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Olivia Rodrigo Says Rage Against the Machine Is “My Favorite Band Right Now”

Olivia Rodrigo recently revealed how she’s gotten into ’80s new wave bands like Depeche Mode and The Cure, and now, she’s named a more current favorite in Rage Against the Machine.

In a new cover story with Rolling Stone, Rodrigo opened up about some of the influences for her excellent sophomore album, GUTS. While speaking about the opening track, “All-American Bitch,” she credited two bands as inspiration: Babes in Toyland and Rage Against the Machine.

Rodrigo remembered sleeping with a turntable next to her bed at the age of 14 and being awoken by her mom putting on Babes in Toyland’s sophomore album, Fontanelle, which she would listen to while getting dressed. “Rock in that feminine way, that’s just the coolest thing in the world to me,” she said about the Kat Bjelland-led band.

In addition to the punk energy of Babes in Toyland, Rodrigo tapped into the power of Rage Against the Machine for the chorus of “All-American Bitch.” “I have been listening to so much Rage Against the Machine this year,” she told Rolling Stone. “That’s my favorite band right now. I would just play it over and over again on my way to and from the studio.” Though she wants to attend their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in Brooklyn this fall, there’s an “immovable schedule conflict” getting in the way.

But punk and hard rock weren’t the only influences for “All-American Bitch.” Rodrigo found the song’s title in Joan Didion’s collection of essays Slouching Towards Bethlehem. “I think everyone can relate to being put in a box in some sense,” she said about the track. “Something I always grappled with, especially when I was younger, is feeling like I couldn’t be angry or express dissatisfaction or complain for fear of being ungrateful. It was drilled into me, and it caused a lot of problems.”

She continued, “I had all this anger bubbling up inside me — especially when you’re a teenager and you’re confused and you feel like the world is out to get you and you’re so insecure — and I’d have dreams where I was going crazy. I felt like I could never be like that in real life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Rodrigo dug into the topic of wedding songs after learning about Rolling Stone Associate Managing Editor Angie Martoccio’s upcoming nuptials. Having thought about her own choices for years, Rodrigo named Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” Modern English’s “I Melt with You,” and Bright Eyes’ “First Day of My Life” as her current top picks.

When Martoccio mentioned that she was planning on using a Bob Dylan song, Rodrigo apparently teared up and revealed that she named the GUTS cut “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” after “Ballad of a Thin Man” from 1965’s Highway 61 Revisited. The artist also said Blood on the Tracks is one of her favorite Dylan albums. “I’ve wanted to write a song [like] ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’ for so long,” she said. “Legend. He’s so good.”

Check out the full interview at Rolling Stone.

During the promo run for GUTS, Rodrigo previously spoke about attending Depeche Mode and The Cure concerts with her dad and remembered being introduced by her parents to ’90s grunge and early aughts alternative artists like No Doubt, The White Stripes, and Weezer. She also revealed Bruce Springsteen as her “biggest celebrity crush” and said she turned to Jack White, Kathleen Hanna, and St. Vincent as mentors while making GUTS.