Archive for the Interviews Category

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On Tyranny: Orphaned Land Find Faith in Metal as They Push for Middle East Peace

Posted in Faith In Metal, Interview Transcripts, Interviews with tags , , , on 09/28/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

The Bad Penny published this transgressive – perhaps even transcendental – article in December 2010. Given the social and political upheaval happening in the U.S., Orphaned Land’s place of residence, and the Middle East, we hope Bad Penny readers might value the viewpoints that the musicians shared from their heart 16 years ago. (ed.-11:08p.m., 7.15.26)

Metalheads are fickle when it comes to approving a band’s metal cred. But it’s safe to say that your group qualifies if: 1) Fans can get arrested for listening to you; 2) You get arrested trying to record an album; and 3) You preach a message so radical that it makes some metalheads cringe.

Enter Orphaned Land, a metal band from Israel that meets all those criteria.
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Meet And Greet Danny Ross; Download Exclusive MP3s

Posted in Exclusives, Features, Interviews, Meet And Greet, MP3s with tags , , on 09/23/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

When I caught up with Danny Ross in late August 2009, he was trying to get his feet wet – but not in the literal sense.

“It’s been rainy, uncharacteristically rainy, the last two months” in New York, he said.

A little over a year later, the singer/pianist/multi-instrumentalist/composer has gotten them more than just a little wet. Ross is now fully drenched in music accolades, and on Saturday night, he headlines a show at NYC’s prestigious Mercury Lounge. Continue reading →

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Great Debate: TV Buddhas On Supermarket Lunches Vs. Eating Out

Posted in Features, Great Debate, Interviews with tags on 09/20/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

For the first installment in a new Bad Penny feature, “Great Debate,” Israel’s TV Buddhas conduct an intra-band, intra-family discussion about the merits of eating at the local supermarket – or taking the more extravagant route: eating at an actual restaurant.

Which place causes one Buddha to feel like he’s a balloon? Who loathes pizza? And what do at least two of them agree truly is yummy? Read on and find out in this endearing contribution straight from the band. Continue reading →

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Cover Me: Mark Bacino’s Queens English

Posted in Cover Me, Features, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on 09/20/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

In the latest installment of “Cover Me,” power-pop prince Mark Bacino re-envisions his latest album, Queens English (DreamCrush/ Redeye), which dropped earlier this summer on Amazon and iTunes. In addition to granting the Bad Penny a downloadable MP3 (scroll to the bottom of the post), he wonders what the songs would sound like if they were performed by Steve Earle, Jeff Tweedy, even Archie & Edith Bunker – and seals it all with a Kiss. Continue reading →

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Bad Penny Exclusive Song Premiere: Cassorla’s ‘My Tree’

Posted in Exclusives, Features, Interviews, MP3s with tags on 09/18/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

Cassorla – an indie-rock band with jazz and soul tendencies – should probably be named “Cassor-pa-ny-la”: They call Los Angeles home these days but were born in North Philadelphia, and dwelled for a spell in Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn in between. Continue reading →

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Cover Me: Cassorla’s Songs Of Hair, Trees, Portraits, Shouts And Alphabets EP

Posted in Cover Me, Features, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on 09/18/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

When’s the last time you heard an indie-rock band – or any rock band … or, hell, any band at all – pine for the day when D’Angelo would cover one of its songs? Leave it to Los Angeles’ unpredictable and imaginative troupe Cassorla to make such a wish. Continue reading →

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Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo In 2002: ‘I Think I Had A Falling Out With The Fans’

Posted in Interviews with tags , , on 09/17/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

“I still get the feeling that everyone’s pissed off and frustrated with us because we don’t sound like we did in 1993,” Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo told me on April 13, 2002. Going through one of the most tumultuous periods of its career, the bandmembers – who had recently fired their manager, and were bucking their PR and A&R reps at Geffen – had just “reclaimed control of ours lives,” in the words of Cuomo. Continue reading →

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Weezer’s Brian Bell Was ‘Overwhelmed’ By Maladroit Material

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 09/17/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

In light of Weezer’s new album, Hurley, plopping earlier this week, here’s a look back at a Maladroit-era interview with guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner. Previously unavailable online, it was conducted in February 2002. Continue reading →

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Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan And Laura Ballance Open Up About Shutting Up, Running Merge And More

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 09/15/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

Keeping the Superchunk momentum going after yesterday’s release of Majesty Shredding, here’s another vintage interview previously unavailable online. This one was conducted about nine years ago and primarily revolves around their penultimate record, Here’s to Shutting Up. Continue reading →

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Superchunk’s Laura Ballance In 1998: ‘The Music Industry Is Nuts Right Now’

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , , , , on 09/14/2010 by Kurt Orzeck

With the music-business climate perhaps more rotten than ever, there’s a growing tendency to romanticize the past. But it’s easy to forget the challenges faced by indie-rock bands and labels prior to the dawn of the Internet. Or, in the case of Merge Records, prior to the dawn of the Arcade Fire. Continue reading →

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