What Happened to Rock and Roll?—Five Times August and Matt Azrieli on Building a New Counterculture

“People are looking for something to find hope in … because so much of music and movies and television spits in their face—for lack of a better term—insults them for having very simple, fundamental values, for having children, for caring about your family, for wanting to make decisions about your own body.”In this episode, I sit down with Matt Azrieli and Brad Skistimas, the latter of whom is also known as Five Times August. Mr. Azrieli co-founded The Post Millennial and is now CEO of Baste Records—a new music label for artists who refuse to conform to political and cultural orthodoxies. Baste just released Five Times August’s new single:“‘Ain't No Rock and Roll’ was sort-of my response to all of my musical heroes that didn't show up over the last three years. With COVID, and just worldwide tyranny, there was never a better time to speak up against 'the Man,' and very, very, very few of my heroes showed up to the fight,” says Mr. Skistimas.“You look at what Rolling Stone did, and how they lionized the Boston bomber: People don't forget, and people understand now," says Mr. Azrieli. "Rolling Stone Magazine—it’s certainly not a countercultural magazine anymore, right? It's another tentacle of power,” says Mr. Azrieli.