current U.S. administration, featuring a robust roster of artists who have vocally opposed the policies of Donald Trump.
Both Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen have actively participated in protests against policies enacted under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously directed public criticism toward Bruce Springsteen.
In addition to the musical performances, the venue will host a “Freedom Village” to provide a platform for various advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations. A portion of the proceeds from all VIP ticket sales will be directed to Headcount and VoteRiders, two organizations dedicated to assisting voters with registration and navigating the U.S. voting process.
Tom Morello is currently launching a summer 2026 European solo tour, which includes high-profile festival appearances at the Sweden Rock Festival, Rock im Park, Rock am Ring, and more.
