ISSUE ORIENTED VIDEO EXCLUSIVE! 

The Dillnger Escape Plan are easily one of the most important bands of our time. With the release of Option Paralysis - the band's fourth full-length record - Dillinger are poised to once again raise the bar for both musicians and music lovers, within the world of aggressive music and beyond.

In this second of two installments, host Ronen Kauffman talks to guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Liam Wilson and drummer Billy Rymer about heavy other people's opinions, longevity, drummers and much more.

Hear the entire performance and interview, plus an interview with Freddy Madball (Madball, Hazen Street) as part of Issue Oriented, episode 52!

Go to IssueOriented.com for more exclusive videos, podcasts, interviews, performances, blogs, giveaways and much more!

ISSUE ORIENTED VIDEO EXCLUSIVE! 

The Dillnger Escape Plan are easily one of the most important bands of our time. With the release of Option Paralysis - the band's fourth full-length record - Dillinger are poised to once again raise the bar for both musicians and music lovers, within the world of aggressive music and beyond.

In this first of two installments, host Ronen Kauffman talks to guitarist Ben Weinman and bassist Liam Wilson about heavy metal music, the limits on human perception, wizards and much more. 

February is the month where holidays make people feel bad - bad about not having a Valentine, and bad about not being president. Which is why episode 52 of Issue Oriented is the perfect way to forget your woes. Go ahead - get lost in our eyes. We don't have to tell a soul.

First, Joey Cape (Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes) and Jon Snodgrass (Drag The River) participate in a tag-team interview that covers a wide range of topics - from sadness, to money, to regionalism, and everything in between. Joey and Jon also gave a stirring performance live in the Issue Oriented Studio. Not to be missed.

Then Freddy Cricien, a.k.a. Freddy Madball, returns to Issue Oriented for a great discussion. This discussion touches on a whole bunch of big-people stuff, like religion and politics, as well as the release of Freddy's new hip-hop record, Catholic Guilt. What a great discussion.

This episode of Issue Oriented is sponsored by Warbird Entertainment. Check out WarbirdEntertainment.com for info on releases from Harbour 81, Guns On The Run, Let Me Out and many more!

Welcome to 2010! If this year is anything like Episode 51 of Issue Oriented, we are in for an awesome ride!

First you’ll hear host Ronen Kauffman talk to Polar Bear Club vocalistJimmy Stadt and bassist Goose about nicknames, marketing copy, influence pigeonholing and much more. Good times!

Then Ronen talks to Crime In Stereo vocalist Kristian Hallbert and guitarist/vocalist Alex Dunne about learning experiences, GPS conspiracy theories, Vision of Disorder and other fascinating stuff.

Then we shift gears, taking a look back at the past 50 episodes with the help of some friends - Ray Harkins (Mikoto, Taken), Portland (Sons of Nero, Ferret Music) and James Hepplewhite (Pastepunk.com) all reflect on their favorite Issue Oriented moments over the years.

Is your iPod full of music from bands with swoopy hair and toothy publicity photos? Then you’re probably not punk enough to handle The Kominas.

Based in Boston and NYC, this (cautiously) self-defined Punjabi punk band have become accidental media darlings thanks to their re-configuration of two seemingly incompatible cultural forms – punk rock and Islam. Muslim punk rockers? Well, sort of. And yes, it’s as uncommon as it sounds.

In fact, the very first Islam-influenced punk bands existed only in a work of fiction – a novel called The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammed Knight. The Taqwacores may have been about an imaginary Muslim punk scene, but it rippled out into the real world, inspiring real-world kids to form real-world bands. The Kominas have been covered by CNN, MTV, Rolling Stone and various other mainstream outlets, but their story is often over-simplified, or botched all together.

Which is why, of course, you tune in to Issue Oriented. In one of the most compelling interviews we’ve ever featured, The Kominas and I talked about extremism, racism, Islam, punk, the media and so much more. Kominas members Shahjehan Khan and Basim Usmani, joined by Omar Waqar ofSarmust, lay it all out with a level of clarity that would certainly make most casual music fans at least a teensy bit uncomfortable. They also wonder aloud about when the day will come when people will be more interested in their music than their unusual story. Of course, those two things are inextricably linked, so it’s complicated.

This episode of Issue Oriented is not to be missed!

ith all kinds of craziness in the air, Issue Oriented is kicking off an avalanche of content from now through October. To start things off with a bang, we’re stoked to present episode 45, featuring Frank Turner. Frank stopped by as he passed through while on tour with The Offspring, and we talked about a number of things – from the constant connectivity of Twitter and Facebook, to playing 24 shows in 24 hours for the filming of a music video; and lots more. Great stuff.

Then Frank played three songs in the Issue Oriented studio – two come from his September 2009 release Poetry of the Deed; the third, “Pass It Along”, is previously unrecorded and unreleased – originally intended for the new album, it didn’t make the final track listing. Don’t worry, though – your boy Issue Oriented has you covered.

This performance comes from Issue Oriented episode 47,  out in a week or so. Episode 47 includes two additional songs from the session, as well an interview done in the traditionally rad IO style.

Learn how Cobra Skulls’ tongue-in-cheek approach to catchy punk rock means serious business: like Iraq War vet who got a DUI on purpose, so he could get discharged;  a controversial chapter in the evolution of Los Angeles; the end of free water, and what it means to you. All of this from an infectious punk band called Cobra Skulls.

After you listen, call (201) ISSUE-99 and let us know what you think!