From the Vault: Dr. Know (Bad Brains) and Brandon Cruz’s Guide To DIY Touring

Posted in Interviews, Lists, Sound Off with tags , , , on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

[This article was originally published on IndiePit in 2010.]

Punks don’t make the likeliest businessmen, for obvious reasons. Capitalism and punk aren’t exactly synonymous – in fact, by definition, they’re more or less contradictory.

But funny things happen in a time of crisis.

These days, more bands are taking more matters into their own hands, whether it be issuing their own material (like Clutch), producing their own records and/or shooting their own videos. But while this trend has mostly arisen out of necessity – the mother of invention, as the saying goes – self-empowerment has historically been a brass ring of sorts for bands adamant about maintaining control over their artistic output. Now they’re managing to find an opportunity in crisis: complete creative control.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

On Tyranny: Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Pepper-Sprays Teen at Turnstile Concert

Posted in Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

This will come as no surprise for those of us who have already reckoned with the fact that the U.S. is now controlled by an authoritarian regime, but an apparent deputy recently pepper-sprayed an attendee at a Turnstile concert in Richmond, Virginia.

The alleged incident, captured on body-cam footage, shows an off-duty deputy from the Richmond Sheriff’s Office pepper-spraying a teen, according to The Richmonder. The individual apparently jumped onto the concert stage at Turnstile’s encouragement during the last song of their set.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

On Tyranny: Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ted Hearne Says ‘We Need to Identify With the Farm Worker’ for America to Survive

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

[Subscribe to The Bad Penny by clicking the “New Subscription” box in the upper-righthand corner of this page.]

In the latest installment of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series, we catch up with esteemed composer, singer and conductor Ted Hearne about Authoritarian America and his new album, Farming (Deathbomb Arc). The engrossing, story-based album – which dropped a week ago – ingeniously compares the philosophies of Pennsylvania founder William Penn and Amazon mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos as a way of getting to better understand what lies at the heart of America and its values. Hearne examines labor rights, capitalism and the U.S.’s rapidly changing economy – and how they contributed to the strife currently raging across the nation.

“Culture-war rhetoric very often serves to paper over another reality, and what I think is the underlying tension we should be focusing on, which is the ever-widening wealth gap,” Hearne says. “Most wealthy people in this country … the work to sustain their wealth are investing choices. And then wealth begets itself and grows. This is not the wealth of manufacturing ingenuity most of the time. People know that, and people who labor to make things know that. And there’s a deep anger about that. I’m angry about it too.”

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

The Bad Penny’s New Releases Calendar Returns, Better Than Ever (and Better Late Than Never)

Posted in Latest New Releases Schedule, New Releases with tags on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

[Subscribe to The Bad Penny by clicking the “New Subscription” box in the upper-righthand corner of this page.]

Note to guests of The Bad Penny: The new releases calendar is up and running again. Find it here or click the “New Releases” widget on the right side of the homepage.

Death Metal Headbang GIF by Metal Blade Records

Leave a comment »

Guess the Album Cover #1

Posted in Fun And Games on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Can you figure out what album cover this is, based on just a small piece of it?

Solution here.

Leave a comment »

Exclusive: Moonspell Vocalist Salutes Departed Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates, Says They Shared ‘Wild Nights’ Together

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews with tags , , , , , , on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Many of us are still trying to cope with the sudden loss of Tomas “Tompa” Lindberg, arguably the best vocalist and lyricist in Scandinavian melodic death metal, last month. At the Gates, the band he led, helped pioneer one of metal’s best subgenres, also known as melodeth. Lindberg family, friends, bandmates, fans and anyone who reveres At the Gates are still processing and trying to make sense of his passing at age 52 due to a rare type of cancer called Adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Last week, Fredrik Andersson — who played drums for another legendary melodic death metal band, Amon Amarth, from 1997 to 2015 — expressed his admiration for Lindberg and shared an Irish wake laugh during an interview with The Bad Penny earlier this month.

On Thursday, we had the honor of finally interviewing Moonspell vocalist Fernando Ribeiro, one of the few melodeth vocalists that The Bad Penny had never interviewed before.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

Too Much Joy’s Bassist Cracks the Code to Chat Pile’s Success

Posted in Interviews, News with tags , , , , , on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

[Subscribe to The Bad Penny by clicking the “New Subscription” box in the upper-righthand corner of this page.]

When we had the pleasure of interviewing indie legend Too Much Joy this week, we talked a hell of a lot about their upcoming plans, a special reissue they have on the way, their take on Authoritarian America and much more.

We’ll be bringing you a couple of articles stemming from the 60-minutes-plus conversation with two of the Too Much Joy dudes, but as a way of whetting your palette, we present you today with an informative chunk of conversation with bassist/vocalist Sandy Smallens and vocalist Tim Quirk that wouldn’t have fit into the other stories.

Our exchange revolves around not just Too Much Joy but also Chat Pile. Specifically, Smallens addresses why he thinks other young bands should follow Chat Pile’s lead – not duplicating their sound, but learning how the best noise-rock band of the past five years interacts with their fanbase.

In the words of Ariel from The Little Mermaid, “It’s a whole new world,” and Smallens all but implores bands that want to build a strong fanbase to take note of how Oklahoma City giants Chat Pile have done so.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

On Tyranny: Scotland Grindcore Artist Chairmaker Channels Anger Over Fascism Toward Helping Immigrants

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Scottish multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine pours his blood, sweat and tears into his band Chairmaker for two reasons: to create the best grindcore his impressive abilities will allow; and to use that music as the soundtrack to his assault on late-stage capitalism. So, naturally, The Bad Penny was morally obligated to invite Erskine to participate in our ongoing On Tyranny series. He accepted wholeheartedly and jumped on a provocative video chat with us a few days ago.

We caught up with Mr. Chairmaker about three weeks before the release of Leviathan Carcass, a record he’s self-releasing on his Bandcamp page on Nov. 14. Watch The Bad Penny‘s conversation with the hyper-enlightened Erskine, and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two – if nothing else, that the new wave of authoritarianism destroying America is causing similar destruction across the pond and elsewhere in the world.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

Exclusive: Trashy Annie Comments on 2 Killer Songs Ahead of New LP Release

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews with tags on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Tried-and-true rock musician Trashy Annie appears like a rock vet who has been through the grind for decades – she’s a true believer of the authentic rawk music she writes and performs. And yet she’s still fairly new to most devoted classic-rock fans, having only released her first full-length album, Sticks & Stones, through Cleopatra Records in May 2023.

While based in Austin, Trashy Annie’s happy place is in a bar where she can blast her punk-infused hard-rock laced with country soul – in essence, the core ingredients needed to cook up a surefire concoction of American rock ‘n’ roll. She’s got the image down pat too, as if she began studying how to be a character actor from the day she was born till now. Trashy Annie lives and breathes her sweaty, snide and yet also endearing style, 24-7. Imagine a female version of Lemmy, and you’ll get the drift.

Oh, and did we mention that she’s a contestant on the current season of Survivor? 

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

On Tyranny: Ultra-Rich Corporate CEO Stands With Bad Bunny in Super Bowl Flap

Posted in News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

To most, it will seem incongruous that this website is cover footballing to any extent. Or applaud an American citizen whose net worth hovers in the $250 million range. But because the sport is caught between a pop mega-star and a hard right-wing contingent in the U.S., we find it fitting to salute NFL Commissioner (aka CEO) Roger Goodell for backing up Bad Bunny at a Super Bowl press conference this morning.

That’s not to mention that we previously covered the Latin hip-hop star’s decision to avoid touring the U.S. for fear of ICE raiding his concerts. And the fact that Trump, Kristi Noem and other sycophantic, bigoted trolls in the White House are unabashedly trying to limit free speech or even make it a crime. Ergo, the uproar over Bad Bunny’s scheduled performance at America’s most-watching sporting event should be made aware to musicians of all stripes.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »