For its ninth year running, Michigan-punk festival Bled Fest has cemented itself as both a good time (it's an anagram for founder "Big Love"s Educational Fest) and a staple in the local community. This year's headliners, Andrew W.K and Anti-Flag, will take their main-stage spots in a converted school cafeteria in the small town of Howell, Michigan. There will also be a flea market-style gymnasium, classrooms with floor acts, and supportive record label sponsors. Staff interviewer Laila Hanson spoke to Production Manager Scott Bell about the Fest's setup, its band selection process, and just how involved the key players are with integrating Michigan bands and the community of Howell.

Before the recording of Alpha & Omega's second LP, No Rest, No Peace a string of horrifying coincidences began to crop up around vocalist Luis Hernandez- Three of his best friends suddenly passed away and each had an eerie connection to the vocalist. While that would cause some people to lock their doors and coat the room with bubble wrap, Hernandez became reckless, subjecting himself to more and more dangerous dares.

That's probably the reason why on No Rest, No Peace the grim reaper seems to pop up on every corner. Throughout the record, he follows Hernandez, always remaining just out of sight, which in some ways, is even worse than knowing when he's coming.

In order to understand Hernandez's morbidity, punknews' John Gentile called up the vocalist where they talked about Hernandez's upbringing, the new record, metaphysics, and doing swan dives off of cliffs.

Click "Read More" to see how John needlessly works Amebix into another conversation, yet again.

This month Seattle's Big Eyes are celebrating the release of their second full-length LP, Almost Famous on Grave Mistake. Since 2009, four years and one US coast ago, they've been a hard-working band. Now based in Seattle after moving from Brooklyn, with a couple splits, 7-inches, and full-lengths under their belt, there's no end in sight - they've got a tour starting this month and a European tour in the works for fall. Punknews interviewer Stephanie Thornton had some questions for lead singer/guitarist Kate Eldridge about the new album, growing as a musician and bandmate, upcoming tour plans, and how to deal with being treated differently as a woman in the punk scene.

Patrick Kindlon and Matthew Rosenberg are a comic book-writing duo who have recently debuted their latest project, 12 Reasons to Die, a story originated by Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan and music producer Adrian Younge. The story tells two intertwined tales: one of Anthony Starks, and another of a mysterious, unnamed character. As the story unfolds, the reader begins to understand the overarching course of the series.

The duo are no strangers to the comic book business having worked together on projects such as Menu, released by Trip City, and a backup story in the Image Comics' series Five Ghosts. The book itself is being released by the up-and-coming publisher, Black Mask Studios. Black Mask is headed by Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records owner, Brett Gurewitz, alongside comic book industry veterans Steve Niles and Matt Pizzolo. Contributing editor, Armando Olivas, spoke with Patrick and Matthew about the latest project and more.

You can click Read More for the interview.

No one knows where Mischief Brew will head next. Though they recently released the hardcore-meets-folk of The Stone Operation. and followed it up with two radically different EPs to boot, the musical landscape is now their oyster.

Mischief Brew started out as a solo project of Erik Petersen where he planed to write medieval acoustic poetry. But since then the band has morphed into one of the earliest folk punk bands, one of the earliest gypsy punk bands, and more recently, a straight up, kickass punk band with some real old-world style (as well as the unnerving, occasional toast to Death himself).

In order to see where the band is headed next, Punknews' John Gentile met up with Petersen where they talked about Mischief Brew's next record, argued about history, and complimented each other for being Italian.

Emotive hardcore band BoySetsFire made a name for itself during its 13-year tenure, blending melodic punk with scathing hardcore. The band threw in the towel in 2007, making way for other projects from the members of the band. We saw the return of BoySetsFire in 2010, and the band finally made a return to the studio to track the Bled Dry 7-inch and a new full-length record. Punknews staff interviewer Gregg Harrington spoke with BoySetsFire frontman Nathan Gray about the band's reunion and subsequent plans.

Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil have quite a few albums under their belt. Ten years after the album that brought them U.S fame, Comalies, the band is still going strong, with the original lineup and original record label, Century Media. Their latest, Dark Adrenaline recently brought them on a US tour with Sevendust and Coal Chamber. Staff interviewer Laila Hanson sat down with male vocalist Andrea Ferro on their recent stop in Philadelphia to talk about the progression of the band's sound, what it's like being married on the road and how they tapped into a higher form of lyric writing due to their partnership with producer Don Gilmore.

That's all, folks! Big ups to Brian for hanging out with us and thanks to everyone else who participated. You can read the complete Q&A below.

Tonight's "We'll do it Live," where we give our readers the opportunity to engage in a live question and answer session with a variety of artists, features Brian Robinson of A Wilhelm Scream. The band will be appearing at Metropolis this Saturday, May 18 during Pouzza Fest (hey, we're sponsors!) in Montreal. So if you have a burning question for Brian post it in the comments section and look for a response via username brianjrobinson.

FYI: Editors may delete comments that are harassing or unnecessarily rude or offensive. Please play nice and everyone can get something cool out of this.

In its third year, Montreal's Pouzza Fest is starting to look a lot like a north-of-the-border version of The Fest, and that's just the way the festival's organizers want it. That's because when Hugo Mudie and Helene McKoy conceived the idea a few years back, Mudie always saw Gainesville's annual throwdown as the model for a proper punk rock festival, and with three days (May 17-19), 12 venues and 150 bands, including American Steel, Crime in Stereo and Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, it seems that the vision has become reality.

Punknews interviewer Adam Eisenberg rang up organizer Helene McKoy to get the details on this year's festival, solicit some advice for newbies, and learn a little bit of French.

And that's a wrap. Thanks to Miguel for hanging out with us and for everyone who asked questions. You can read the complete Q&A below. Have a great weekend, y'all!

In this installment of "We'll do it Live," where we give our readers the opportunity to engage in a live question and answer session with a variety of artists, we bring you Teenage Bottlerocket's Miguel Chen. The band is re-issuing A-Bomb later this month on May 21, 2013 via Haha Cool! Records / Jerk Off Records / Lost Cat Records. Teenage Bottlerocket will be appearing at Foufounes Electriques on Saturday, May 18 during Pouzza Fest (hey, we're sponsors!) in Montreal. So if you have a burning question for Miguel post it in the comments section and look for a response via username MiguelTBR.

FYI: Editors may delete comments that are harassing or unnecessarily rude or offensive. Please play nice and everyone can get something cool out of this.

Photo by Tamicka Armstrong

The city of Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs, a region usually associated with the American delicacy that is the cheesesteak as well as highly irritable sports fans, seems to be experiencing a rapid expansion in its DIY scenes. Although being a hotbed for independent music for several decades, the area has lately has produced a new, younger set of bands destined for success. Young Statues are among one of these up and coming artists. Staff interviewer Andrew Clark spoke with frontman Carmen Cirignano about Philly, working with Run For Cover Records, and the band's new EP.