Zines 2 | V. Vale (Re:Search)

Zines, Vol. Two has been used as a textbook in university classes for cultural studies, journalism, and media criticism. It includes a fantastic, in-depth interview with Dishwasher Pete, whose goal was to wash dishes in every state of America. Keffo of Temp Slave talks about very funny pranks on the job, and advocates restoring the I.W.W. (International Workers of the World). McJob continues the analysis of the workplace and its perils. John Marr discusses his favorite bizarre murders in Murder Can Be Fun. A history of proletarian novels is featured, plus reviews of many independent publications.

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.

More self-expression obsession coming at you: in-depth interviews with 12 more unusual publishers. From a 15-year-old suburbanite former punk, to a filmmaker and “tracker” (8-track collector/expert); a French self-publisher of art books (in the original meaning of the word), 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 much, much more. Read all about it in Zines! Vol. 2!

Johnny Brewton, interviewee:

Johnny Brewton produces X-RAY, a publication which must be seen and touched to be fully appreciated. It features different colored papers, inserts, found photographs, color xeroxes and objects such as matchbooks and Chinese fortunes—each issue is a hand-produced artwork, with no two copies exactly alike.

Growing up in Ventura, California, Johnny got involved in the Los Angeles punk rock scene at the age of fourteen. A decade ago, he helped produce a zine, Sixty Miles North, and then published Kandykorn Jackhammer, all the while playing bass and drums in bands such as M.I.A., Missiles of October, the Screaming Things, Frankenstein and Big Biscuit Express. He has a small collection of early punk records, sixties Mexican punk/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 is always on the alert for found materials to incorporate in his outstanding and amazing X-RAY…

Precursors of the current zine explosion include all publications 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—in short, 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 20 years we managed to produce 45 books. Recently somebody asked me if I’d like to do a book with them for no money, just a copy of the book, and I agreed. That’s often the way it works. All the books are different—we change the size, the type, 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 the world—

A: Everybody I ever liked, I would send them a free copy of my book. I would write, “I like what you do very much. This is what I do. Is there 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 magazines and find things that interest me; then I try and meet the people who produced them…

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 can do. For me, work is a kind of “regularization”—if I didn’t work and stayed alone 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 photograph and then redo it in a drawing my way—only then am I completely satisfied. When something touches me, like a photo of a girl—even if she’s not nude, I’ll make her 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!