Archive for the Interviews Category

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On Tyranny: Emo-Rap Pioneer Calculus Was ‘Scared’ to Cover Politics; Now He’s Liberated With New LP (Exclusive)

Posted in Exclusives, Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

​”I was at the forefront of emo rap in the early 2000s,” the artist who goes by the name “The Calculus” told The Bad Penny in a video interview conducted Friday. “Now I feel like that music’s narcissistic. It was so self-important and ‘woe is me.’ But it was still a personal story. Race has always been underlying in all my work. My experience in being brown, having a Hindu family, growing up in South Orange County … I don’t think there’s a single non-white person on my whole residential street.”

After many periods of reflection and deliberation, The Calculus went through a transformation resulting in him wanting to focus more on the world around him – and political matters in particular, as they now infiltrate every aspect of our lives.

“I came to realize that anything is right or left,” he continued. “It’s all division and distraction from looking at people that are hoarding money while everyone’s suffering. We have a guillotine, it’s time to start chopping heads. Things need to be changed from up top in order for things to start getting better.”

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On Tyranny: Frontman for Hardcore Heroes Angel Du$t Says ‘Brown People Are Being Ripped From Their Families and Sent Off God Knows Where. It’s a Really Dark Time.’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Some bands – especially hypocritical ones that refer to themselves as “punk” or “hardcore” – have the audacity to blaspheme those traditions by lamely copping out with “we don’t do politics” as an excuse.

Baltimore’s Angel Du$t – who would burn retinas if they were any hotter right now – are not one of those cowardly bands.

In the latest edition of On Tyranny (published without that header on Post-Punk), we interviewed Justice Tripp – the band’s mainstay member and lead vocalist – who does not mince words. Ever.

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Maria BC’s Marathon Tour of the US Comes to a Close; Talks Trump in Unreleased Interview

Posted in Interviews, News with tags , , , on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Deliberately or not, Maria BC broadened their horizons and engaged with the world in a way the artist hadn’t done before with Marathon, an album that teems with more sincerity and human emotion than the past two releases. Those records were certainly noteworthy, but Marathon felt like a truer work of art in that it recognized, if not empathized — an action that is actually very difficult to accomplish, even though marketing companies recklessly overuse and thus distort its meaning — with Americans and the hardships they are currently experiencing.

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Exclusive Video Premiere: Be Decent’s ‘Come Sweetly’

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, Videos with tags , on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Last month, we had the distinct pleasure to exclusively premiere a new video by Be Decent, an instructively named neo-ska quartet from Brooklyn, in anticipation of the September 18 release date for their debut record, Now’s the Time. That video was for another instructively titled song, “You Better Work.”

Well, lightning does indeed strike twice, as we’re getting double the pleasure and double the fun with a second exclusive video premiere, this time for another prized selection from Now’s the Time: “Come Sweetly.”

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Ty Segall Pitched an ‘Insane’ Musical Tragicomedy About a Clown to Tim Heidecker, but It Didn’t Fly

Posted in Interviews with tags , , on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Prolific garage rocker Ty Segall unpacks his collaborative new LP Chrome, a record distinct in that it features him performing with a fresh new band featuring another one of today’s most revered garage-rock revivalists, Mikal Cronin.

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On Tyranny: Think Your Band Has It Rough? Meet Ukraine’s Season of Melancholy, Staying United Amid Russia’s Bombardment of Kiev

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Some bands break up after it’s discovered that the bassist slept with the guitarist’s girlfriend. Some bands break up because the drummer wants to go in more of a doom director, whereas the lead guitarist is intransigent over the group staying true to its thrash roots.

Season of Melancholy – who hail from Kyiv, Ukraine – aren’t breaking up anytime soon, even though when The Bad Penny caught up with them on Saturday, Russia had rained hellfire on their environs with bombs. The smoke was still clearing when three members of the group, which refers to themselves as “romantic metal,” caught up with us to talk about music, war, brotherhood, unity, strength, courage and survival. We’re not talking any of that Pete Hegseth bullshit about “real men” and “high-T”: The musicians who comprise Season of Melancholy are braver than everyone watching this video put together.

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The Visionaries: Norway’s Heave Blood & Die Will Choke You Into Submission With ‘Burnout & Codes’

Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags on 08/23/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

The goal of this interview was to ask as many factually incorrect questions, and yours truly succeeded. But Norway post-punk shoegazers Heave Blood & Die took it all in stride, probably due to the adrenaline rush they were still feeling after the recent deluxe release of their first album “Burnout Codes.” Enjoy this charming, low-key conversation with Heave Blood & Die guitarist/vocalist Karl Løftingsmo Pedersen and kayboadist Marie Sofie Langeland Mikkelsen.

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Pet Sounds #91: A Member of Indie-Rock Squad Morning Line Has a Dog Who Is (Named After) a Drummer

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , on 08/22/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Veteran San Francisco Bay Area indie-rockers The Morning Line recently signed to Big Stir Records earlier this week, the label announced Thursday – and wouldn’t you know it, they already have a new studio record spick-and-span for release on September 18. Big Stir are good people, so The Bad Penny quickly jumped on the opportunity to interview frontman Stephen Smith hours after the signing was announced.

We’ll bring you our feature on The Morning Line’s new album, Stars, closer to its release date, but in the meantime, we’ll tide you over with the latest edition of our long-running series Pet Sounds, for which the band surely qualifies. Smith has Dot, a small, 4-year-old black mutt he refers to as a “Teacup Wolfhound” (more on that later). Drummer Peter Craft owns a 6-year-old half-boxer/half-pit called Levon. And guitarist Brian Mello has a 13-year-old cat whose breed is a Korat (a breed from Thailand) and whose name is Dr. Zira.

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Favorite Films: Daedric’s Kristyn Hope Digs ‘Godzilla,’ ‘Companion,’ ‘Halloween,’ Rob Schneider ‘Comedy’

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 08/22/2026 by Kurt Orzeck


When we recently caught up with alt/metal frontwoman Kristyn Hope of Deadric to inquire about her favorite films, she responded immediately: “To give you a bit of background, I grew up on VHSs. We had about 200 movies and I’d watch the same ones over and over and over. It was very unhealthy.”

Sounds like a true movie aficionado to us.

She continued: “So anyway, my list of favorite movies is largely based on the ones we had. Because I grew up pretty poor, we didn’t rent movies often. I would go to the) library and get the free movies – you know, like C-level movies.

The proof of Hope’s testimony can be found in the ensuing rundown of her favorite flicks of all time;

Godzilla (1998)

The 1998 version of Godzilla was one of my favorites. I know it shouldn’t even count as a Godzilla movie, but it was the only monster movie I had [available to watch at home]. And I was so into monsters. The idea of a giant kaiju was so cool to me. It was just such an interesting creature. Also, the CGI – for the time – was good.

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On Tyranny: King Youngblood Frontman and Black & Loud Music Fest Co-Founder Cameron Lavi-Jones Says Musicians Don’t ‘Understand How Much Power They Have’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , on 08/22/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

It’s more evident now than ever: Musicians are at a crossroads. Do they pursue their art, even if it means shedding part of their fanbase that doesn’t agree with their belief in free speech and other American ideals? Or do they try to “stay out of politics,” which is no longer possible in a country where financial hardship, ICE raids and the suppression of dissenters occurs on a daily basis and on a widespread level?

There’s no ambiguity when it comes to King Youngblood and their frontman, Cameron Lavi-Jones. He has chosen to be on the right side of history, is speaking out vociferously about his decision and doing whatever he possibly can to get other artists onboard. As the co-founder of Black & Loud, a festival taking place in Seattle and Portland on August 29 and 30, respectively, Lavi-Jones is expanding his reach to preach and proselytize to a grand scale.

The tagline for the event, which will feature performances by the Neville Brothers and many more, is: “In a world where independent music festivals are struggling, Black & Loud finds its footing and takes the Forefront.”

The Bad Penny could not be proud to present you with our conversation with Lavi-Jones, which we conducted over email a couple of days ago.

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