Now THIS is how you rock the vote! Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller was back at the voting booth this week, dropping his ballot for the 2022 midterm election, but while he was doing so he was sporting a long-sleeve Soulfly T-shirt.
The photo made its way to the members of Soulfly, who posted the image of Keller, stating, “Albuquerque’s Mayor Tim Keller sporting his Soulfly gear while voting yesterday! Rock the vote!”
Keller, who has been Albuquerque’s mayor since 2017, is definitely a member of the Soulfly tribe, having previously hung out with the band during their 2021 stop in Albuquerque and posing for a photo on board their tour bus.
The Mayor’s metal fandom has often been on display, with Keller once photographed wearing a Pantera Christmas sweater while signing a bill in 2018 and rocking a Machine Head hoodie while voting back in 2020. He’s also introduced several metal acts as they’ve made their way through the New Mexico city, previously hanging with Testament, Trivium and more.
In our 2018 interview with Keller, the Mayor spoke about how his metal fandom has informed his politics. “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,” said Keller. “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 metal bands were suspicious of him being a politician, he explained, “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.”
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