science

Tim Commerford

Tim Commerford is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tim Commerford rather than just read about it. In short: Timothy Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the rap rock band Rage Against the Machine and the supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, respectively, he has also been the lead singer and bassist of the bands Future User and Wakrat.

Key takeaways

Tim Commerford belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tim Commerford to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tim Commerford from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Timothy Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the rap rock band Rage Against the Machine and the supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, respectively, he has also been the lead singer and bassist of the bands Future User and Wakrat. He was ranked eighth on Paste magazine's list of "20 Underrated Bass Guitarists" in 2014.

Early life Commerford was born on February 26, 1968, in Irvine, California. Growing up, he was a fan of Rush, Gene Simmons, Sid Vicious, Steve Harris, and Geddy Lee.

Career

Audioslave (2001–2007)

After de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, music producer Rick Rubin suggested the three remaining members of Rage get together with then-former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, and "see what happens". The newly formed Audioslave later released their eponymous debut album in November 2002, which would attain triple platinum status.

Future User, Wakrat and 7D7D (2014–present) Commerford co-founded the band Future User, together with Jordan Tarlow (keys), Jon Knox (drums) and producer Brendan O'Brien (guitars). Commerford plays bass and is the vocalist of the band. Commerford hid several months under the S.W.I.M persona on the first music videos, before unmasking himself in the "Mountain Lion" video. The "Mountain Lion" video featured road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, a close friend of Commerford, while a skateboarding Commerford appears to inject himself with a steroid.

In 2015, he formed "punk and hardcore-influenced band", named Wakrat. The band also features drummer Mathias Wakrat and guitarist Laurent Grangeon. The band debuted their first single, "Knucklehead", in September 2015. In 2022, Commerford launched a new project, 7D7D, with Mathias Wakrat and Jonny Polonsky. The group debuted their first single, "Capitalism", in November.

Other contributions Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk contributed to Maynard James Keenan's side project Puscifer and his album "V" Is for Vagina on the track "Momma Sed". Both have taken part in the production of Dave Grohl's 2013 Sound City soundtrack, with the track "Time Slowing Down". In 2010, Commerford was interviewed and appeared in the documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.

Personal life In 2001, Commerford married his longtime girlfriend, Aleece Dimas. They have two sons together. In November 2018, the couple announced they were divorcing, finalizing their divorce five years later in 2024. Commerford is a self-described "conspiracy theorist". In a Rolling Stone interview in 2015, he claimed that the Moon landing was faked and he confronted Buzz Aldrin about it at a John Cusack movie premiere. In the same interview, Commerford also stated that he does not believe ISIS is real and cast doubt upon the ISIS beheading videos:

They're not real. They're high-def. They have a soundtrack. The parts of those videos that you couldn't fake are edited out. At first, I thought it was edited out by our government so our kids wouldn't be seeing it on the Internet, but no. That's the way those videos came. The knife starts to cut the neck, and then it fades out. There's too much stuff that doesn't look real. They've edited out the parts that would be too hard to fake. We created Jihadi John and ISIS so we can go drop bombs. In December 2022, Commerford revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier in the year, and had undergone surgery prior to going on tour with Rage Against the Machine that summer.

Artistry

Technique Commerford plays bass with his fingers and prefers not to use a pick, explaining, "I don't play with a pick at all. Chris Squire is the only pick player that I like. I don't even consider using a pick on the bass as bass playing; that's more like playing guitar on the bass. But (Squire) had that that kind of pick/thumb together that made this just unbelievable sound. Like 'Roundabout,' the bass sound on that is still one of my favorite bass sounds of all time, just the tone of it. But fingers are the only way to fly for me, man."

Equipment Commerford has been using various Music Man StingRay basses since 2016, a brand he has liked since his beginnings with Rage Against The Machine. MusicMan released several custom Artist Series basses in 2021 and 2024. He previously used Fender Jazz Basses with Fender Precision Bass necks and Lakland basses.

Discography

References

External links

Tim Commerford discography at Discogs Official Facebook page

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tim Commerford

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tim Commerford claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tim Commerford before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tim Commerford ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tim Commerford

In research: Tim Commerford appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tim Commerford in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tim Commerford is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1968 births, 20th-century American bass guitarists, 21st-century American bass guitarists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tim Commerford outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tim Commerford in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tim Commerford means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tim Commerford out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tim Commerford in simple terms?

Why does Tim Commerford matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tim Commerford?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tim Commerford.