When the band first began, McIlrath explains how they weren't seeking to gather such a large audience in their pursuit for originality and social justice that defined them as the "black sheep" of punk-rock [REF].
McIlrath, along with most of the rest of Rise Against, follow the subculture ideology of "straight edge," a belief that promotes refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, in a reaction to the excesses of punk subculture.