Archive for the Interviews Category

The Visionaries: Sadness Finds His ‘Purpose’ in Music, Readies for Breakout Year in 2026

Posted in Features, Interviews, The Visionaries with tags , , on 12/16/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“If I have a purpose in life, it’s to make music.” That’s a powerful statement from a young man named Damián Antón Ojeda, whose solo blackgaze project Sadness exudes the sincerity, intensity and deep emotion of an artist proving his credo through his art. All those factors combined make him an ideal entrant in The Bad Penny‘s new series “The Visionaries,” in which we interview introverted musical savants who typically don’t do many interviews. Following Aaron Turner and Jute Gyte, Ojeda is in very good company.

While Sadness has crafted dozens upon dozens of releases over the past decade or so – most recent the exquisite EP Shimmer – 2024 marked the first live performance for the project. But now, having really broken out of his shell, Ojeda is ready to tour next year and – while he’s too humble to say so himself – is well-positioned for global domination.

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On Tyranny: Finland’s Rotten Sound Don’t Fear Crackdown on Dissent Because ‘We Live in a Democratic Country’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , on 12/16/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

When The Bad Penny embarked on its On Tyranny project more than a year ago, we initially interviewed artists residing in countries controlled by authoritarian regimes in order to learn how they are still able to pursue their vocation despite fears of retaliation including censorship, imprisonment and even death. We conversed with musicians in Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Hungary.

About six months later, the Trump regime began deploying military forces into U.S. cities, deported U.S. citizens without due process to countries they had never resided nor visited, and ordered masked “authorities” with no visible identification to kidnap and disappear people with no criminal records off the street. Thus, we turned our focus to how U.S.-based musicians are coping with previously unimaginable atrocities and how Authoritarian America is damaging the careers and personal lives of artists and dissenters.

Today we bring you a different perspective on the growing power of autocracy as the governing force across the world via a short-and-sweet interview with grindcore band Rotten Sound from Finland. While the vast majority of artists we’ve interviewed for On Tyranny have expressed fear, disgust and despair over the direction that the U.S. – and, by extension, the world – is headed, The Bad Penny was surprised to learn that some artists are not worried about being persecuted for their stances, whether they be creative or “political” (whatever that term actually means anymore).

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Struck a Nerve: A Rad Metal Band Born Out of Frustration With Music Industry Bullshit

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 12/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“It started as a bit of a bit of a laugh, and then as the recording process went on, it became evident that it was actually pretty good, and we were having so much fun with it.”

Let’s cut to the chase, because that’s the modus operandi behind U.K. thrash wizards Struck a Nerve. Listenable Records announced in mid-September that the label had signed the band, featuring Shrapnel lead guitarist Nathan Sadd, two members who had parted ways with Shrapnel, and guitarist Lexell Altair Garrido to boot

A little over two months later, Struck a Nerve pumped out their self-titled debut – and they’re already starting to create the follow-up LP. If you don’t think that’s ambitious, check out what Sadd said in a press statement at the time of the band’s signing to Listenable: “Struck a Nerve are aiming to be the most aggressive and intense thrash band the UK has ever produced.”

With that in mind, buckle up for our conversation with the very intense – and equally insightful – Nathan Sadd, with whom we spoke via Zoom last month.

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Reverse Yr Curse Refuse to Accept Alienation, Self-Destruction as Their Fate

Posted in Interviews with tags on 12/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

It seems like a very flawed and distinctly American – or perhaps conservative Christian – way of thinking that a curse will never again rear its ugly head or inflict terror upon innocent children and old ladies once it’s banished. What a fallacy. Look no further than bad music as a prime example contradicting this simplistic idea.

After Styx, Kansas and Toto seemed to have an unbreakable stranglehold on popular music, along came Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Replacements to slip out of the grasp of AOR assholes — kinda like how Hulk Hogan (sorry brother, you’re not getting an RIP from The Bad Penny) managed to wrangle out of the clutches of Ric Flair when all seemed lost.

Because Matthew Park grew up in a household in Fairfax County, Virginia, where music was largely absent and in which furtively flipping through his parents’ Dave Brubeck records was deemed “naughty,” his understanding of music wasn’t just myopic, it was practically nonexistent. Park can’t identify the moment of clarity when he finally discovered rock music – but he can vividly recall when music transformed him while he was surrounded by strangers.

“The first concert I ever saw was Mötley Crüe. And it was awesome,” he says during a recent video conversation. “This was also back during a time where, at least in my family and my friends’ circle, our parents didn’t really keep very tight leashes on us. We were free to roam. So that’s what we did. We got into hair metal, like Guns N’ Roses, and that quickly shifted into Jane’s Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

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On Tyranny: ‘The American Experiment Is Over,’ Singer for LA Punks Jacob the Horse Declares

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , on 12/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,” Aviv Rubinstien, singer for Los Angeles indie-punk band Jacob the Horse, tells The Bad Penny in a video conversation held earlier today.

“Show me your fangs or show me your teeth,” he continues. “People need to stop waiting around for others to do it for them and show the people that mean to step on you that you still have teeth and you won’t go down without a fight.”

The interview took place on December 14, 2025, less than two weeks before Jacob the Horse dropped their new single and video for “666 Chicks” – and ahead of the March 20 release of their new album, At Least It’s Almost Over.

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The Visionaries: ‘Dungeon Synth’ Master Jute Gyte Exudes Empathy in Rare Interview

Posted in Features, Interviews, The Visionaries with tags , , , , , on 12/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“If I’m focusing on sources of human suffering, then maybe it would be nice to put [part of the proceeds I earn from selling that] material to try to alleviate some of that suffering.”
-Jute Gyte

This year, The Bad Penny has had the incredibly unexpected, transformational, good fortune of interviewing more than 200 musicians across the globe. But as 2025 (mercifully) comes to a close, we’ve reflected on many of those conversations and come to realize that we connected with some truly exceptional human beings who just happen to make music.

These are individuals who often but don’t always work in isolation, truly treat making music as a cherished endeavor, take their work seriously, have a very strong work ethic and regiment – and, as a result, transcend the simple act of songcraft, recording and performing live.

To these remarkable individuals, music is not a diversion, and certainly not a means to striking it rich or becoming famous. They devote themselves to their craft because it is their vocation, their calling – not their calling card to getting signed to an oily record contract.

Last week, The Bad Penny unofficially launched a new series, which we’re calling “The Visionaries” – a term each humble subject of the series will surely reject, but sorry guys, them’s the breaks – with an uncharacteristically intimate look into the creative process and soul of underground legend Aaron Turner that Treble generously published.

For the first “official” edition of the series “The Visionaries” published on The Bad Penny, we are thrilled to present you a conversation with perhaps the most unsung drone-metal musician of the century, Jute Gyte (Adam Kalmbach). If his name doesn’t sound familiar, don’t be embarrassed; hell, this guy flies so low under the radar, he would probably rather you don’t know who is, so long as his music is getting out there and assuaging some music listeners (particularly those who gravitate toward challenging listens).

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On Tyranny: Tortoise Wasn’t ‘Sure Any Business Would Survive Donald Trump’s Ineptitude and Destruction’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , on 12/13/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The newest print edition of The Big Takeover – for which its publisher, editor, and perhaps the best person on earth, Jack Rabid, has graciously allowed me to contribute for 23 years – is now available for purchase. If you believe in punk rock and for which it stands, buy it. Among my 10 contributions is a challenging interview with Tortoise. I’ll note my other submissions in the coming days but won’t be reproducing them here. Buy the damn mag; it’s 170 pages long, a work of art in its own right and only costs seven bucks.

Go to the On Tyranny archive for more installments in the series.

Favorite Films: Napalm Death’s Shane Embury Picks ‘2001,’ ‘Inception,’ ‘Forbidden Planet’

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 12/13/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury isn’t one to sit on his laurels – even if they’re extreme-metal laurels. Even though he’s played bass and backing vocals for the grindcore legends since 1987 (man, is that hard to believe), he’s also dallying with his side project Dark Sky Burial, whose new album, The Secred Neurotic, which dropped yesterday via Consouling Sounds.

We’ll have plenty to discuss about that project in the near future, but since it’s Saturday, we found it fitting to roll out a new edition of Favorite Films, in which musicians talk about the best movies they’ve ever seen and recommend some cult classics unfamiliar to most of us.

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On Tyranny: Italian Psych Band Malota Reflect on Mussolini’s Legacy as US Faces Fascism

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , on 12/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“Every day could be one’s last, whether because of repression sparked by even a single misplaced word of dissent, or because of the indiscriminate bombings.”
-Malota’s Max D’Ospina

With its canals and bistros and overall sense of tranquillity, Venice, Italy, is arguably one of the most picturesque, luxurious places on Earth – which makes it no wonder that it’s also one of the most popular tourist destinations anywhere. Dig a little deeper under the surface, and you’ll find that it also has to offer – perhaps conflictingly to some, but not necessarily musically erudite readers of The Bad Penny – a heavy psych-rock band very much worth its (Italian sea) salt.

Said group is Malota, a quartet whose new album, Scapegoat, dropped in mid-October via Go Down Records. While their mesmerizing record is worth not just perusing but purchasing, when we had the opportunity to interview the immensely talented troupe, we forewent conducting a typical banal back and forth about Scapegoat. Instead, we picked the brain of Max D’Ospina (bass, piano, didjeridoo, vocals) about fascism, a toxic political ideology that Italy defeated less than a century ago and that is currently corroding what little remains of democracy in America.

It used to be said that “history repeats itself.” Wisely, and fortunately, historians have amended that aphorism to say “history does not repeat itself exactly, but it rhymes.” Perhaps we can learn something from what D’Ospina had to share about the horrors that happened in his homeland, which he bravely shared with us.

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Pet Sounds #74: Hooded Menace’s Pets Are Hardly Menaces to Society

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , , , on 12/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Harri and Touko

Finnish doom-metal cult band Hooded Menace can come across as, well, a wee bit intimidating. But the Finnish Grammy (equivalent)-nominated trio of vocalist Harri Kuokkanen, guitarist/bassist Lasse Pyykkö and drummer Pekka Koskelo temper those fears by throwing curveballs every so often. Look no further than the out-of-nowhere cover of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer” that they surprised fans with three months ago.

Turns out all three members of Hooded Menace have a soft spot. For his own part, Kuokkanen touched base with The Bad Penny shortly after the October release of his band’s smoldering seventh record, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration (Season of Mist), to talk about his coterie of cats (and one dog).

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