Zines! Vol.2 - Softcover

Vale, V

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0965046923 ISBN 13: 9780965046923

Publisher: RE/Search Publications, 1996

Synopsis

Cultural Studies. Literary Criticism. Self-expression obsession returns in volume 2 of ZINES! Featuring in-depth interviews with 12 unusual publishers. From a 15-year-old subarbanite former punk, to a filmmaker and tracker (8-track collecter/expert); a French self-publisher of art books, to the dishwasher whose goal it is to wash dishes in every state of the U.S.A. Also a history of proletarian novels, zine reviews and more!

About this title

About the Author

Johnny Brewton, interviewee:

Johnny Brewton produces X-RAY, a publication whichmust be seen and touched to be fully appreciated. It features different coloredpapers, inserts, found photographs, color xeroxes and objects such asmatchbooks and Chinese fortunes—each issue is a hand-produced artwork, with notwo copies exactly alike.

Growing up in Ventura, California, Johnny got involved inthe Los Angeles punk rock scene at the age of fourteen. A decade ago, he helpedproduce a zine, Sixty Miles North, and then published KandykornJackhammer, all the while playing bass and drums in bands such as M.I.A.,Missiles of October, the Screaming Things, Frankenstein and Big BiscuitExpress. He has a small collection of early punk records, sixties Mexicanpunk/garage band recordings, and odd jazz, jug band and unclassifiable vinyl.As a hobby he plays the ukulele and musical saw. In his wanderings, Johnny isalways on the alert for found materials to incorporate in his outstanding andamazing X-RAY…

Lynn Peril, interviewee:

Lynn Peril publishes Mystery Date, a zine drawing on diversesources such as fifties home economics textbooks, etiquette manuals, datingmanuals, biographies of stars and starlets, as well as rereleased films andeducational videos. She grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in the eightiesmoved to San Francisco, where she lives with husband Johnny Bartlett of thePhantom Surfers…

From the Back Cover

More self-expression obsession coming at you: in-depthinterviews with 12 more unusual publishers. From a 15-year-old suburbaniteformer punk, to a filmmaker and “tracker” (8-track collector/expert); a Frenchself-publisher of art books (in the original meaning of the word), to thedishwasher whose goal it is to wash dishes in every state of the U.S.A. Also, ahistory of proletarian novels, zine reviews and much, much more. Read all aboutit in Zines! Vol. 2!

Reviews

Otto von Stroheim, publisher of Tiki News, a journal of all things tiki, explains his entrance into the world of zines as a sort of epiphany: After putting a lot of time into researching tiki culture, he thought "Why don't I try to package all this knowledge I've gained into something I can share with other people? That way I can create more of a community." Such is the motivation of most of the thousands of zine enthusiasts, whether they are publishers, writers, collectors, or traders. Vale, one-time copublisher of Re/Search publications, conducted interviews with 12 practitioners?from von Stroheim to Dishwasher Pete to the editor of Eight-Track Mind?and has collected them here along with short, representative excerpts from each zine. The interviews are entertaining and capture the spirit of the culture for those new to zines, and they offer zinesters a rare chance to hear some of these legendary writers/editors/publishers out of character. Friedman, editor of Factsheet Five, a sort of yellow pages of zine publishing, has produced the perfect complement to Vale's work. Friedman collects one or two short excerpts from each of nearly 80 different zines. Whether it is the "Guide to Kids' Birthday Parties" from Hip-Hop Housewife or the workers' rights manifesto from Temp Slave, there is something for everyone here. Both books include addresses for dozens of zines. Since collecting, cataloging, and circulating zines is a librarian's nightmare, the publication of this pair of titles is an excellent opportunity for public libraries to acquire an easy-to-deal-with package of one corner of American pop culture.?Eric Bryant, "Lirbary Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Precursors of the current zine explosion include allpublications classed as “proletarian”: novels, nonfiction, short stories,magazines, pamphlets, poetry, plus related genres such as tough-guy,freak/carnival/sideshow books, writing by people of color, early feminist writing—inshort, all the voices of the social underclass. (from essay)

Excerpt from Bruno Richard:

Q: Did you make any money off your publishing?

A: A little bit, but it was never enough. Over the past 20years we managed to produce 45 books. Recently somebody asked me if I’d like todo a book with them for no money, just a copy of the book, and I agreed. That’soften the way it works. All the books are different—we change the size, thetype, the topic, every time. It’s all done just to do something before dying.It’s more interesting to do something when you’re alive than just living!

Q: Well, one of your rewards is meeting people all over theworld—

A: Everybody I ever liked, I would send them a free copy ofmy book. I would write, “I like what you do very much. This is what I do. Isthere something you could send me in exchange so I could see more of your work,because it is not readily available to me?” When I travel, I look at magazinesand find things that interest me; then I try and meet the people who producedthem…

I draw three to five hours every morning before I go to work(4:30-9:00 AM) and sometimes I draw at bedtime if I’m alone. That’s all I cando. For me, work is a kind of “regularization”—if I didn’t work and stayedalone in my room drawing all day like a monk—! That’s why I need a regular job,and that’s why I hate weekends! Besides, my job pays for all my publishing…

I like to destroy pictures. Often, I’ll find a photographand then redo it in a drawing my way—only then am I completely satisfied. Whensomething touches me, like a photo of a girl—even if she’s not nude, I’ll makeher nude. When I find a picture that touches me very much, I’ll do it my way,like “Guernica” was for Picasso…

My drawings depict the awfulness and comedy in this world,like George Grosz who did biting drawings of the bourgeois, the military,prostitutes, etc… I also show the bad side, the dark side of “true love”because I don’t think true love exists!

Edition details

• Publisher: RE/Search Publications
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0965046923
• ISBN 13: 9780965046923
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 137