Heavy Music Interviews

Joe Strummer’s Widow Lucinda Tait Discusses the New Mescaleros Box Set: Interview + Stream

A new box set celebrating Joe Strummer’s work with his post-Clash band The Mescaleros has just arrived. To mark the occasion, Heavy Consequence caught up with the late punk legend’s widow, Lucinda Tait, to discuss the collection. Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years includes all three of the band’s studio albums — Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001), and Streetcore (2003) — along with a brand-new compilation of 15 B-sides and rarities titled Vibes Compass. It’s available as a 4-CD set with a 72-page book or a 7-LP set with a 32-page book. Strummer’s sketches and handwritten lyrics appear in both the book and on the album sleeves. Tait, who was married to Strummer from 1995 until his passing in December 2002, worked with Dark Horse Records’ David Zonshine to sort th...

Tour Mates Dirty Honey and Dorothy Talk Life on the Road, the State of Rock, and More

Dirty Honey recently kicked off a North American tour, and were just joined on the bill by Dorothy for the remainder of the outing. There’s a mutual admiration between the two acts, so touring together seems like fate. The tour extends through an October 7th show in Santa Cruz, California, with tickets currently available via Ticketmaster. “It’s exciting,” Dirty Honey singer Marc LaBelle tells Heavy Consequence of the two acts hitting the road together. “We met Dorothy for the first time on a show in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she was nice enough to jump on a show with us when Wolfgang Van Halen had to drop out due to COVID.” He continues, “There’s a ton of respect between both bands. I love her tunes, love what she’s doing, and we know a lot about her band already. She’s really t...

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy

Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself and has a new single, “Last Love,” with Upon Wings. The latest edition of Beyond the Boys’ Club features an interview with Alissa White-Gluz of the band Arch Enemy. Arch Enemy have built a strong name for themselves in the realm of extreme metal, and fans waited with great anticipation for the band’s latest full-length effort, Deceivers, the group’s first album in five years. The set dropped August 12th via Century Media Records, marking the 11th studio release from the veteran metal act. Lead vocalist Alissa White-Gluz has be...

Ghost’s Tobias Forge Talks Arena Rock, Jack the Ripper, and the Band’s Next Album

Ghost are the rare band that formed in the past 15 years to graduate to arena headliners. In fact, the Swedish metal act is about to embark on its latest massive tour, playing North American arenas with support from Mastodon and Spiritbox. The outing kicks off Friday (August 26th) in San Diego, and runs through a September 23rd show in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. The new run follows up an early 2022 US tour that saw Ghost co-headlining with Volbeat, and playing their first shows since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the concert industry. Heavy Consequence caught up with Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge (aka Papa Emeritus IV) to discuss the band’s return to the road, their latest album, IMPERA (released in March of this year), and whether the wheels are alrea...

Halestorm Announce Fall 2022 Headlining Tour with The Warning and New Years Day

Halestorm are keeping the show on the road throughout the entire year. The band has just announced a Fall headlining US tour, and they’re bringing The Warning and New Years Day along for the ride. The Grammy-winning band’s Fall trek will kill off September 21st in Huntsville, Alabama, and run through an October 8th performance at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California. Tickets for the outing will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. local time Friday (June 10th) via Ticketmaster, with a pre-sale beginning Wednesday (June 8th) at 10 a.m. local time using the code BRIGHTSIDE. There’s no letting up for Halestorm, as they recently completed a Spring run that included dates with with Stone Temple Pilots and Mammoth WVH, and will also embark on a previously announced Summer tou...

Chino Moreno on Deftones’ Return to Touring: It’s “Going to Be Cathartic” to Scream and Sing Again

After two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deftones are finally set to kick off their North American tour with Gojira. Singer Chino Moreno expects the long-awaited excursion to be a cathartic experience after a couple of years off the road. The tour was originally scheduled for Summer 2020, then postponed to Summer 2021, and finally rescheduled for Spring 2022. The outing kicks off tonight (April 14th) in Portland, Oregon, and runs through a May 28th show in Minneapolis, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. Heavy Consequence recently caught up with Moreno to discuss his side project ††† (Crosses), but he also took some time to share his feelings about Deftones’ highly anticipated return to the stage. “I hate to say this, because it sounds very spoiled, but since I was 15-16 ...

Chino Moreno and Shaun Lopez Talk New ††† (Crosses) Songs, Musical Inspiration, Tour Plans, and More

Last month, ††† (Crosses), comprised of Chino Moreno (Deftones) and Shaun Lopez, released their first new original songs in eight years. The tracks “Initiation” and “Protection” are just a taste of what’s to come, as the duo plan to unveil more music in the coming months, after inking a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The first sign that Crosses were back in the studio came in late 2020, when the outfit unveiled a cover of the Cause and Effect track “The Beginning of the End.” A year later, a cover of Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses” followed, along with news that more music was coming soon. In March, the two aforementioned original songs “Initiation” and “Protection” were released, cementing the fact that Crosses were back in full swing. After releasing their 2014 self-titled debut album and ...

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Dorothy

Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself and recently released a new single, “Scars,” with Upon Wings. This month’s piece features an interview with singer Dorothy. Dorothy (full name Dorothy Martin) has crafted the album she always wanted to create with Gifts from the Holy Ghost. The set highlights Dorothy’s powerful, emotive vocals, as she sings about breaking free from oppression, saying farewell to demons and maintaining power in an uncertain world. The name of the new album is inspired in part from a wild experience Dorothy had on a tour bus three years ago. Aft...

Heavy Culture: Oxymorrons on Queens Upbringing, Haitian Heritage, and Fighting Stereotypes

Heavy Culture is a monthly column from journalist Liz Ramanand, focusing on artists of different cultural backgrounds in heavy music, as they offer their perspectives on race, society, and more as it intersects with and affects their craft. The latest installment of this column features Deee and KI of the band Oxymorrons. Oxymorrons are keeping busy in 2022. After kicking off the year on the ShipRocked cruise, the band is currently wrapping up a tour with Grandson and Royal & The Serpent. Heavy Consequence recently caught up with brothers Deee and KI of Oxymorrons to discuss all things music and culture. The vocalists spoke candidly about their upbringing in Queens, New York, their Haitian roots, and how that shaped who they are and their music. They also discussed their 2021 release, ...

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Lena Scissorhands of Infected Rain

Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself and will release a new single, “Scars,” on February 4th with Upon Wings. This month’s piece features an interview with Lena Scissorhands of Infected Rain. Moldovan metal band Infected Rain released their fifth studio album, Ecdysis, on January 7th. Created during lockdown, the new record covers the gamut of themes, from the strength and power of the female experience (“Fighter”) to tumultuous world events that took place during pandemic (“The Realm of Chaos”). Infected Rain also just announced that they’re returning to North A...

Beyond the Boys’ Club: Johanna Platow Andersson of Lucifer

Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself, recently releasing the song “Eternal Way” with Upon Wings. This month’s piece features an interview with Johanna Platow Andersson of Lucifer. Lucifer craft a unique brand of music, combining the dark, sludgy sounds of ’70s hard rock with a dose of modern doom metal. The band was formed in 2014 by singer Johanna Platow Andersson and has since performed hundreds of shows around the world, from the Kiss Kruise to Psycho Las Vegas to Sweden Rock. The band released its latest album, Lucifer IV, in October via Century Media. For He...

Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen on Servant of the Mind, Tour with Ghost, and Metallica’s Black Album

Danish rockers Volbeat are back with their eighth studio album, Servant of the Mind, just released via Republic Records. Musically, the album hearkens back to the band’s earlier, heavier days, with relentless riffing and punching rhythms, while also representing how far they’ve come as a group. “You can definitely hear a band that sounds very young, but at the same time, a band that has a lot of experience with the style we started so many years ago,” frontman Michael Poulsen tells Heavy Consequence. In addition to releasing the new album, Volbeat are prepping for a highly anticipated co-headlining US arena tour with Swedish metal masters Ghost. The outing kicks off January 25th in Reno, Nevada, and runs through a March 3rd show in Anaheim, California. Tickets are available now via Ticketm...