After nearly twenty years away from being in a band, Eddie “TOPO” Lizardo found himself back in the thick of things on lead guitar with one of our favorite bands, The Lousekateers. He left Venezuela at 35 with his young son and eventually wound up living out a teenage dream of touring both America and the UK, albeit a couple of decades behind schedule. Has band life changed that much for him in the intervening years? Not really. The cheap hotels and Waffle House meals probably would have been more appealing when he was younger, but he’ll take it.

In our second guitar interview, we caught up with Eddie to find out how he ended up back onstage, what he’s got in the case and whether one particular bandmate really needs to worry about those 500 guitar pedals.

There's something beautifully unhinged about calling a song "Bog Bitch," especially when it comes with a message about refusing to make yourself smaller for anyone, and we do mean anyone. Boston's Abby Volta has turned that frustration into a Halloween release that fits right in with their love of goth, post-punk, and all things weird. We had a chance to sit down with Abby to chat about the new release, finding their place in Boston's music scene, growing up with Bowie as an influence, and why the goth crowd is actually a whole lot friendlier than you might think.

Esty Henao of the New Jersey groove metal band LOADED isn't particularly interested in doing things by the book. He taught himself guitar without learning much music theory, preferring to figure things out by ear rather than worry about what the chords are called. His band came together through a bizarre series of events involving a blocked message on BandMix, and things haven't gotten much more normal since.

Esty's got plenty of stories, a wacky sense of humor, and some serious ambitions for LOADED. We had a chance to sit down with him to discuss how it all started and how far he wants to take it.

Who Is Mr. Quigley?

Until recently, he was a relatively obscure YouTuber in Texas making videos about subjects most people would rather avoid. Then his audience exploded - perhaps the algorithm picked up the channel, or maybe his common-sense approach to political, economic and social issues just simply started to resonate with viewers. Suddenly, a guy who describes himself as a chronically unemployable college dropout had over 100,000 people listening to him expound on matters large and small.

That his channel is still alive is a near miracle - he's willing to piss of some pretty influential sectors of society, and he doesn't seem especially worried about the consequences. In this wide-ranging interview, we had a chance to discuss his unlikely rise, his anger over a genocide unfolding before our eyes, and why a man who wants to burn the whole system down still manages to find things worth believing in.

When we put out a call for best bass interviews, we were kind hoping someone would mention Rich. Luckily, a lot of people did. With decades spent playing lead guitar before iLL RAiSED tapped him for the bass job, Rich decided to bring his sweeps and alternate picking along with him. The Queens native has a bass tone that growls and cuts through the guitars, and he’s learned where to put the fancy stuff without losing the groove. We had a chance to sit down and chat with him about his technique, playing through the exhaustion of ITP treatments and the thrill of getting his daughter to follow in his footsteps.

In our first bassist profile, we're proud to feature Eliza Endless, affectionately known to their bandmates as “Screws”. Anchoring the four string for NYC's Eevie Echoes and the Locations, they bring a mix of punk energy and theatrical flair to the stage. Eliza boasts a musical background that's all over the map, from classical vocal training and musical theater to jazz improvisation, and somehow it all fits together. We had a chance to sit down with Eliza and chat about what it’s like playing alongside Laura Jane Grace, finding a second family in the band, and why when none other than Eevie Echoes lays a nickname on you, it tends to stick.

When you think about pits in hardcore, you're usually envisioning people slamming into each other (hopefully not causing grievous bodily injury). Hardcore for Pits West has a slightly different focus.

Hardcore and pit bulls have always made a weird kind of sense together. Both get written off as dangerous until you actually spend time around them. This year’s Hardcore For Pits West is trying to turn that overlap into something useful: shows, an art show, and actual adoptions. We caught up with Angel to talk about how a community that already knows how to rebuild broken things ended up working with California Bully Rescue and turned a love for four-legged friends into a project of passion.

Being loud, punk and trans in a town of just over 100 people can make you stand out pretty quicky.

Transmute Dysphoria has turned that isolation into something bigger and better: support, community, and for anyone who needs it, a family. We had a chance to sit down with them and chat about growing up trans in rural Louisiana, playing shows that don't always feel welcoming, lifelong friendships, heartbreak and finding ways to make music when your body doesn't necessarily cooperate. And somehow we also got Vampire Red hair dye, American Spirit menthols and a Ninja blender into the conversation.

For a magazine publication in the UK, you don't have to be in London to do some pretty cool shit.

Soundsphere has spent more than two decades making an impact in alternative media, straight from the North of England. They've grown from covering DIY bands to interviewing some of the biggest names in music, film and wrestling, while still making room for emerging artists. Oh, yeah - and working with a little band called Judas Priest (and pleeeeease pass Rob and the boys our contact info)!

One major reason why we can confidently say that punk is alive and well is by the various places it’s currently thriving. We’ve interviewed punk bands from Malaysia, South Africa, Bolivia, and this is our second trip to Colombia, which has a more robust punk scene than you might imagine. To us, One Reason To Rise is the band to watch in Bogotá - not just because they like all our Instagram posts, but for their high energy brand of punk that comes straight from their love for making music.

At knifetwister records, we have a pretty clear mission statement - we want to amplify voices that might not otherwise be heard. Sometimes those are members of marginalized groups, or sometimes they are simply bands that are too small to realistically otherwise get any press. However, one side benefit is that we get to meet people from all over the country, and all over the world. Some of them are pretty fucking cool.

Nicole Brice is the founder and editor of the Louisiana-based Mixed Alternative Mag. What you'll find at Mixed Alt: independent coverage, entertainment, passion, and personality. What you won't: rules, censorship, hard news, politics and religion. What you definitely won't find: ads. Woe be to the advertiser that approaches her with a pitch.

I had a chance to chat with Nicole on a wide-ranging course of topics, and since this is our first live interview, I sent her the transcript to eyeball, possibly make changes, fine tune her answers. There were no changes - what she said live is what is getting printed. No second guessing, no equivocation - pretty punk. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed conducting it.

Your Best Nightmare is not particularly interested in fitting into the standard constraints of what defines punk. If they did, there wouldn't be a ukulele on stage. New Jersey's self-described Cutest Terrors feed their unique approach into a high-energy lens to create something that's quite a bit different than anything we've every heard. We caught up with Erin and Josh to discuss collaborating, overcoming self doubt and why anyone who thinks they aren't punk is kinda missing the point.