It’s Election Day and the politicians are the rock stars of the day. But one politician, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, made sure to show a little love to some true rock stars, rocking a Machine Head hoodie as he cast his vote on Tuesday (Nov. 3).
Keller posted a series of photos as he prepared to vote along with a link to “Vote Bernco,” a nod to the city’s county of residence, Bernalillo County. But it didn’t take long for eagle eyed fans to spot Keller’s attire.
In fact, Machine Head’s Robb Flynn took notice, posting Keller’s tweet with the comment, “Shout out to Mayor Tim Keller of Albuquerque for flying the MH colors while voting!!”
Keller’s metal fandom is no passing thing, having previously taken the time to introduce Anthrax and Trivium when they rolled through the Duke City.
In our own interview with Keller back in 2018, the mayor told us that being a metal fan has informed his politics. He explained, “For me, actually, it’s played a significant role in terms of a couple of things. One, just the notion of challenging the system, I think, is fundamentally metal and also fundamental to the reason why I’m even in public service, in politics. I’ve always tended to be a little bit of a maverick and not someone who fits in a particular political arena. Bands that are somewhat more political than others, like Sepultura or even System of a Down, has taught me to be my own person and not take the status quo as acceptable.”
When asked if bands have been skeptical of his metal fandom, Keller added, “Rebelling against politics is kind of fundamental to metal. But when people have a conversation and realize that you’re actually a real metal fan, they really think it’s cool. But I do think some of them, they Google me, they do a little spot check to see if there’s something that they don’t like. But with a lot of them, I’ve been to several of their shows before. So it’s easy to be like, “Oh man, I saw you guys two years ago, what a great set,” and that kind of thing. Then they know you’re legitimate. So I think once they realize that you’re an authentic dude, it’s cool. So they just wanna screen for that first.”
Speaking on his own journey toward heavier music, Keller stated, “There was this journey that I think a lot of people my age went through where I started when I was really young, like first and second grade with Bon Jovi and Europe. They’re not metal, but they’re kind of radio-friendly hard rock. And then I got sucked into [Motley] Crue and Poison and the glam era when I was in middle school. Then Guns N Roses exploded and then so did grunge and then Metallica. Those three things culminated in early high school where I fell in love with Pantera. And Pantera was a gateway into all sorts of metal subgenres. So I have to give them credit. They’re the ones who took me all the way down the metal path. But the introductory bands were GNR and, of course, Metallica.”
See Machine Head in the 66 Best Metal Songs of the 21st Century