The Bad Penny (beta)

The expression “bold debut” gets thrown around an awful lot, but debut records don’t come much boldererer than Cocaine Culture’s self-titled LP. Due Friday on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, the tempestuous record is all wrath and fury, leaving nothing standing in its wake. The Bad Penny has the unique privilege of bringing you the record in full today, in streaming form.

In celebration of the stream, we touched base with the band to discuss their filthy foray into full-length-dom.

For a band named Cocaine Culture, your music isn’t particularly speedy. How come you’re married to that moniker?

Ten years ago we were day drunk and walking to the campus liquor store to keep the party rolling, and we started brainstorming band names. Eventually our guitar player said Cocaine Culture. The only reason he gave was that it’s alliteration, and if alliteration is good enough for Stan Lee when he named half his characters it’s good enough for us.

What inspired your shift from alt/shoegaze to black metal/death metal/sludge? (Sounds to me like the transition allowed you to broaden your horizons musically, because the record is both captivatingly explorative yet solidly brutal.)

We decided to go a heavier direction after our previous lead guitar player left the band (amicably, he’s still and always will be in the family) and the remaining guitar player and bassist both came down with hand/ wrist injuries. It was easier for us to fall back on our old metal/hardcore background while pretty much relearning how to play with injuries. We’ve already been discussing pulling more of those influences back in the future though.

Do you find it ironic that shoegaze is all the rage now, so to speak, after you moved away from it?

Fuckin’ yea.

What are you most proud of with this record?

I’m proud that no matter how daunting and/or tedious it gets, all of my guys show up for recording and get it done to the best of their abilities. Doing everything in house can definitely cause some extra frustration, but my guys make everything very smooth and easy.

What did you know for sure what you wanted your first record to be, and what surprised ycu with the final result?

We knew we wanted this full length record to encapsulate our past, present, and future. We wanted this album to be a showcase of everything we can bring to the table so people can see what we bring to the table. This album was meant to be pushed and we submitted this around a whole lot. The final result was everything I wanted and more! The most surprising thing was Mike understanding us and giving us this chance! Forever grateful to have someone take a chance on us and put our album like this! I think I may have surprised him too when I sent the physical copy already rendered in a jacket sleeve with full art but I wanted to show that we believe in ourselves and we just need someone to believe in us. 

What was or were the most nerve-wracking point(s) during the process?

Honestly none. We all came in very prepared. And since we do our own recording, mixing, and mastering, we just had to hit these songs until we got the perfect takes. I’d say trying to get the art right was much more daunting than the actual recording lol.

What was the funniest incident or moment that occurred during the making of the record?

We try to take things in a business sense but to have fun while we do so. So a lot of the time with practice, writing, and recording has little in between breaks where we fuck with each other. Be it our vocalist doing the Barnes’ “EEEEE”, random noises through the mics, changing song titles, random blast beats, and just obnoxious noise. All of which occurred during the entire recording process in a way to bring levity to these situations. 

How did you deal with any anxiety that may have arisen while writing and recording the album?

Well a lot of weed and a lot of small changes to the mix that no one but me notices lol.

To be honest, I don’t really go into songwriting an ep/ album with any expectations, mostly because if the songs are good enough that my guys like them, then they are good enough for me.

What led to your decision to close your record with a live song?

Couple reasons, It’s a favorite song of a local venue owner and we wanted it to be on there for her. Hi, Kayla!

Also just to show that we can go live. I can honestly say I feel like we are a much better live band than recorded band.

For each band member: What is your favorite debut record by a band that isn’t Cocaine Culture?

Drummer says the CKY debut album. Vocalist says Internal Decadence by Spectral Wound. Guitarist says The Opposite of December by Poison the Well. Bassist says None’s self-titled debut. 

Do people give you free coke at your concerts?

That sounds like a cop question, are you a cop? You gotta tell me if your a cop bro 

That’s some wicked rad artwork accompanying the record. Who crafted it?

The original plan/ concept was devised in house, while Moribund did the actual work on it. It came out a bit different than we initially were thinking, but it came out brutal as hell and amazing nonetheless

Preorder Cocaine Cuture ahead of its Friday release date on their Bandcamp page.

Pre-rder Cocaine Culture on their Bandcamp page.

This entry was posted on 05/07/2025 at 7:00 am and is filed under Exclusives, Interviews with tags Cocaine Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.