Archive for the Interviews Category

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On Tyranny: Nequient Vocalist Links America’s Current Catastrophes to Obama Haters’ ‘Deep-Seated Racial Animosity’ After He Was Elected President

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 05/03/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Fans of grindcore no doubt are aware that Nequient – arguably Chicago’s greatest contribution to the subgenre – just spat out their third LP two Fridays ago on Nefarious Industries. One of the main themes on the nine-track Avarice fits in comfortably with The Bad Penny‘s ongoing On Tyranny series.

Vocalist Jason Kolkey shows no restraint in lambasting the greedy oligarchs who are stridently, shamelessly and soullessly puppet-mastering the U.S. economy into incalculable and perhaps unsalvageable economic ruin, particularly during Donald Trump’s fascist reign. It’s difficult which is more terrifying, Nequient’s unforgivable brutality or the nauseating avarice of the top 1 percent richest individuals in America.

Kolkey generously carved out some time late last week to elaborate on his highly charged and completely coherent positions with The Bad Penny. Dude knows what he’s talking about … Kolkey earned a PhD in English from Loyola University Chicago, and works as an independent scholar and writer when not declaring war on his vocal cords (and the ultra-wealthy) as the frontman of Nequient.

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New Zealand Band Dreamweb’s Dream of Making Experimental Metal Is Coming True

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 05/02/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Split Enz. Crowded House. The Feelers. The Chills. Over the past 50 years, New Zealand has cultivated many bands that achieved an impressive amount of international success – especially for a country with only 5.3 million residents. Now, there’s a new contender from the island country, Dreamweb, that is seeking to join the ranks of those aforementioned titans.

Based in Wellington, Ian Moir and his partner, Tyley Burkin, formed Dreamweb in 2025 as band of the experimental noise/drone variety. But as the couple delved deeper and explored the possibilities of Dreamweb, they gradually incorporated hearty amounts of atmospheric doom and black metal.

Dreamweb kindly reached out to The Bad Penny around the time they released their debut single, “Call of the Void,” in mid-March. For metalheads, the song title might call to mind Denver’s now-defunct metalcore band Call of the Void or perhaps even death/doom-metal band Call ov the Void from Mexico. That is, until one listens to the New Zealand duo. Their sound is far more experimental, adventurous and diverse than those other two acts.

(Moir and Burki generously posted their single as a pay-what-you-want offering on their Bandcamp page.)

While we had a very pleasant chat with Moir, Dreamweb gifted us with something very, very cool: An exclusive conversation between the two bandmates that touches on pretty much everything you need to know about their band. Instead of presenting you with The Bad Penny‘s interview with Moir, we decided to defer to this rich exchange between him and Burkin.

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Merry Brigade’s Joe Love Took Tips From Soundgarden, David Foster Wallace for His Aspiring (and Inspiring) New Band

Posted in Interviews, The Visionaries, Videos with tags , , , on 05/02/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Earlier this week, The Bad Penny caught up with Joe Love, vocalist/guitarist of brand-new, badass Boston band Merry Brigade, who freshen up grunge-era alt-rock with a modern sound. The quartet — which also features Dave Holmes (guitar/backing vocals), Kevin Delprete (bass) and Ben Chase (drummer) — self-released their debut EP, DDD, in mid-March. After taking that first step, Merry Brigade are moving full-steam ahead, with their first full-length slated to come out later this year and a second LP — which the band is already toiling away at — poised to materialize in 2027.

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White Denim Aiming to Put Out New Punk LP ‘Sooner Than Later’

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 04/26/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

White Denim’s James Petralli talks celebrating 20 years of the band, maintaining a positive outlook, and more ahead of the release of his 13th album, 13. Read my full feature on FLOOD.

Photo credit: Charlie Weinmann

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On Tyranny: Silver Jews and Lambchop Collaborator William Tyler Takes a Fierce Stand Against Fascism

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , on 04/08/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“The real deal” is a phrase that gets bandied about often – excessively and sloppily so when it comes to singer/songwriters. But listen to Nashville musician William Tyler say five words, and you’ll immediately identify his Achilles’ heel: bullshit. Tyler has no reason to bloviate when he’s spent so much of his decorated career recording and touring with a litany of other sacrilegiously overlooked yet irrefutably talented musicians of the indie-folk, Americana and cosmic country varities. Tyler had membership in Silver Jews and Lambchop, made a record five years ago with Marissa Anderson, and counts Bonnie “Prince” Billy as one of his multitudinous collaborators.

Over the course of his three-decade career, the immediately disarming and infectiously kind Tyler’s list of credits runs longer than one featured at the end of a Sergio Leone film. And yet occasions in which Tyler overtly tackles topical issues or shares his beliefs about politics and the like are rare. Which is why The Bad Penny took note of Tyler’s participation in a recent compilation co-produced by indie filmmaker Rick Alverson called Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers. A description accompanying the Western Vinyl release stated: “Passages is both an acknowledgement of work in progress and an invitation to do more. Our representatives need to see us. Our families need to hear from us. Our neighbors and local organizations on the front lines of this crisis are ready for us to join them.”

Curious to learn more about the collection and its participants, we reached out to some of the contributors. One of them curiously rebuffed our invitation to participate in On Tyranny, saying “I really don’t feel like any of my troubles are the real burden of this moment.” But as the days, weeks, months and years in the still-nascent fascist regime taking hold of this country are proving, none of us will be untouched by the shock, awe, pain and lament that is growing like a cancer inside our collective civic body.

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On Tyranny: Russian Alt-Metal Musician Urges U.S. Artists to Resist America From Turning Into Her Fascist Homeland

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 04/06/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

As if any of us needed any more convincing that Authoritarian America is increasingly resembling Russia, thanks in part to Donald Trump modeling himself after his hero Vladimir Putin, this latest installment of The Bad Penny‘s ongoing series On Tyranny will demonstrate how chillingly similar life in the two countries has become. And for this we have a musician named n0 trixx to thank: The Russian artist is unwavering in her conviction that those who call themselves artists must be uncompromising, courageous beyond dispute and speaking truth to power.

At a time when more American musicians are finally speaking out about the full-scale assault on democracy that Trump and his band of sycophants and sociopaths effectively began launching a decade ago, artists in the U.S. still have much, much more to learn. If there’s an upshot to the pillorying of musicians here, it’s that they have learned, are learning or soon will learn that making art is not simply an exercise in entertainment: It’s a critical activity that ensures the circulatory system of democracy is in good shape.

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On Tyranny: Hip-Hop MC TINO Says of His New Trans-Rights Song: ‘[They] Just Want to Be Loved Too’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 04/05/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

No Kings 3, which took place last week and drew an estimated 8 to 9 million participants – exceeding the turnouts of the first two protests – provided more wind in the sails of the pro-democracy movement that is barreling toward a critical juncture at the November midterm elections.

Red-hot MC TINO – who hails from Dayton, Ohio – didn’t make it to the protest. But since the early 2010s, the hip-hop high-achiever has kept his mind trained on educating and galvanizing his audience with socially conscious messages while ensuring his lips are trained on spitting transcendent rhymes.

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On Tyranny: Germany-Born Leader of Psych/Shoegazers Lukka Sees Similar Berlin Wall Era Speech Restrictions in US

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , on 04/02/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Franzi Szymkowiak – vocalist, guitarist and synth player for psych/shoegazers Lukka – joins The Bad Penny to share her unique perspectives of how tyranny is taking root in the U.S. similar to how it did in Germany, where she was born before the Berlin Wall fell. In addition to remembering how the German people were “manipulated by Russian propaganda” after World War II, she recalls stories from her ancestors about even more atrocious acts committed by Hitler against intellectuals and artists.

“Hitler was going against people who could see through his whole ideology and who could think more intellectually about [his regime, philosophy and actions] and convince people that was not the way to go,” Szymkowiak states. “It was way worse at the time because people got executed for raising their opinion against the establishment.”

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Puma Blue Walks Us Through ‘Unnatural’ Processes Behind New LP ‘Croak Dream’

Posted in Interviews with tags , , on 03/28/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Rather than compiling a double album or reimagining material into acoustic form, Puma Blue’s Jacob Allen created two entirely separate albums from the same creative spark. Released a year apart nearly to the day, last February’s antichamber and this past month’s Croak Dream are something of a yin and yang to each other. “antichamber was all about what’s nestled inside you that you’re not ready to look at, whereas Croak Dream feels like an explosion of letting it all hang out and being free—less curated and sheltered with you exposing your soul,” Allen explains.

Read my full interview with the band via FLOOD.

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On Tyranny: Voidhämmer Bassist/Vocalist Says ICE Atrocities Backfired, Hardened His Resolve to Be a Better Citizen

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 03/08/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Roger Herrera, bassist/vocalist for Los Angeles’ Voidhämmer, checked in with The Bad Penny on Sunday to talk about Noxious Emissions, the four-song EP that the new death-metal/grindcore band put out in January. When our conversation inevitably turned toward the topic of federal agents invading L.A. Angeles last summer to terrorize and harass residents – regardless of their citizenship or legal status – Herrera seemed equally proud of his neighbors as he is proud of his bandmates.

“If you look at the news for so long, it is definitely maddening,” he said, noting the social strife that is ripping American society apart. “You can become overwhelmed and distraught by everything that’s going on. So you do have to shut that out so you can just go about your day.”

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