Oathbound, Seattle’s most promising progressive-metalcore band, are ready to finally make their big smash with the March 6 release of Colors in Grey (Eclipse), their debut LP. Three of the band members – Taylor Harper (guitar), Steve Schwarz (bass) and Travis Morlan (drums) – generously devoted a chunk of their Friday night to participate in the latest edition of Favorite Films, one of The Bad Penny‘s ongoing series.
And we couldn’t have had more fun with the spirited, genuinely good fellas. For proof, watch the video of our lively and loose conversation.
Creativity is the driving force in the musical works created by Boise rock musician Tyler Schlagenhauf of Mylo Bybee. He recently checked in with The Bad Penny to talk about Trump’s Authoritarian America and the fear that is sweeping across the country (and even the world). Schlagenhauf shares one of the more positive outlooks in The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series. “My North Star is that It can’t get to the point where it’s crushing artists’ creativity, because it is that outlet that we’ve seen over and over again can bring people together,” he says.
It’s true and well-known that most Americans don’t know the nitty-gritty of government and politics. But we can distinguish between what is moral and not, and for that reason, we must fight for what we believe is right. VTB make a case for that claim — which every American should know –– during part of an interview The Bad Penny conducted on Wednesday with the grungy alt-rock-with-a-smattering-of-noise-and-post-punk.
For many, today will be somber, sober and sad, as it marks the 40th anniversary of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. Perhaps the fastest-rising star in the metal community, a bus accident cut his life short in 1986 in Sweden. He was only 24 years old. All metal fans, whether or not they liked Metallica, mourned Burton because of the tragic accident and because of his stunning gift at playing guitar. Burton continues to a hero in his hometown of Castro Valley California, the city holiday has received more attention
The city in which Burton lived is hosting Cliff Burton Day 2026, which will tangentially recognize the 40th anniversary of Metallica’s Damage Inc. tour. It’ll take place at the Chabot Theater. Starting at 7 p.m. PT, Burton’s family members, family members and work pals will share stories and memories about the family member so tragically lost. The event will feature live music too. Check out The Chatbot for more info.
That’s all the news we have right now, so we’ll leave you with three rad videos: the first, with Burton crushing it for 25 minutes; a discussion among haters who eventually came around to recognize Burton’ brilliance; and a pro-cam taping of Metallica playing “Orion,” a song primarily written by Burton.
Occasionally in our On Tyranny series, we deviate from our normal routing of interviewing musicians on the topics of Trump’s tyrannical regime and the ghastly horrors spewing from it like the 1989’s Exxon Valdez oil spill. We do so in order to demonstrate that the tireless efforts of protestors – the textbook definition of unsung heroes – are succeeding tremendously in their efforts to force the corporate media to increase coverage of the resistance’s war against fascism.
Another way the mainstream (let’s be generous and call them unaware) is finding it very difficult to block out or deny Trump’s reign of terror is when famous people join the resistance by proudly speaking out in public, threats of retaliation from Donald “I am your retribution” by damned.
With that in mind, we found it imperative to publish our third post about Bad Bunny, even if he isn’t returning our phone calls. How rude, especially considering that Bad Bunny copped his moniker fromour The Bad Penny! And yet how seismically important it was for the Puerto Rican rapper to cancel plans to tour the U.S. due to safety concerns.
Denver’s Jesus Christ Taxi Driver isn’t just a band with one of the best monikers in the music universe – they’re also dead serious about resisting the Trump administration and MAGA’s destruction of American values, the federal government and even the country itself. But as The Bad Penny learned in an interview conducted just two days ago, the punk-rock band believes humor might the best response to America’s transformation into a fascist country.
We hear ya here at The Bad Penny: We cover too much metal, not enough metal, etc. One common denominator across all genres is that artists are capable of creating captivating, innovative, original, hilarious and harrowing music videos regardless of genre. With that in mind, here are the clips we enjoyed the most in the month of January, two thousand whatever.
There are three types of artists in this world. A small minority refuse to talk about current events, politics and social matters altogether. Another set acknowledges crises and problems happening in their immediate vicinity and/or in other countries. And then there are those who speak out vociferously and take action against clear injustices, especially when they’re occurring locally.
Take a wild guess as to which bracket Austin, Texas’ extreme, iconoclastic, loud-as-hell, 10-on-the-Richter scale band Fuck Money falls into. The four-piece band formed in October 2021, less than a year after Trump’s thugs committed insurrection against our country, and immediately declared their opposition to oppression, fascism and capitalism. For that reason alone, Three One G artists Fuck Money should be lauded at time when American musicians are more cowardly than ever to speak out against the atrocities that the federal government is committing against even its own citizens. After all, taking a position could alienate some of their fans and hurt sales of their concert tickets, records and merch, right?
Fuck Money don’t give a fuck about that shit and are ardent fighters in the resistance. For proof, watch the above interview that The Bad Penny conducted with Fuck Money drummer Alton Jenkins on Monday.
Imagine emigrating with your partner from Chile to Boston, only to witness fascist horrors unfolding in the U.S. similar to those implemented by Augusto Pinochet, the dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. In the latest installment of The Bad Penny’s ongoing series On Tyranny, we talk with the impossibly kind and commendably upbeat Juls Garat and Claudio Marcio of post-punk band Pilgrims (formerly Pilgrims of Yearning) about why they’re unsure touring the States would be safe for them, their new album Gemini (due Feb. 13) and getting a thumbs-up from Robert Smith of The Cure.
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