Archive for the Interviews Category

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Pet Sounds #73: Something Is Waiting’s Guitarist/Bassist Has Three Cats That Aren’t Also Aliens (We’re Pretty Sure)

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , on 11/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

rom the Jesus Lizard to Shellac to Local H to Rod Blagojevich, Chicago has produced some of the fiercest bands of the past 30 years. On fire right now is Something Is Waiting, who released a thoroughly raucous live record, Livelick, roughly a year ago via Learning Curve Records, which appears stronger than ever in its 25th year as a label.

As we’ve come to discover over the 13 months since The Bad Penny launched Pet Sounds, the most seemingly intimidating musicians tend to have the biggest hearts, especially toward cats (and dogs too, but it appears that cats have the edge). The latest example we’ve come across is Something Is Waiting guitarist/bassist William T. Fay, who has three cats: Sega (16 years old), Ripley (8) and Newt (7).

All three cats are domestic shorthairs; Sega is a calico, Ripley a quarter-trash-bag/ raccoon and Newt a tortoiseshell. We recently clawed at Fay for more info on his beloved buddies, and here’s how our conversation went.

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SPRINTS Hang With Greta Thunberg but Never Homophobes or Racists

Posted in Interviews with tags , , on 11/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

SPRINTS vocalist/guitarist Karla Chubb discusses the Dublin garage-punks’ new lineup, shares advice for dealing with bigots, recounts a chance encounter with Greta Thunberg and more. Read my FLOOD interview with Chubb.

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On Tyranny: Brokedowns Guitarist Says ‘Even Right-Wingers Can’t Abide ICE Brutalizing’ His Laborer Co-Workers in Chicago

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , on 11/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

It’s impossible to let a minute elapse without smiling during a conversation with the irrepressibly good-natured and good-humored Kris Megyery, guitarist/vocalist for Chicago punk band the Brokedowns. Except, that is, when he divulges how his fellow contractors are having to work through the night and on weekends due to their well-founded fears of ICE raids, which he has personally witnessed.

Learn, reflect and laugh during a wide-ranging conversation in the latest installment of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series, which focuses on how artists are coping with Authoritarian America. And pick up a copy of the Brokedowns’ album Let’s Tip the Landlord, which just came out Friday on Red Scare Industries (also home to yesterday’s On Tyranny participants Elway), on their Bandcamp page.

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Clemy’s Crew Supporting Idaho Families of Pediatric Patients With Saturday Benefit Event

Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews, News with tags , , , on 11/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

As more than 8,000 families in Idaho have kids with special healthcare needs, the nonprofit organization Clemy’s Crew is rallying the citizens of the state to provide much-needed assistance by staging a benefit concert at Treefort Music Hall on Saturday.

Dubbed the “Concert for Compassion,” the inaugural event will support families of Idaho pediatric patients going through medical crises. It will run from 5 to 9 p.m. and feature performances by local bands, a silent auction, raffle prizes, pizza and a full bar.

Clemy’s Crew has helped more than 30 families of pediatric patients during medical crises in its first year. President and founder [editor’s note: and all-around great guy] Scott Thompson recently told us that Clemy’s Crew aims to help far more families next year – but will need substantial community support to accomplish that goal.

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On Tyranny: Elway Frontman Tim Browne Says ‘Keeping Optimistic Against All Odds Is Your Obligation as a Person Who Wants a Better World’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 11/25/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Settle in for a profound conversation about Authoritarian America with the hyper-intelligent and hyper-talented Tim Browne, vocalist and guitarist for long-running Colorado punk band Elway.

“There’s an endemic undercurrent of detached cynicism and irony on the left in general, and there’s a point of no return after which you become disengaged with politics, you become part of the problem by letting your detachment rule you out of doing anything to fight it,” he says. “And they’re counting on it too.”

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Amorphis Bassist Says It’s Impossible for AI to Create ‘Real Metal Music’

Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 11/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Olli-Pekka Laine, founding bassist/backing vocalist of the greatest progressive metal band to ever come out of Finland – Amorphis – sums up the act in one word: “professional.”

“Amorphis is a really professional band, so we don’t actually [need to] rehearse that much,” he told The Bad Penny yesterday. “We only rehearse when we enter the studio, right before that, and before the shows, of course. But I’d say that we probably … rehearse … maybe one or two times a year, maximum.”

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On Tyranny: Singer/Songwriter Robert Deeble Claims ‘Faith-Based Social Justice Work Has Been Lost,’ Creating Power Vacuum for Autocrats

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , on 11/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck


Seattle singer-songwriter Robert Deeble has a lot on his mind these days, and it isn’t just his seventh record, The Space Between Us, which is planned for release Feb. 6 through his own Mind Bomb Publishing imprint. Nay, the socially attuned, voracious reader, prolific musician and contemplative in the truest sense of the world is trying to gather what he gained from spending four years mostly in isolation – but with some help with trusted collaborators. They include bassist Viktor Krauss (Allison Krauss/Robert Plant), drummer Lacey Brown (Damien Jurado) and producer Ric Hordinski (producer, string arrangements, guitar).

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Fimbul Winter’s Ex-Amon Amarth Members Name Their Favorite Amon Amarth Songs

Posted in Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags , , , , , on 11/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

A new band named Fimbul Winter is here to deliver fresh songs that hearken back to the earlier sound of Amon Amarth, much like the Halo Effect is doing for those longing for what many consider to be the peak albeit bygone era of In Flames. Also similar to the Halo Effect, Fimbul Winter have cemented their legitimacy and ensured they’re not merely a bunch of wannabes by featuring some of the most important musicians that Amon Amarth has counted in its ranks over the past three-plus decades.

They include founding members Anders Biazzi and Niko Kaukinen, who play guitar and drums, respectively, for Fimbul Winter; and another ex-Amon Amarth member, Fimbul Winter’s lead guitarist Fredrik Andersson (who recently shared with us a poignant memory of recently deceased At the Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg). Rounding out Fimbul Winter’s lineup is vocalist Clint Williams of Munitions note. The Bad Penny caught up with the majority of Fimbul Winter’s lineup last month, ahead of the band recently releasing its five-song debut EP, What Once Was.

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On Tyranny: Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum Laments Trans Exodus From US, Loves Zohran Mamdani, Details Witnessing ICE Brutality

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 11/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“I feel, like, not so complacent, but enthused, honestly, in a great way. I feel good. It’s my job. I’m an artist, and that’s kind of what I need to do. I need to provoke and I need to demand answers and I need to challenge things.”
-Roddy Bottum

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With his new memoir The Royal We out now, I recently spoke with Roddy Bottum of Faith No More, Imperial Teen and Man on Man fame about a very wide range of topics. Read some of them in my FLOOD feature and my Bad Penny story (in which he recalled a bizarre incident involving his paranoid ex-girlfriend Courtney Love).

In this part of the interview, part of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series, Bottum shares his first-hand accounts about the shameful and horrific acts occurring in the United States: the exodus of trans people leaving out of well-justified fear; and ICE attacks on immigrants, demonstrators and U.S. citizens.

But Bottum also discusses what he sees as a silver lining: The recent election of Democratic-Socialist Zohran Mamdani as the youngest-ever and first Muslim mayor of New York City. Here’s that portion of our wide-ranging conversation:

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Pet Sounds #72: Sorry, Dudes and Dudettes – Your Dog Probably Doesn’t Appreciate You Playing Metal or Punk

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , on 11/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Taking a break from our normal routine of chatting with musicians and our pets, we shifted the focus of Pet Sounds to whether your dog likes the same music you do. If you’re into soft indie-rock or meditative sounds, you’re probably in the clear; if you think your pooch wants to head-bang or mosh along with you to metal or punk, brace yourself for some bad news.

The Bad Penny recently spoke with Natalia Shahmetova, CEO & founder of a new app called “Woofz,” about this subject. Try not to get upset, fans of heavy music, but Shahmetova disclosed that: “Small or anxious dogs settle with acoustic, soft indie and warm tones. In our playlists, we use tempo as the guiding principle: music that fits the dog’s natural energy level tends to work best.”

Read our full interview after the jump.

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