Before Russia unleashed its shocking, abhorrent, genocidal and unlawful invasion into Ukraine in February 2022, Bernard Van Isacker – Chief Editor of Side-Line – didn’t have designs on focusing his music publication on current affairs and events per se. “But it did happen,” Isacker, a Belgian citizen, confided in a candid interview with The Bad Penny on Friday, July 17. “I had witnessed something I never imagined … [would be] possible in a democratic country. Tyranny can hit quite close sometimes. You’d never imagine this would be possible in a democratic country, but it happens,” Isacker continued. “And it happened to me. [Not to mention] a lot of crap being published online about myself.”
In response, Isacker spearheaded an initiative to help the people of Ukraine. Specifically, a pay-what-you-want-compilation called United 1 – The Freya Files, a various-artists dark-wave compendium issued by Side-Line. The collection just came out today.The track list is below:
Archive for the Interviews Category
Exclusive: Nightrage Founder and Frontman Marios Iliopoulos, Greek’s Undisputed King of Melodeth, Gives His Most Epic Interview Ever
Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Marios Iliopoulos, melodeth, Nightrage on 07/16/2026 by Kurt OrzeckThe Bad Penny revels in one of our favorite interviews to date: An all-encompassing conversation with Marios Iliopoulos, who founded Greek melodic death metal squad Nightrage in 2000 and has held the throne ever since. The reigning king leaves no stone unturned in providing the ultimate historical account of how heavy metal sowed its roots in Greece and developed there in the decades since.
From revealing previously unshared stories about the growth of extreme heavy metal in Greece to reflecting on past troubles and tribulations that he later vanquished to his staggering prolific output in Nightrage and beyond, Iliopoulos delivers what perhaps could be the greatest interview of his lifetime.
Continue readingRipple Music Prez Details All ‘Beneath the Desert Floor’ Heavy-Psych LPs, Hints at New Fireball Ministry Album
Posted in Interviews, Lists, News with tags 7ZumaZ, Awesome Machine, Datura, Dear Deceased, Fireball Ministry, Glitter Wizard, Place of Skulls, Ripple Music, Rollerball, White Witch Canyon on 06/28/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Earlier this week, we brought you a long-overdue but hugely rewarding interview with Fireball Ministry co-founder and guitar virtuoso Emily Burton. The conversation revolved mostly around the desert-rock band’s big win in regaining the rights to their record The Second Great Awakening, which they then recently reissued in conjunction with their current label, Ripple Music (based in San Ramon, California).
Today, we focus on the series in which the reissue is part of: Beneath the Desert Floor, a program that Ripple Music President/CEO Todd Severin launched in January 2024. Best of all, said discussion revolves around an interview with – can you believe it? – Severin himself. Join us as one of most important figures in the world of heavy psych comments on each installment of the treasured series.
Continue readingFavorite Films: Dez Dare Digs Nicolas Cage, Mia Goth, ‘Moon,’ ‘Midsommar,’ ‘Ex Machina’ (and Puppets)
Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews, Videos with tags Ari Aster, Dez Dare, Ex Machina, Idioxracy, Mia Goth, Moon, Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Ti West, Vampire's Kiss on 06/27/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
As we trudge through an cultural era of moribundity that will hopefully reach a conclusion some day, we rely more heavily on those of us who, while aware of the enshitification of the world, refuse to let it pop their bubble. One of the essential artists who lives his life in this regard is Darren Smallman, who goes by the name Dez Dare when performing his heartwarmingly zany, zest-for-life music with the reckless abandon of someone who refuses to let reality get him down.
Beginning in March, Dez started slipping out one song a month digitally, with the compiled result called These Days Are Wild & Blind and available now on Bandcamp.
Because we’ve interviewed Dez multiple times before about his music, we decided to rope him into our Favorite Films series this time around. Still, we’d be doing both him and you a disservice if we didn’t precede Dez’s film picks with this video for his new song “You Woke Up on My Side of Time.” (Pro tip: Never say no to puppets.)
Built to Spill Bassist Melanie Radford Spent Years on Solo Debut – And Now She’s Already Planning Her Next One
Posted in Interviews with tags Blood Lemon, Built to Spill, Melanie Radford on 06/27/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Yesterday saw the release of Sake of Stillness, the forever-in-the-works debut record by Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford. Its poetic title reflects the care, time and patience the Boise musician put into an exquisite collection made available through Portland, Oregon’s Jealous Butcher Records.
The Bad Penny had never communicated with Radford, who now lives in Seattle and has a second band called Blood Lemon that started in 2018. That is, except for the time we obtained a quote from her in which she commented on Built to Spill’s performance at a Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rally held in neighboring Nampa earlier this year.
So, after seeing Radford perform with various projects at various venues on various occasions over the years, we were revved up to pick her brain and finally get to know her what makes her tick. We had the opportunity to do so on Wednesday, and what follows is the bulk of our conversation.
Continue readingShoegaze Sensation Novulent Lacing Up for First Boise Show Tonight
Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags Babyteeth, Novulent, Whirr on 06/27/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
More and more musicians seem to be playing their first gig in Boise these days, no doubt a sign of the city’s growth (150,000 more people live here now than in 2020). That gives Novulent, an up-and-coming shoegaze musician, an opportunity to convert many attendees into fans – whom the singer/songwriter affectionately refers to as his “novas.” The Bad Penny caught up with Novulent, who hails from Dallas, about playing Boise for the first time, what’s on tap for tonight’s show and which record is the tops.
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Hiya Novulent. I can’t seem to find any indication you’ve played Boise before. Did you decide to come here simply because of routing, or were there other reasons why you chose to grace this city for the first time?
Honestly, I came here ’cause I wanted to explore [new places] this tour. Ninety-nine percent of these stops are in cities I’ve never been to. I’m a shut-in that stays in the house all day, playing with my cats, so [when it comes to] tour, I’m like, “Fuck it, let’s go anywhere.” My novas [fans] are worldwide, so I’m sure they appreciate me coming to their home.
Aside from integrating new material, is your set on this tour gonna be different in any other ways than in tours past?
Mainly songs off Vol. 3, my final Vol album [released in February]. It’s my most underrated work yet – too many sleep on it – so what better way to show it off then touring with it?
Continue readingSteve Albini Didn’t Give a Shit About Tambourines, Toadies Bassist Doni Blair Attests
Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Doni Blair, Local H, Scott Lucas, Sparta, Steve Albini, Toadies on 06/26/2026 by Kurt OrzeckEarlier this month, The Bad Penny caught up with Toadies bassist Doni Blair (who is a very cool dude, wouldn’t ya know) while the band was on tour with fellow ’90s-era alternative rock bands Local H and Sparta. The consummately down-to-earth bassist regaled us with a story about Steve Albini, who engineered the most recent Toadies record (The Charmer) – and that was just one of many jaw-dropping war stories he told in our freewheeling conversation.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Low Co-Founder Foresaw Tyranny Taking Hold in the US a Decade Ago, Widower Alan Sparhawk Says
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags Alan Sparhawk, Low, Mimi Parker, slowcore on 06/25/2026 by Kurt OrzeckAny fan of indie pop worth their salt is familiar with Low, the legendary band that almost single-handedly created the indie subgenre known as “slowcore.” And any music lover who is familiar with Low, which reached its conclusion in 2022 after the heart-wrenching death of co-founder Mimi Parker, knows that her widower husband, Alan Sparhawk, launched the singular project together in 1993.
More than three decades later, Americans are stuck with Donald Trump ambivalently tanking the United States in every conceivable way, as ambivalently as he did with the litany of business ventures he bankrupted and otherwise destroyed over the course of decades. As a result, the (admittedly justified) shouting and anger dominating the public discourse is increasing in volume exponentially.
So what better time to check in with the soft-spoken Sparhawk, arguably one of the greatest musicians of our time who knows the value of, and is an expert in, taking a calm and measured approach to his art and his life. Don’t confuse his demeanor with being content about the state of the country, which is declining so rapidly that comparisons to the fall of the Roman Empire must be taken seriously. In fact, Sparhawk – as we learned when we interviewed him this very morning – is as heartbroken, disappointed and shocked as the vast majority of Americans.
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