Earlier 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.
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Steve 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 OrzeckOn 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.
Continue readingVideo Interview: Fireball Ministry Fought for Their (Album) Rights – and Scored a Big Victory
Posted in Interviews, News, Videos with tags Emily J. Burton, Fireball Ministry, Ripple Music on 06/24/2026 by Kurt OrzeckThe track record of musicians suing the record labels that employed them is pretty dismal. The reason is obvious: Artists generally aren’t very wealthy. Meanwhile, the companies that hire creators for their services – and not uncommonly have a sick fetish for screwing them over when the relationship sours – have more money than they know what to do with.
That’s why it’s such a cause for celebration when artists defeat their employers, which are typically corporate controlled, in David-beats-Goliath fashion. One of the most heartwarming examples of an underdog band scoring a major court victory over their former label recently transpired when pioneering stoner-rock squad Fireball Ministry won back the rights to what is largely considered their best record, 2003’s The Second Great Awakening.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Black-Metal Band Qasu Says Release of Anti-ICE Song the Day After Renée Good’s Murder Was ‘Chilling’
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags authoritarianism, fascism, On Tyranny, Qasu, Renée Good, trump, tyranny on 06/23/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Is it redundant to say that black-metal bands don’t fuck around writ large? If that question is bouncing around in your brain, try to shake it out of your ear – or at least save yourself a punishing amount of embarrassment, and maybe even your life, by never posing that question to Qasu. Well, at least when they’re not draped in cloaks. The British/American trio refer to their harrowing sound as “ancient future black metal,” the most badass name for the subgenre of another subgenre.
If the above pic doesn’t make it abundantly clear, Qasu take their music very seriously. That fact is evident over the entire duration of A Bleak King Cometh, Qasu’s recently released debut LP created by Aldous Daniken (the trio’s so-called “instrumentation” pro), Rahsaan Sagan (voice and electronics) and Nikhil Talwalkar (drums). The tour-de-force is distributed in North America by Season of Mist, and released as a collaboration effort between Phantom Limb and Apocalyptic Witchcraft.
As with their music, Qasu appear to be equally serious about politics – that is, if the term still has any meaning given the existentially terrifying times in which we live. Mega props go to Qasu for speaking their mind about today’s unprecedented social ills, and refusing to self-censor or obey Trump America’s fascist authority figures in advance. And while we’re at it, shame on the artists, entertainers and Hollywood executives who aren’t addressing the most important debate of our lifetimes: what is right and what is wrong, not what is left or what is right. Their cowardly calculations to not stand up for their neighbors and defend civil rights are making it all the more difficult for those of us fighting the good fight.
When we came across Qasu earlier this year, we knew right away that the band gets its. And yet, for all the seriousness with which Qasu treat their music and beliefs, we discovered Daniken to be a ye olde merry jolly good fellow. (That’s how they talk in the United Kingdom, right?) Lucky for us, he carved out some time to speak with The Bad Penny for our ongoing series called On Tyranny. And now we bring you our conversation with Daniken (which we didn’t videotape this time around).
Continue readingExclusive Song and Video Premiere: Holy Pinto’s ‘One Tattoo’
Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, Videos with tags Aymen Saleh, Elliott Smith, Holy Pinto, Jens Lekman on 06/22/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Leave it to gleeful trickster and indie pop-punk artist Aymen Saleh to write a song about a tattoo, even though not a single one is etched on the British ex-pat’s body. Roughly a decade after embarking on his music career with the band Holy Pinto (which initially consisted of Saleh and his friend Ryan Hurley), the artist has now amassed an enviable, consummately enjoyable catalog that is vibrant both aesthetically and musically.
Pretty soon, Holy Pinto’s discography will get a bit bigger with the September 14 release of a new LP, Wedding Season. The fact that the artist meticulously crafted the record is immediately evident from what we’ve heard of it thus far. Saleh has stated publicly that Wedding Season took years of work, particularly with the arrangements, and it shows.
Much to our delight, Saleh – who now resides in Milwaukee and has refashioned his band into a solo affair – gifted The Bad Penny not only with an early look at the incoming album but the opportunity to exclusively debut one of the songs and its accompanying video.
In discussing said song, “One Tattoo,” we learned that Saleh’s thoughts on body art go far beyond skin deep …
Continue readingFavorite Films: Martin Atkins (Ministry, Pigface) ‘Bedazzles’ Us by Picking a Comedy With Dudley Moore, Peter Cook
Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews with tags Bedazzled, David Wm. Sims, Dudley Moore, Genesis P-Orridge, Martin Atkins, Mick Harris, Ministry, Peter Cook, Pigface on 06/20/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
If you want to get properly schooled in the history of post-punk and industrial music – and the music industry machinery that has both helped and harmed it over the decades – don’t read a music blog or turn to some know-it-all bottom-feeding on social media for information. Instead, seek out a revered guru like Martin Atkins, he of Pigface, Ministry, Killing Joke, Public Image Ltd and Nine Inch Nails note.
Atkins is a prolific author of books concerning the music industry; the studies coordinator on the very subject at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois; and owner and operator of the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music in Chicago. If you’re more inclined to enjoy Atkins making music instead of reading his tomes, look no further than The Howler: An English Breakfast, a record he issued on vinyl for the first time about three weeks ago.
Continue readingAn All-En-Compass-Ing Conversation With June of 44’s Jeff Mueller
Posted in Interviews with tags Doug Scharin, Fred Erskine, Jeff Mueller, June of 44, Rodan, Sean Meadows, Shipping News, Touch and Go on 06/18/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Enjoy my lengthy conversation with Jeff Mueller, one of the four captains steering iconic Louisville band June of 44. From start to finish, you will learn the history of June of 44 and get a deep understanding of the band’s ethos and spirit. You’ll learn why reuniting was a transcendent experience in which the band members discovered new meaning in and appreciation for songs they had written decades prior. You’ll discover that a group of musicians who appeared stoic and even intimidating in their heyday are empathetic to the core. And you might enjoy a laugh or two — surprising for a band whose concerts were considered to be serious, chuckle-free engagements back in the day.
Continue readingQueens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme Owes His Fame, in Part, to His Heavy-Rock Amigos
Posted in Features, Interviews with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Kyuss, Nick Oliveri, Nirvana, QOTSA, Queens of the Stone Age on 06/11/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
As the only remaining original member of Queens of the Stone Age, Josh Homme is synonymous with the band that boasts substantial critical repute, commercial success, and peer respect. But as QOTSA proceeds deeper into their 30th year, they’re preparing for two of their highest-profile tours yet this summer, with Foo Fighters in the U.S. and System of a Down in Europe, respectively. Since QOTSA’s inception, fans of heavy rock have always regarded Homme as the leader of the group, due to his authorship of the vast majority of its songs and his role as the project’s mainstay member as its cast rotated routinely over the years.
Indeed, Homme’s imposing presence and distinct appearance as a 6’4” red-haired front man adds to his band’s singularly striking presence in the rock universe. But not only are there well-founded doubts that QOTSA may not have lasted as long as it were it not for the other musicians who have membership in the band on their resumes, Homme’s ever-growing list of collaborations with the creme de la creme of mainstream music has boosted his prominence even higher than his often unconventional take on rock music alone would have accomplished.
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