Archive for On Tyranny

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On Tyranny: Inspired Musician Audrey Keelin of Artists United for a Free Palestine Discusses Relief Efforts

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/06/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Amid the rise of dictatorships across the globe, which is the focus of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series, there are some signs of hope and remarkable individuals rising to the occasion to fight for justice, democracy and peace. One of those people is Audrey Keelin, guitarist and vocalist for Brooklyn band Hiding Places, who has helped create two music compilations benefiting the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

The most recent one, Merciless Accelerating Rhythms – Artists United for a Free Palestine – Vol II, came out Friday via Brooklyn-based label HATETOQUIT and features contributions from an astonishing 64 artists, including Andy Boay (Tonstartssbandht), Colin Miller (MJ Lenderman), Landon George (MJ Lenderman), Prith/ The Coke Dares (members of Magnolia Electric Co.), villagerrr, Hiding Places, Andy Loebs, Renny Conti and more.

Watch the above video to learn about what motivated Keelin to undertake the ambitious endeavor, what inspires the Hiding Places captain during these dark times – and how you can create a project that, like the compilation albums, have the potential to make a major difference.

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On Tyranny: Bobby Conn Doesn’t Mince Words About ‘Con Man’ Donald Trump

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , , , , on 09/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“The goal of fascism is control and power. That’s the whole thing. That’s it. There’s no ideology beyond that. … Maybe we’ll make it through this. But I don’t know for sure.”
-Bobby Conn

Chicago’s own Bobby Conn is a king among troubadours, a musician’s musician, and yet also a musician who fights for the people, á la Billy Bragg. His last name is perfectly ironic, as Conn is best known for speaking truth to power and dutifully serving as a protest musician since he started playing music in 1989 with the avant-garde group Conducent. Five years later, that band broke up and Conn embarked upon his journey as a solo artist, which resulted in eight studio albums.

His ninth, Bobby’s Place, just arrived in late August. It’s pretty far out there, dubbed a “split-personality” record in which the first half tells a fantastical story about him living on an astral plane, while the second half imagines him as the star of an alternative-reality workplace sitcom named “Bobby’s Place.” The project captures and sustains the eccentric personality that Conn has embraced throughout his career, which has showcased him as a performance artist, glam-rock devotee and unabashedly outspoken critic of American politics and culture.

When The Bad Penny interviewed Conn via video before the release of Bobby’s Place, he noted that it is his least political record to date. That said, he told Splendid Magazine in 2008 that “All the records that I’ve done are a critique of what’s going on in contemporary America.” And with that in mind, Bobby’s Place can’t be considered detached from reality, even if some of the storylines he tells take place in an alternate reality.

That debate aside, we invited the highly politically opinionated legend to participate in our ongoing series On Tyranny, and he graciously and enthusiastically obliged.

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On Tyranny: Orchestra Gold’s Erich Huffaker Talks Impacts of Authoritarianism on Artists

Posted in Features, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , on 09/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

For more on The Bad Penny’s On Tyranny series, go to this hub.

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On Tyranny: Meatwound’s Mantra Is ‘Fuck the Cops – and the Government Too’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , on 09/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Acerbic. Snotty. Sarcastic. Ruthless. Hard-hitting. There are a lot of adjectives that could be applied more gently to the ear than the name of the band in question, Meatwound. Spawned 10 years ago ago in one of the crappiest cities in the country, Tampa, Florida, The Bad Penny has wanted to catch up with this band since the release of their 2015 debut, Addio.

The skronky, snarky, snarly – have we exhausted our cache of descriptors yet? – crew immediately drew comparisons to a lot of our favorite bands. But we’re gonna show Meatwound some respect by saying they are a uniquely awesome slab of protein-rich noise-rock and encourage you to listen to the many songs of theirs embedded in this post. Most are housed on their latest record, Macho, which they coughed up in mid-July.

The Bad Penny talked with Meatwound vocalist Daniel Wallace in mid-May, just two months after the detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and before shit got even crazier – you know, the deployment of the U.S. Marines to the streets of L.A., Trump bombing Iran, Mahmoud Khalil was finally freed, the U.S. blocked global agreements for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, all that good stuff.

And yet, Wallace’s remarks, stances and predictions all still, terrifyingly, hold up as true for the most part.

(Meatwound also features guitarist Ari Barros, bassist/programmer Mariano Iglesias and drummer Dimitri Stoyanov.)

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On Tyranny: ‘You’re Telling My Kids They Can’t Read This Book?’ Author Andrew Laties Rails Against Book Bans

Posted in Features, On Tyranny, What You Readin' For? with tags , , , , , , , on 08/31/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“The majority of Americans are angry about this idiocy. There will come a tipping point.
The majority will fight back and win.”
-Andrew Laties

Andrew Laties isn’t your typical free-speech advocate. The decorated author co-founded the annual Easton Book Festival in Pennsylvania, The Children’s Bookstore in Chicago, the Chicago Children’s Museum Store and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Bookstore in Massachusetts. In some respects, he is Donald Trump’s greatest nemesis: He is omnipresent thanks to the aforementioned institutions he established across the country, he won’t be bullied (as he was in the past), he doesn’t mince words or self-censor but rather speaks from the heart with unfiltered ferocity, he is an outspoken champion of free-speech who refuses to be silenced, and he is prepared to battle the Trump administration’s book bans to the bitter end.

In other words, Laties is one of us. Even if you don’t place censorship and book bans high on your list of priorities, whether you deem the issues to be political or not, he’s fighting for your rights too. His previously detailed his crusade in the book Rebel Bookseller: Why Indie Businesses Represent Everything You Want to Fight For – From Free Speech to Buying Local to Building Communities. Last month, he unveiled his latest work, the very timely You’re Telling My Kids They Can’t Read This Book? Our Hundred-Year Children’s-Literature Revolution and How We’ll Keep Fighting to Support Our Families’ Right to Read.

When Laties reached out to The Bad Penny, it was a no-brainer to invite him to participate in our ongoing series On Tyranny, inspired by the Timothy Snyder handbook of the same name. Here is the exchange in which we thoroughly enjoyed partaking today with Laties, a hero in the sickening, unbelievable and yet very real battle to save democracy for us all, and not just the livelihoods of artists and dissenters, but their right to exist in American society.

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On Tyranny Poll: Are You Afraid of Attending Concerts as the Military Patrols US Cities?

Posted in Features, On Tyranny, Polls with tags , , , , , , , on 08/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

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On Tyranny: As US Citizens Get Disappeared and Terrorized, Chile’s Mawiza Reflects

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , on 04/30/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The frontman for band Mawiza, who blend metal with Mapuche folk music, reflects on the horrific treatment of his indigenous ancestors by the Chilean military as U.S. citizens are getting disappeared and terrorized by the Trump administration. Read my New Noise interview.

On Tyranny: Mawiza Strive to ‘Rescue Indigenous Moral Values’ in Chile

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On Tyranny: Punk Legends UK Subs Denied Entry Into US Due to Alleged Trump Criticism

Posted in Essays, Features, News, On Tyranny with tags , , on 03/21/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

A new chapter in Trump’s war on free speech has apparently begun, with members of punk legends UK Subs denied entry into the U.S. and detained after traveling to play a concert Stateside, according to The Guardian. The U.K. news outlet cites accounts purportedly posted on the band’s Facebook page. (The Bad Penny does not utilize or endorse social media.)

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On Tyranny: Kuwaiti Metal Artist Abzy Calls Hate ‘A Black Hole’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , , , on 03/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

In the latest installment of my new On Tyranny series for New Noise, I caught up with Abzy, a metal and rock musician from Kuwait, and chatted with him about what life was like for artists when Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq.

On Tyranny: Kuwaiti Metal Artist Abzy Calls Hate ‘A Black Hole’

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On Tyranny: Hungarian Black-Metallers Sear Bliss Lost ‘Freedom’ In Orbán’s Autocracy

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny with tags , , , on 03/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Hungary’s longest-running band, Sear Bliss, recently spoke with me about what it’s like living in a country ruled by a despot who happens to be good friends with Donald Trump. Get a glimpse of the serious threats American artists are now facing at home, where the Trump regime is now disappearing dissenters, in the latest edition of New Noise‘s new series, “On Tyranny.”

On Tyranny: Hungary’s Sear Bliss Lost ‘Freedom’ In Orbán’s Autocracy

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