When the founder of Knifetwister Magazine first invited me for an interview, I had never heard of this New York-based webzine. So I took the time to dive into their entire site and quickly connected with some of the values they stand for. That’s when I accepted—and decided to turn it into an interview exchange.
Like Punkterview, Knifetwister promotes a strong DIY ethos and focuses on mutual support within the scene rather than capitalist business models. In this conversation with Raph and Maya, we touch on their love for webzines and fanzines, the New York scene, and dig into the core of their philosophy.
Raph Copeland, Founder: it does, and there are a few reasons - accessibility and more of a sense of permanence. First of all, podcasts can last anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Attention spans just aren't that long these days unfortunately, and most people out walking their dog want to listen to music, or maybe on rare occasions an audiobook. Podcasts are fun to do for everyone involved, but are sometimes of limited interest. When we do a print interview, that's a 5-10 minute read. Bands can show them to friends and family, put an interview with us on their EPK, and once it's up there, it's up there. You can print it out as a PDF, take screenshots, whatever. But ultimately, we just believe in the power of the printed word. Artists can take a few days, think about their answers - it just makes for a better conversation.
Raph: Yes, thanks for asking, All proceeds are going to Make the Road New York, which works for the basic dignity of immigrant and working class communities here, rights which are unfortunately under direct attack right now. I became aware of them because one of their offices is two blocks from my old apartment, a converted house painted electric blue; gave kind of a boring neighborhood some character. I looked into them and loved what they’re doing.
The first compilation featured 21 New York bands, that one benefited the homeless population in NYC; this compilation, slated for April, is 22 non-New York bands (well, 20 – there were 2 New York bands too good not to include).
That was actually the original idea, to sort of put out a compilation to show that NYC cares about it’s own vulnerable citizens, and if it went well (which it did), to follow it up with the rest of the world showing support for New York. So, we’ve got bands from eight different US states and seven different countries on four continents on the compilation.
We also have several unreleased tracks lined up, so you can’t just look up the track list and plug it into Spotify. Look for the drop on or around April 18th.
Raph: So the two things prior music related things that I’m most proud of are managing a band and directing a music video. The video was for Hold Tight by Butterbrain, it premiered on PunkNews on Inauguration/MLK Day 2025. I have mixed feelings about the video – it’s cool to have my name on something which will be around for a long time, and I’ll always be connected to one of my favorite bands.
But, on the rare occasions where I feel compelled to watch it, I am sometimes taken back to the two dozen times I was crying in the fetal position after my most recent edit came back with a “we love it, but just a couple of things ….”.
I also continue to manage the NYC thrash metal band CHAKA – it’s Mark “CHAKA” Sokoll on bass/vocals, Mike “Ssslestak” Caldarella on drums, and Frank “Frank” Principe on guitar. They come from both hardcore and metal backgrounds, so it’s really kind of a crossover sound, but go check us out!. I am pushing them to release a salsa track, see if we can maybe find some success in the Latin market, but so far the idea hasn’t gotten much traction.
Raph Copeland
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Raph: I’d love to say yes, but not really. I kinda sorta didn’t do so well in public school and I got sent off to boarding school in the Berkshires (usually an idle parental threat, in my case a reality). So I was on the side of a mountain during my high school years more or less cut off from civilization. Then I went to college upstate, that was another 5 years down the drain from a scene perspective. I did get to see Murphy’s Law at Max’s in Ithaca, I think that was 1992 – Jimmy invited everyone there up on stage to partake in a few big spliffs. I don’t smoke, so for a few minutes it was me and I think one other guy just kind of standing there awkwardly while everyone else was on stage having fun, but it was still a great show (when is Murphy’s Law ever not a great show?).
Aaron "White Owl" Collins of White Trash / Murphy's Law / Skarhead / Butterbrain.
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Maya Bishop, Staff Writer/Media Relations: I was kind of too young for all the stuff people talk about. Which almost sucks, but the best thing about New York is there is always a punk and hardcore scene if you know where to look. I grew up with Bronx Underground FLC shows getting me into the scene. Which turned out to be a great outlet for forced catholic school rage. Sometimes I even think that nostalgia for the "Great CBGB Era" keeps people from really investing in the scene now, because they think all our best years are behind us.
Maya Bishop, Staff Writer, Media Relationship.
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Raph: The magazine was an afterthought. I kind of figured that having a companion interview magazine would be an interesting niche – like, the magazine idea came literally the day the label was founded. Now it’s pretty much 75% of what we do. In retrospect, it was one of the best ideas I’ve ever had, partially because it really IS a great idea, and partially because most of my ideas are pretty terrible. But it’s enabled me to meet and chat with people all over the world. That is one of the best takeaways from this entire thing.
Maya: You can't really be punk or alternative without the actual culture of mutual support. It's what the ideology is based in and in order for the scene to really function you have to give back to it. So working with mutual aid orgs is kinda part.
Raph: Besides musicians, we have interviewed for instance Allison Moyer, the editor from Shezine, a great feminist magazine in Canada. We recently interviewed Behind Enemy Lines, a NYC based organization doing grassroots work standing up to US imperialism. We interviewed Punks Giving, who supports exactly what you’re mentioning – mutual aid. So yeah, mostly music but also sometimes people who simply share the punk ethos.
Maya: Misogyny is one of the things that really holds the scene back from greatness. When we talk history, most credit for alternative music goes to black women like Sister Rosetta or Poly Styrene. Knifetwister has and will always highlight women because we can't really talk about music without including women. When we look at the scene today we have women doing amazing work.
We have previous interviewees like Plague Master, Eevie Echoes, Pillowbiter, Maria Chaos (who organizes Doll Fest), tricktheriddle and more. Women are making music, we're a music magazine, we will be talking to women about making music. If that bothers someone, they can get over it or kick rocks. It also goes without saying that this includes trans women, because they are women. Women deserve their credit, their pay, and their goddamn safety.
Raph: Personally, anyone with an important message to get out. We’ve interviewed a number of trans musicians, queercore bands, artists that are standing up against ICE, racism, income inequality, and the issues that I personally think are important to speak out against. That is very gratifying. It’s also fun to interview bands that I am friends with – MANiK (who is on our label), Butterbrain, Coventry Carols, CHAKA, GIFTSHOP – because I can ask them embarrassing questions and not feel bad about it. If they skip those questions, I just type something way worse than anything they would have ever said.
Maya: I like political bands who are willing to stand on their values. I like anyone willing to get weird with it. I pick people based on how much fun I think they'd be to be around, and ideally how low the chances are that I'd regret giving them my support in the future. (I grew up an early internet scene kid - think blood on the dance floor, MSI, all that) and now I try to vet bands as much as I can before hopping on their bandwagon.
I love bands with a crazy energy which is why I picked The Arborists. I also get all of our submission emails, so these days I enjoy people who can read instructions and reply promptly haha.
Raph: You could say that. We get a LOT of requests, and we're doing about 15-20 a month right now. There are no shortage of bands that want to be interviewed. Now, I'd love to say we have something huge coming up, but we really don't plan that far in advance - we move quickly. As an example, we e-mailed Dave Ellefson from Megadeth, who I am a huge fan of, figuring the odds were maybe 1 in 500. Of course, nothing - haha. But if he had responded, we'd have that interview up about an hour after the answers came back. So, yeah - can't say we have something huge coming in May, for instance, but that doesn't mean we won't.
Raph: For a long time, I didn’t. So much of the music industry (and I use the term industry intentionally) was so manufactured for a really long time. What the fuck was Limp Bizkit, I still don’t understand how that was allowed. It now seems like there’s a total resurgence of DIY – maybe as a reaction to stuff like that, or maybe being part of knifetwister records has given me more of an insight into the music out there that’s actually relevant.
Maya: I wasn't there for the 90s to make the comparison but the DIY culture is alive and well. People these days are too broke for the Live Nation monopoly and too tired for the traditional industry BS. The return to DIY is blowing up from CDs to street shows. Hell, zines are back too. I think we're in for another golden age.
Label mascot Annika
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Raph: I have no idea. I really didn’t think it would get as big as it has gotten. When I first started this, I told myself that I’d spend no more than a half an hour a day on it. I get a good chuckle out of that every day.
Maya: I just got here, so planning for the future feels far off, but definitely more compilation albums. If I could help plan a big knifetwister show? Maybe a physical magazine one day. I always wanted to get into physical music magazines, and with the return to physical media it seems like fun.
Through the engaging answers of Raph and Maya from Knifetwister, I felt their unwavering passion for lifting the magazine movement high on their shoulders. They radiate the camaraderie that fuels the scene and dive deep in their interviews—something you can clearly see in the conversation they generously shared with me. I wish them a spring and summer full of great interviews, and I’ll be following the development of their upcoming compilation. Their projects are definitely ones to watch.
