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On Tyranny: Punk Legend/College Professor Roy Stein Warns Artists of Authoritarian Rules Like Trump

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , on 10/18/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

As Americans welcome or resist a strain of authoritarianism the likes of which none of us have seen before, Roy Stein, J.D. — drummer for punk band Jet Black Berries and a four-decade professor at Nazareth University’s School of Business and Leadership – participates in the most educational installment of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series.

Stein talks about how living in a constant state of fear affects creative activity, the scourge of “hate addiction” and how artists can survive — and even thrive — in Authoritarian America. Jet Black Berries just released a remastered and sequenced LP, Sundown on Venus [Definitive Edition], which came out during the era when Ronald Reagan was president and punk musicians were grappling with a different, then-new form of conservative government.

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On Tyranny: Mekons’ Tom Greenhalgh Disses Ed Sheeran, Gives ‘Big Ups’ to Susan Sarandon for Opposing Right Wing

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/17/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Celebrating their 50th year as a band in 2026, Leeds-bred post-punk icons The Mekons have maintained a streak of anti-authoritarianism dating back to their first studio full-length, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, which was released in 1979 – the same year Margaret Thatcher rose to become prime minister. Along with Gang of Four, The Clash and other British bands that formed a united front against the right-wing scourge that dominated the country at the time, The Mekons have never held back in challenging the powers that be and espousing their left-wing beliefs.

The band featuring Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh (both vocalists/guitarists) and Sally Timms (also vocals) among many other members are still fighting the good fight today, and have not relented in their sharp criticism of the elite class that is dominating the world like never before, at least not in recent memory. Proof can be found in last year’s Horror, the latest studio album released by the now-Chicago-based group; as well as their dub revisitation of that record released in June: Horrorble (Mekons vs. Tony Maimone in Dub Conference.

The Bad Penny recently had the great privilege to usher Greenhalgh into our On Tyranny series, in which musicians speak out about the threats that fascism and authoritarianism pose to artists, how they can respond and what younger bands can learn from the experiences and wisdom of veteran groups. Below is our email interview with the gracious Greenhalgh.

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On Tyranny: Tech Worker’s Fury at AI, Tech Bros’ Fascist Nihilism Led Him to Launch Existential Prog-Metal Band

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“These days, it’s more anger than fear in my mind,” tech worker-turned existential-prog-metal band frontman Patrick Grønbæch Christensen shares in an interview with The Bad Penny that took place this morning. “I take great pride in the acts and process of creation. Programming [is] a creative exercise. But that’s being taken away from a lot of us now [thanks to AI].”

In a rare interview with the Danish vocalist of Only Human, which just formed last year and quickly signed to extreme-metal standard bearers Season of Mist, Christensen talks transparently about how he resorts to his band to channel his fury toward techno-fascism. He also uses the cleverly named Only Human to educate the masses about the dangers that humanity faces as AI continues to develop without sufficient guardrails.

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On Tyranny: Brand-New Norwegian Post-Punks The Ape Are No-Holds-Barred When It Comes to Fighting Fascism

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , on 10/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Heard of Norway band The Ape? Yeah, we hadn’t either, until we caught wind of them a few months ago. And when those winds blow in your neck of the woods, you’ll hear about the post-punks quickly as well.

The reason we’re starting this article with a focus on the Oslo band’s obscurity is because they’re already getting a big push on the strength of three singles that are not available, even though the full-length that will presumably contain them won’t be out until an undetermined release date next year, courtesy ofLoyal Blood Records.

The Ape consists of vocalist/drummer Johan Fredrik Bolli, guitarists Simen Trippestad and Johannes Amble, and bassist Kristian Leonhardsebn.

Some may interpret The Ape’s newbie status as a sign of weakness, that they haven’t amassed enough life experiences and that they’re too young to know what they’re talking about. Those critics are dead wrong, as proven by The Bad Penny‘s interview with the gang less than a month ago. Not only do they have their heads on straight, they’re astute about the political climate across the world, and thus earned themselves a spot as the last participants in our ongoing On Tyranny series.

Read it for yourself.

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On Tyranny: Maria BC Reflects on ICE’s Minnesota Murders as Trump’s Vigilante Goon Squad Still Goes Unchecked and Terrorizes American Communities

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

About a month ago, AllMusic rolled out our interview with Maria BC that mostly revolved around Marathon, an album that teems with more sincerity and human emotion than their past two releases, as it addressed Americans and the hardships they are currently experiencing. So as to focus on the trials and tribulations of the “average American,” we mostly avoided discussion of Trump, even though the majority of U.S. citizens are finally waking up to the reality that he is the source of so many of the country’s seemingly intractable problems.

Today, following the much-needed and frankly long-overdue “Power to the People” music festival/ extravaganza that Tom Morello hosted earlier this month, we bring you an excerpt from our interview with Maria BC that was left on the cutting-room floor but nevertheless deserves to be heard and read by those who care about the survivability of democracy; how Americans treat each other regardless of legal status; and what it will take for us to finally put a stop to the lawless, sociopathic atrocities that ICE is inflicting upon citizens, legal immigrants and other residents of the so-called “greatest nation on earth.”

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On Tyranny: Burner Vocalist Scolds ‘Rage Bait’ Addicts for Using Misogyny, Charlie Kirk to Divide Us

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/10/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Roughly five years after their inception in London, post-metal unit Burner are quickly drawing the attention of fans of heavy music who have big hearts and big brains. Vocalist and lyricist Harry Nott recently checked in with The Bad Penny after last month’s release of Burner’s second full-length, No One Is Coming to Save Us (anyone else notice the Send Help reference?).

Nott’s prerogative could not be clear: to combat the cycles of violence and hate that all of us need to break in order to progress toward a more hopeful future across the world as authoritarianism continues to gain a foothold virtually everywhere. “We’re going through this horrible, horrible game where [social media] engagement is becoming this … end goal, and the means are just continuously being justified [to promote] rage bait and reactionary, racist content and stuff that is purposefully inciting hate of a certain people or harmful stereotypes,” the consummately articulate Nott says.

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On Tyranny: Absolute Darkness Leader Blasts Trump for Making Life More Difficult for Bands, Says ‘Fuck That Guy’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/09/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“If you love metal … there’s a reason to care about politics,” Absolute Darkness guitarist/ lead vocalist Ron Dorn says, voicing dismay at the authoritarian takeover of the U.S., in a recent interview.

Not only does Dorn lead the aforementioned Bay Area death/thrash metal band, he also develops 70K Bands, an unofficial app used by passengers of the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise/festival. In the latest installment of On Tyranny, he discusses the effects of the Trump regime’s obliteration of international relations, pointing to a decline in the proportion of Canadian users in the app’s data.

“By the time we sail, we get about over 2,000 to 3,000 people on the ship,” Dorn says. “With all the stuff going on with Trump attacking Canada, calling it ‘the 51st state,’ the tariffs …. Canada went from 12 percent of the cruisers to 8 or 9. And I don’t blame them. Why should [they] spend my money in the U.S. when all this is going on? [There are] real world consequences [happening], and now the event is having a harder time selling out.”

(The Canadian percentages Dorn cites are based on users of his unofficial app, rather than official passenger figures from the cruise.)

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On Tyranny: Canada’s Art d-Ecco Says AI, Climate Change, Trump Creating ‘Anxiety-Producing Powder Keg’

Posted in Features, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 10/07/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“The only way you’re going to make up for it is [if you] vote in the fall and … make sure that this cancer doesn’t … metastasize any further in the American political system,” rock musician Art d’Ecco tells The Bad Penny in a recent interview. Doing his own part, the anti-war artist from Vancouver just released “How Real Is Real?,” the third single off his upcoming album Scheele’s Green, due Oct. 23 on Paper Bag Records.

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On Tyranny: Chasing Abbey Say Irish, Palestinians Have a ‘Shared History’; Blast Support for Colonizing as ‘Anti-Irish’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/17/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

In the most brutally honest and thus edifying installment yet of our 100-plus-installment On Tyranny series, brand-new Irish electro-Celtic trio Chasing Abbey hold nothing back in speaking out against authoritarianism, oppression and the Palestinian genocide.

We’re publishing this video today to celebrate the release of the trio’s debut record, Cyber Celt, which comes out today (Friday) courtesy of Remote Control Records.

Get a breath of fresh air as you listen to all three members of Chasing Abbey – multi-instrumentalists/producers/vocalists Ronan Bell, Jonathan Byrne and Ted Conway – bravely speak their mind and exercise free speech fearlessly and proudly … just like the Irish tradition calls for.

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On Tyranny: Hardcore-Meets-Metal SoCal Crew Throwlight Throw Shade on ICE, MAGA, Anti-Immigrant Hate in Incendiary Interview

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

As the 100th band we’ve interviewed for our On Tyranny series, which we launched in February 2025, we couldn’t have found a more fitting subject than Southern California hardcore/metal/rap enthusiasts Throwlight. The young band is tearing it up in conservative Orange County without any hesitation whatsoever, spitting in the face of the most frustrating aspects of the era in which are suffering through: compliance, willful ignorance and inaction.

While many artists are gratuitously tossing a remark or two into their live performances about how they disagree with the fascist takeover of America, Throwlight – consisting of vocalist Rocom, guitarist Chris Ellis, bassist Kevin Betz and playfully nicknamed keyboardist King of Somewhere – are putting their hearts totally into the fight. Their passion for resistance is as intense as the fury they unleash on their latest single, “No Kings,” which came out last month on limited-edition cassette.

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