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Archive for Halloween

Favorite Films: Fireball Ministry’s Emily Burton Digs ‘Jackie Brown’ ‘Aliens,’ ‘Big Trouble in Little Lebowski’ … and a Pick You’d Never Guess

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews, Videos with tags Emily Burton, Fireball Ministry, Halloween, Jackie Brown, John Carpenter, psych metal, Ripple Music, Russ Meyer, stoner metal, Weird Science on 07/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

It was only a month ago that Fireball Ministry co-founder and guitar virtuoso Emily Burton graciously set aside some of her busy schedule to talk about her and all the current developments that are making her beam at the status of her influential, 27-year-old stoner rock band. (Read all about her successful litigation here.)

When we checked in with her for part two of our conversation, she was in much better spirits and game for talking about some of her movies of all time. For those who don’t live in the loop, musicians have extraordinarily long stretches between †venues, affording them some time to cozy up in a band, rewrite and rewrite and rewrite once again the band’s set list. Burton prefers the latter.

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Favorite Films: Heavy Heavy Low Low Vocalist Lists His Favorite Flicks as Halloween Creeps Closer

Posted in Favorite Films, Interviews, Lists, Reviews with tags An American Werewolf in London, David Lynch, Halloween, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Night of the Living Dead, No Country for Old Men, Robbie Smith, The Coen Brothers on 10/25/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

It’s not uncommon for an actor to form or join a band – after all, it takes a certain gene to drive a person to be at the center of attention as much as they possibly can. But this past summer, when we caught up with vocalist Robbie Smith of sasscore squad Heavy Heavy Low Low, we learned that the inverse isn’t necessarily as common.

Sure, he enjoys fronting the band from San Jose, California, and writing and recording their songs – which are so unhinged and berserk that even Guantanamo Bay couldn’t restrain or temper them. Nonetheless, Smith also enjoys stepping away from the physical intensity of the band’s concerts to focus on an artistic endeavor he may value even more than crafting music: filmmaking.

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Exclusive: Graham Parker, Other Big Stir Halloween Comp Contributors Tell Terrifying Tales

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews with tags Big Stir Records, Graham Parker, Halloween, Strawberry Alarm Clock on 10/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Move over, “Monster Mash”: There’s a new, soon-to-be-classic Halloween soundtrack that’s about to dig your grave and toss you into it.

Astute readers of The Bad Penny may recall our special premiere of a new song by the cultiest of cult bands, Strawberry Alarm Clock, earlier this month. “Monsters” also appears on the just-released, 41-track Chilling, Thrilling Hooks and Haunted Harmonies, a Big Stir Records collection of spooky, silly and scintillating Halloween-theme songs.

A slew of the legendary contributing artists involved with the compilation recently shared — exclusively with The Bad Penny — a litany of ghastly anecdotes and jovialities in celebration of the record, which should be an essential spin at Halloween gatherings later this month and for many years to come. Kick back and get a kick out of what members of the participating bands told us in response to some of the questions we tossed their way.

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