INTERVIEWS
Joe Perry on Aerosmith’s Upcoming Las Vegas Residency, Their Underrated ’70s Output
Aerosmith started whatever day Steven walked in the door, says Joe Perry, his Boston accent flattening those r’s into ah’s. As in Steven Ty-lah. It’s refreshing that after 50 years in one of the most successful bands in history, Perry still sounds like he really doesn’t give a fuck. Like he would be just as content sitting on the beach, reading Lincoln Child novels with his wife Billie (“it gives us something to talk about”) at their new home south of Tampa — as doing the whole guitar-god thing. His aloofness is either a facade or a defense mechanism he’s adopted to stay sane in a band he once quit for caring about too much (more on that later.) Perry returned to Aerosmith in the ’80s, but by then the MTV music-video era was in full swing. The band never returned to that gritty, blue...
Ke Huy Quan on That Outrageous Fanny Pack Scene in Everything Everywhere All At Once
Everything Everywhere All At Once star Ke Huy Quan seems like he’s living his best life right now; during a recent press day for the new A24 film, he’s downright giddy just to be talking to the press. “It’s been a really exciting time for me,” he says. “Ever since the trailer came out, and now the movie getting to come out the response, the reception has just been incredible. I’m so overwhelmed with joy right now. I’m really happy.” It’s a very human reaction that feels truly in line with the nature of the film, which is in a lot of ways about just what it means, to live a human life. Written and directed by the filmmaking team known as Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Everything Everywhere stars the legendary Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn, whose humdrum life taking care of her family an...
10 Years After Their Self-Titled Debut, PUP Is Unraveling
“Just so you know, this is our first group interview in two-plus years,” PUP lead singer Stefan Babcock says somewhat trepidatiously, as we situate ourselves in the various corners of their downtown Toronto rehearsal space. I’ve set up my phone to record voice memos, hanging carefully on a steel I-beam overhead, with the microphone aiming down to capture our voices in the center of the impromptu pentagram we have formed. Babcock sits comfortably in a folding chair off to the corner by the door, drummer Zack Mykula sitting closer to his drum kit across from me, and bassist Nestor Chumak next to the couch I’ve sunk myself into. To my left, a laptop sits on a drum stool, with guitar player Steve Sladkowski calling in via Zoom from the safety of his apartment. We joke that it feels both like a...
Bridgerton Cast on Why Season 2 Exists In Its Own Universe — One Where the Women Rule
There are many ways to describe the world in which the intensely romantic yet complex Bridgerton exists, but star Nicola Coughlan, after years now of talking about the Netflix series, has a remarkably succinct explanation: “It’s colorful and diverse and you’ve got Ariana Grande.” The Derry Girls alumni plays Penelope Featherington, who tears high society apart with her secret life as gossip maven Lady Whistledown, tells Consequence that Season 2 has been a lot easier to discuss. “People now just accept it for what it is, which is lovely and allows you to have a lot more fun, too. When you’re going out and explaining a show [in Season 1], you have to use reference points that exist. So you go, oh, it’s Downton Abbey meets Gossip Girl, that kinda thing,” she says. “Now you don’t have to do t...
A Foo Picks His Own Fight: Taylor Hawkins on Going Solo and Calling the Shots
Ed. Note: This interview was conducted and published in 2016 in advance of the release of Taylor Hawkins’ solo album, KOTA. In light of Hawkins’ passing on Friday, March 25th, we are republishing the full interview. — There’s this sense of invincibility in the air around Taylor Hawkins, this feeling that he could do anything, so he did everything. It got daring for a while for the Foo Fighters drummer, drugs and laziness, and too much of nothing. He’s reached a symmetry now. He won’t go back, but he will be able to look back at a life of adventures. Take a look at the titles of his various non-Foo projects and you get an idea of Hawkins’ personality: the Coattail Riders, the Birds of Satan, Chevy Metal. His new solo album shows a similar sort of winking, old-school rock ‘n’ roll goofiness,...
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...
Grammy-Nominated Artists Take Us Behind the Scenes of Their Albums
It’s bracket season, baby, and with the 64th annual Grammy Awards falling on April 3rd—just one day before the men’s March Madness championship game—it’s time to get your picks in order. Luckily (for the culture) and unluckily (for the odds), the field runs deep. The Best Dance/Electronic Album category is home to a host of legends all on its own: Black Coffee (Subconsciously), ILLENIUM (Fallen Embers), Major Lazer (Music Is The Weapon (Reloaded)), Marshmello (Shockwave), Sylvan Esso (Free Love) and Ten City (Judgement). From their most inspired moments to their favorite lyrics, to even the walk-up song they’d play if they win the award, we’ve got the inside scoop on all things albums from ILLENIUM, Sylvan Esso and Ten City. Read the...
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, ...
Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor Talks Future Past, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nomination
Duran Duran took the world by storm in the 1980s, but 2022 is shaping up to be a year to remember for the Birmingham band. In February, they netted their first nomination for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released a deluxe edition of their excellent 2021 album, Future Past, featuring a new single “Laughing Boy.” Then this month, they announced a North American tour that will take the band across the continent in August and September. Drummer Roger Taylor joined Duran Duran in 1979 and was with the band throughout their swift rise to stardom in the early ‘80s, playing on their wildly popular first three albums. In 1986, Taylor stepped away from the band, retiring to the English countryside. But he returned to Duran Duran in 2001 for the band’s fruitful third act, playing on five new st...
Candyland’s Josie Martin On Reunion After 8 Years: “Hopefully, Our Fans Get to Relive Some Memories”
Candyland are officially back—and with renewed perspective and a creative direction they’re embracing in earnest. In a new interview with EDM.com, Candyland’s Josie Martin explains that the decision to walk away from the music industry in 2019 felt like a “life or death” moment. It was an uncertain end to the Candyland saga, a project that started with a duo skyrocketing to prominence after delivering viral remixes of early 2010s dance hits from Bingo Players, Krewella, Skrillex, and more. But as quickly as their success began, Josie Martin and Ethan Davis found themselves going separate ways in 2014. Martin would continue Candyland solo following the split. Fortunately, however, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, Martin views walking away as one of the bes...
Modest Mouse’s We Were Dead at 15: Isaac Brock, Johnny Marr on Collaborative ‘Brotherhood’ — and Future
For Johnny Marr, one moment crystalizes his brief tenure with Modest Mouse. It was 2006, and the British guitarist, long revered for co-founding the Smiths, now found himself in a situation unsuited for rock royalty: sweating in the hot, crowded Portland attic of Mouse leader Isaac Brock. “There was literally a time [while playing ‘Invisible’], and I thought it was symbolic, where we bumped into each other,” Marr tells SPIN over Zoom, recalling his early rehearsals with the indie-rock band. “And I thought, ‘This is fucking cool.’ It’s two in the morning, and we’re both going for it, and we nearly knocked each other off the track. It was symbolic. When I started making records, particularly with the Smiths, I was able to put guitars together and make them fit. But this was a different ...
How Big Mouth Spin-Off Human Resources Got Janelle Monáe to Do Double-Duty
You can learn a lot about a TV show based on what it chooses for its theme song, and Netflix’s Human Resources delivers on that score with an assist from Janelle Monáe — the pumping synth tones of “Make Me Feel” introduce every episode of the new Big Mouth spin-off, which ages up the central humans of the series but still remains tonally in line with its parent series. Created by Big Mouth creators Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett as well as Big Mouth writer/producer Kelly Galuska, Human Resources explores the world of the Lovebugs, Hormone Monsters, Logic Rocks, Anxiety Mosquitos, Shame Wizards, and more which represent the best and worst impulses of Big Mouth characters, actively courting The Office comparisons with its workplace setting (and more importantl...
