INTERVIEWS
Lucky (the Monster) Pulls No Punches With ‘Queer Apocalypse Doomgrass’ and Demonic Machines
In what would be the lone bedroom of a small apartment in San Diego, the musician, guitar pedal builder, and anti-establishment artist known primarily as “Lucky (the monster)” has set up a hub of sorts for their multiple musical acts and guitar pedal business. Their small four-toothed mutt, Rocco, makes his way across the small room, wagging his tail between an array of guitars and mounds of electronic parts. It’s part mad scientist’s laboratory, part musical practice space, and part disorganized corporate headquarters for a rapidly growing online business — but that makes sense when you consider what Lucky’s day-to-day actually looks like. A teacher by day, Lucky’s become known as the head of Demonic Machines, solo artist Great Big Thing Crawling All Over Me (a nod to the old punk song “S...
Westworld’s Daniel Wu on Episode 6’s Big Reveals and His Special Bond With Thandiwe Newton
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Westworld, Season 4 Episode 6, “Fidelity.”] Daniel Wu is no stranger to strange genre tales — the veteran actor has been working constantly over the past few decades on a mix of Hong Kong and American productions, notably starring in the bonkers AMC martial arts drama Into the Badlands for three seasons. Thus, he was more than ready to take on a significant role in Season 4 of Westworld, playing Jay, the leader of a group of human “outliers” who are scrambling for survival in a world now controlled by the robotic “hosts.” As Wu explains to Consequence via Zoom, there was no question of him turning down the job, when Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy asked him about it after the two of them worked together on her directorial debut, the 2021 fi...
Westworld Composer on Giving the Opening Title Music an “Edgy” Cover For Season 4, Episode 6: Exclusive
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Westworld, Season 4 Episode 6, “Fidelity.” To read about the music of Episode 5, click here.] Unlike past weeks, where Westworld composer Ramin Djawadi has surprised us with covers of Frank Ocean and Nine Inch Nails, Episode 6 of Season 4 contained no such surprises on the musical front. Except, of course, for the fact that he ended up covering… himself. First, though, “Fidelity” did contain some big surprises on a narrative level, though, including the end of the line for freedom fighter Jay (Daniel Wu) — the human version, at least. And we also got to see the full extent of Hale (Tessa Thompson)’s manipulation of Caleb (Aaron Paul), as he not only confronts his new reality as a host, but the fact that he has been copied dozens of times ...
Marcia Gay Harden on Depicting the “Universal Heartbreak” of Netflix’s Uncoupled
Marcia Gay Harden feels like one of the hardest-working actors out there; since winning her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Pollack (she was also nominated for Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River) she’s made countless appearances across film and television, often appearing in multiple episode guest-starring roles across shows including The Morning Show, Damages, The Newsroom, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, How to Get Away With Murder, and more. So it’s not a huge surprise to see her appear in Uncoupled, the new Darren Star (Sex and the City) comedy now streaming on Netflix, though it is a pleasure. The series focuses on how Michael (Neil Patrick Harris), a 40-something residential real estate agent in New York, copes with the sudden end of a 17-year relationship; Harden appears as C...
Garbage on 30 Years of Garbage, Touring with Tears For Fears and Alanis Morissette
Garbage are nearing the end of their extensive 2022 tour, which saw them supporting Tears For Fears on their The Tipping Point trek, as well as another leg of dates supporting Alanis Morissette on her Jagged Little Pill 20th anniversary shows. But the ’90s rockers have definitely not run out of steam; if anything, they’re completely in their element. Their show this month at Festival d’été de Québec was a perfect example of what they do best — not only were the tracks from their most recent 2021 album No Gods No Masters represented with passion and poise, their laundry list of hits sprinkled in throughout the set was a great demonstration of their enduring legacy. As lead vocalist Shirley Manson mentions in her recent episode of Consequence‘s The Story Behind The Song podcast, th...
With the “ACT: LOVESICK” Tour, TOMORROW X TOGETHER Are Ready to Level Up
“We tried In & Out Burger!” says Hueningkai, the youngest member of TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Seated next to his bandmates in a suite in downtown Los Angeles, he’s recounting some of his favorite memories from their time in California in late July. “And Panda Express,” he and Yeonjun add in sync. The American experience is in full swing. Assembled comfortably like this the day after a sold-out show at the Microsoft Theater — the last in a string of entirely sold-out stateside dates — there’s a bit of an air of relief among the band, relaxed in each other’s company. But, more than that, the members of the K-pop quintet seem grateful. “In the beginning, we had doubts about whether we could really do this,” Taehyun shares. “But it ended really well.” Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueni...
Sam Fender on First Mercury Prize Nomination, Summer Festivals, and “Bawling” Over Bruce Springsteen
It just keeps getting better for Sam Fender, one of England’s biggest songwriters. With his second album, the brilliant and personal Seventeen Going Under, released in November 2021, Fender cemented his place in the pantheon of great British songwriters, earning praise from Adele, Elton John, and many more in the process. And it didn’t stop there — since the release of Seventeen Going Under, Fender was awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello songwriting prize for “Best Song Musically and Lyrically,” supported The Rolling Stones at a show in London’s Hyde Park, headlined dozens of festivals around Europe, and, most recently, was nominated yesterday (July 26th) for the Mercury Prize, which awards the best album released in the UK. It’s clear that the personal and therapeutic direction of S...
Billy Corgan and Chloé Mendel on Highland Park Fundraiser, Reclaiming ‘Space in the Community’
The shooting in Highland Park, Illinois during a Fourth of July parade, which left seven people dead and 46 others wounded, became a tragedy that the entire nation felt. But for Billy Corgan and his partner, Chloé Mendel, it hit much closer to home — quite literally. “When you go through this, it’s like you don’t want to walk past where this happened,” Corgan tells SPIN over Zoom. “I mean, we were there last night eating ice cream literally right beneath where the shooter was. We’re there all the time, and we have to reclaim our space in the community.” That reclamation is why the two owners of the neighborhood’s tea shop and plant-based emporium, Madame ZuZu’s, are hosting Together and Together Again — A Benefit for the Highland Park Community Foundation, a live-streamed concert to r...
Westworld Composer on Slipping Some Nine Inch Nails Into Season 4, Episode 5: Exclusive
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Westworld, Season 4 Episode 5, “Zhuangzi.” To read about the music of Episode 4, click here.] Did you catch the Nine Inch Nails cover in the newest episode of Westworld? Don’t feel bad if you missed it — so did Consequence, upon initial viewing. But composer Ramin Djawadi, as part of our weekly series of conversations about the music of Season 4, was kind enough to point out that yes, when Christina (Evan Rachel Wood) and Hale (Tessa Thompson) are having an awkward lunch together, there’s a subtle solo piano inclusion of “The Day the World Went Away” from The Fragile in the background. “If I didn’t know, I probably would’ve missed it too,” Djawadi says, once again reinforcing that when it comes to the HBO sci-fi drama, there’s always a lo...
Billy Porter on Bringing “Trans Joy” to Audiences With His Directorial Debut Anything’s Possible
Press junkets can be stressful occasions for some, but Billy Porter (Pose, Cinderella) had a glass of wine and great energy at the ready when Consequence spoke with him about his directorial debut, the charming coming-of-age rom-com Anything’s Possible. Written by Ximena García Lecuona and premiering Friday, July 22nd on Prime Video, the film focuses on Kelsa (Eva Reign), a trans high school senior whose life gets shaken up when she and her fellow student Khal (Abubakr Ali) discover their mutual crushes on each other. One key sequence from the film involves a conflict with Kelsa’s former friend Em (Courtnee Carter), which escalates to the point where Kelsa is no longer allowed to use the girl’s bathroom. The situation becomes the center of a heated scene at the school between Kelsa, Kelsa’...
Alison Mosshart on Potential Dead Weather Reunion: “It’ll Have To Feel Just Right”
At some point between The White Stripes’ debut and now, Jack White crossed over from being the frontman of an exciting blues rock duo to being an ambassador for the very essence of the music he creates. And, as evidenced by the many groups he’s played in and/or produced for, White isn’t hesitant to share some of that essence. In Consequence’s latest cover story, starring White, Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and The Dead Weather) shares her experience working with the rock icon. “[He’s a] wildly creative mind, of course. He moves quick, ideas come to him like boom, boom, boom, and he’s fearless in all his projects,” Mosshart tells Consequence. “[He] just fires up the engine and goes. There is total heart and passion running through all of his work. His energy is huge, and he’s a great colla...
Purity Ring’s Shrines Turns 10: How the Debut Laid a Masterful Foundation for the Future of Pop
Purity Ring‘s Megan James and Corin Roddick describe their debut album, Shrines, as one with very strict rules. “All the drums sound a certain way, all the vocals sound a certain way, all the synths… we created a strict palate of things that sort of worked together and tried to make as many different kind of musical ideas within that palette,” Roddick tells Consequence. Indeed, Shrines — which celebrates its tenth anniversary today, July 20th — is an album that represents Purity Ring operating with only their essentials, forging a path that would later define the sound of modern pop, if only for a portion of the last decade. When you look at Purity Ring’s output following Shrines (2015’s Another Eternity, 2020’s WOMB, and most recently, their EP Graves, which ...
