What a welcoming event it was too. Club organiser Ian Watson is a very friendly, genuine bloke, and him inviting us to have a fanzine stall, and then telling us how much it added to the sense of what the indie-pop club night are about, was really lovely. I have to admit that I recognised him immediately on arrival at The Canterbury Arms pub, because the catalogue of 1990s/2000s music journalists I built in my mind as an indie teen is still fully ingrained. It comes in handy at times, see !
So with a mountaineer's backback full of 'zines and boxes, and some vital packets of Cherry Drop sweets, I arrived to set up the stall, and was soon joined by Emma Jane Falconer, a friend whom I had invited to sell 'zines with me (not affiliated with us SW Zines, but a 'zine creator/zine seller in her own right). Thank you to Emma for her pretty blanket, and the bunting she had made! She was good company and fun to share a stall with - lots of fun chats about music and stuff. I also loved how I could call on her impromptu to describe the music of Stockhausen to a customer (I was selling the odd CD, etc, as well). Her knowledge of all things musical/avante gard/technical is to be beheld.
Lots of lovely music got played by various DJs throughout the day. I loved how things kicked off with Guns of Brixton when earlier I had had this in my head on alighting the tube, only in my head, it went: 'Ooooh, the 'zines of Brixton'. Tilly and the Wall got played, and Haiku Salut, which was ace. If you have not been to a club night, How Does it Feel to Be Loved play indie pop, Motown, 60s female pop, and so on, it's very relaxed and nice.
I had a little browse before things opened. I was much too nervous about the day to really behave ordinarily, though, and should have concentrated more on searching for records and talking to people, but it's kind of hard to relax when you are running your own stall, so my apologies. I should really have let people know about our zines and swapped flyers with more people too. I may be dedicated and good at the zine making process, but I fail at promoting my work well. Next time! Plus, you cannot underestimate how utterly exhausting it is writing, then printing, then folding/stapling 'zines, then hauling the stock over to all day events, I think I am still recovering a little.
Nonetheless, I did buy a few good things - from the Cherry Red stall, in particular - including another Sad Lovers & Giants album, and something indie pop by Hurrah! My boyfriend aided me with excellent Go Kart Mozart albums, plus he bought a bunch of other stuff for himself, and I was glad he found nice wares to make it worth his while helping me lug all that stuff over!
Friends came along later, and there was a bit of beer, it was a really nice atmosphere. It helped that The Canterbury Arms is a nice old pub free of pretense - had this been the backroom of a pub in Shoreditch or Camden, I doubt it would have had quite the same carefree/anything goes air. It was a bit like being transported back to the early 90s, just lots of proper music fans and no dead set fashion or agenda of any kind of cool.
Happy mention to those music fans who chatted with us about all things musical - including how superior Go Kart Mozart are to Felt (a rare feeling), and... Luke Haines's cat! I was raising funds from my music 'zines towards the aid of Luke Haines's poorly cat, Colin to whom you can still donate. Between a few zines sold, and us raiding our silver jar, I was able to Paypal over £11, which was nice. May speed be with Colin cat's health.
If you would like a copy, please email.
Contents for The All Thrills No Frills Music Bill, issue #2:
* Interview with Amelia Fletcher and her band Tender Trap
* The return of Tilly & The Wall
* The seven inch singles of Pullover
* Live review of The Brian Jonestown Massacre
* Reviews of albums bought recently such as This Mortal Coil, Altered Images, Teenagers in Tokyo, etc
* Article on sexism in music including abuse of females at gigs
* A dedication to Luke Haines's cat
* Article on Edwyn Collins's TV show West Heath Yard
* Satirical things about various bands and singers
* Mix tapes and CD listings
* Guest articles
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