A pretty parcel containing several different issues has just arrived, from Germany! (Thank you!) I would describe Call My Name zine as being mostly about green living and dreaminess. There is a lot of love for nature and simple living with a respect for the earth. Like the best of perzines, it's also a zine about self reflection and trying to understand the world and yourself, and questioning things a lot, as well as strong personal beliefs and personal politics. It's a beautifully put together zine, with wonderful drawings and snipped out pictures, very dreamy.
One of the most endearing perzines (personal writing zines) in the world, Call My Name, will feature at our zine fair in Wimbledon Library tomorrow!
A pretty parcel containing several different issues has just arrived, from Germany! (Thank you!) I would describe Call My Name zine as being mostly about green living and dreaminess. There is a lot of love for nature and simple living with a respect for the earth. Like the best of perzines, it's also a zine about self reflection and trying to understand the world and yourself, and questioning things a lot, as well as strong personal beliefs and personal politics. It's a beautifully put together zine, with wonderful drawings and snipped out pictures, very dreamy.
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Zine parcels have just arrived from Belgium, and Bradford! Thank you to Jean McEwan and Echo Publishing! What with many other contributions in person, and by post, there's a huge stash of zines waiting for everyone on Saturday. A free mini zine has been copied up, and posters have been made, sweets have been bought... William Morris oven gloves have been photocopied as well, which must be my oddest photocopier moment yet but all will become clear...
Zine industry is still afoot, as there is still just about time to make that last zine idea, I'm convinced! We're all really looking forward to colourful displays of zines, interesting conversations, and a general air of creative celebration. We are now taking names of distros and individuals who wish to have FREE SELLING SPACE at our zine social at Housmans radical book shop, Kings Cross, on Saturday December 7th.
Please email us now to guarantee your spot at this zine event, as you will not be able to just turn up on the night! This is a zine social, so if you read zines and want to come meet their makers, eat cake, drink a beer, in this amazing book shop, please just turn up on the night from 7pm, entry free, all welcome. Alternative Press Fair 2013: No Dark Places @ The Albert, Queens Park, NW London, 1st June, 20138/17/2013 SW Zines felt so privileged to be part of the Alternative Press Fair this year! I have been attending over the years, and had previously applied for a stall, so it was wonderful to be afforded such a chance this year. No Dark Places was lovingly organised and set in The Albert community centre in Queens Park, north west London, which was a new area to head to for a zine event. These photos make it seem like it was a rainy day, but I remember sunniness. I was delighted to see vegetables growing on the site. Grow vegetables everywhere, in every possible style and space for all, I say! No Dark Places also incorporated a day of live music. I had no idea till we got to The Albert that a band I really love, Capitol K, were playing. They are electronica ace. We knew we'd be too exhausted from early rise, hauling heavy goods, and a day of talking and selling, etc, to stick around for the live music, sadly (comment about it, if you saw Capitol K, please do). Maybe if we didn't work so much so hard all week and if we lived much more local. We did catch a couple of sets, though, more on that later... SW Zines' stall, after set up. Wish you could also see the pretty woodland themed decoration (pretty paper and real pine cones) underneath the zines - my photos are never my best on these days, so caught up in nerves and fretting and such! I had brought along a bunch of woodland creature themed stuff, in aid of the badgers and against the badger cull. Had dates worked out differently (the stall application was put in months ago - but I would never cancel this anyway), I would have been at the protest in central London this day, but I did a small bit by making a special mini zine and putting word out. Here are some of the books and posters I had brought along to decorate the wall behind us: I decided to re-appropriate the sketch of a badger by Yan of the band British Sea Power for a t-shirt for the day, too - with added badges bought at the zine fair! (book and pint!). Library themed zines I had printed up especially, on request, for Holly of Cool Schmool zines. On arrival at Alternative Press Fair: We were sat in between two inspiring female artists. Here is Alex Brady's stall, her speciality is lino-cut prints. I bought a mini zine of her work (as pictured in the middle). Also next to us was http://www.etsy.com/shop/worriedeyes with her wonderful paintings, sketches, biro drawings, postcards, stickers. I'm afraid I chatted to her so much I forgot to photograph her stall! I bough a beautiful postcard, and we did an exchange of our work too. Now things get blurry, especially as so much time has passed (apologies again, this blog took such a long time to get written, so much has happened and taken over and I just am not able to blog as instantly as I once might've). So, here are lots of photos of various stalls from the day. If I don't name/identify you, please be forgiving and don't take it personally, and hopefully you'll appreciate what a whirlwind these events can be - before, during, and after! Next time I will make more notes, try to be better organised - please just email me with any web links to add, or if you'd like a mention, etc! I did go out from behind our own stall to talk to people, look at their work with care/interest, buy loads and load of stuff, though! I always make a point of doing this - if you're not interested in what else is out there, part of the point and so much community is lost. Photo overload, I hope you don't mind! So many pretty things around at this year's Alternative Press Fair! There were events going on throughout the day. I think Jimi Gherkin ran this one. The only bummer about running a zine stall is missing out on the events 'cos you can't leave your table too long! There was a letter-press machine (woah!): Plates for creating postcards: There was a notebook doing the rounds, to be compiled into an on-the-day zine - theme was things you want to learn: Swimming pool rock! (yeah!) Award for prettiest zine stall/wares this day goes to Princesa Pirata distro from Bristol! Princesa Pirate became my new spot of heaven. This distro's remit of: feminism, mental health, sexuality/relationships, anarchism/radical politics, and the most beautiful array of crafts such as the above immensely colourful postcards and patches, is all just so perfect and mood-boosting and life-affirming. Instantly spent double figures here. The distro owner had travelled from Bristol to be here, and I loved the old suitcase simply opened out to display things, pulled along on a bike trailer then by train. A distro so inspiring, makes me want to be back in Bristol again! It's such an ace place for art/artists/alternative thinking. There was also a table of free zines on this day, and there was a spot of zine swapping, and selling to distros, all very positive.
The organisers were champion in their work, and I look forward to any further things they organise/create/do! - Here's to Rose Nordin and Amneet Johal, and everyone involved in the hard work of putting it on, plus the zine makers and zine readers who made this event too. Here's to next year's! www.alternativepress.org.uk Getting ready for tomorrow's Alternative Press Fair! We have a stall with so many zines, from a variety of people from SW London, Surrey, and beyond. Stock-taking, pricing, and packing.... Some wildlife and badger-related literature, for the stall - since I cannot make it over to the protest march against the badger cull, that is taking place, it's nice to raise awareness: Lastly, some specially printed early editions of the perzine Athemaura, all with a library theme, made for somebody by request! Come to Alternative Press Fair tomorrow, such a variety of inspiring small press/independently produced art books, zines, pamphlets, and art on sale!
http://www.alternativepress.org.uk/index.php/events/ Limner Journal stall. The shop was decorated to the hilt with art prints, sketches, crafts, collages... Above photo includes work by organiser and musician Yo Sushi. Hand crafted CDs on sale. DIY art and stitching! Including Bleeding Heart Narrative. Alas, I was too poor to buy the lovely things this day. Leopard print! (Please contact me if wish me to edit with author details. Apologies for me going photo happy without getting proper credits for all...) SW London & Surrey Zines and OOMK, with added cake ! Drawings by Yo Sushi. SW London & Surrey Zines, when we were packed for the off, in the morning for the event.
Full blog in depth blog from us about the day....... coming soon! We are knee-deep in zine preparation for Clapton Zine Fair! Clapton in east London has its first zine fair this coming weekend of 4th - 5th May. There will be a launch night, with live music, poetry, zines, and art on display, on Saturday. And there will be a free zine market all day long on Sunday! SW Zines was invited along, after the organisers bought one of our zines at Housemans book shop, and we are thrilled! See you there! Clapton Zine Fair official site SW Zines felt very privileged to have a stall at DIY Cultures Fair, a new independent publishing/zine/craft event, which took place at RichMix cinema, in London's east end. The weeks leading up to it were spent in photocopying frenzies at libraries, getting photos processed, flyering and promoting, and folding and stapling and sticking and stamping away. We were excited to be stocking new zines from Surrey, including mental health and travel zines from Human Bean Zines (We Are Adventurers, and Feeling Alone?, which can be viewed on our zines page), and from Michael Weller (a long-standing self-publisher who has been with zines/independent press since 1977/punk and who is full of great stories and knowledge). We were also promoting for the new charity TeamStrick, a sexual assualt support and awareness group linked to the campaign group RAINN, and a member of SW Zines had worked hard to make their first ever zine in aid of this cause (donations were taken on the day for the charity). (Zines ready for the off!) A couple of us tabled at the fair. We felt welcomed by the organisers, and even in those first few seconds of arrival, we could tell how much dedication and work had gone into organising and putting DIY Cultures Fair together. You can never, ever underestimate how much work it takes to do this stuff! From making a zine to hosting a table and selling your wares to something as big as holding and promoting an event - it all takes huge energy and commitment. It was nice to find that we were once again tabling next to Sky Nash with her illustrated press and assorted wares, and we got to know new people around us too, such as Alovera comics. (Our table and assorted 'zines on sale) There were talks and film throughout the day. It was nice to be in the thick of such events whilst tabling, as usually at events such things go on in separate rooms and you can't feasibly leave your table to be involved. The first talk was by Black Feminists, and it was really stirring. I enjoyed the historical rundown of black women and women of colour bands - I had to note some names down as I was surprised to not have heard of some of them, such as post-punk band ESG, and New Blood. It was moving to see a big projection of Ari Up, and have tribute to The Slits' history too.
More moving still was hearing about the unfair barriers women all over the world face when it comes to music/bands. I was sad to hear about Pragaash, a group of teenage Muslim women who had had no choice but to disband after they received death and rape threats by Islamic militants after performing as a band, because they were deemed to be breaking religious codes of conduct. The song they played on the video screen was such a sweet indie-pop tune, such talented kids - I wanted to cry.You can read more about them here. That's the thing, sometimes it's easy for people to assume women have equality nowadays when there are some visible female pop stars, but circumstances and issues like this don't often get widely addressed/recognised. Thank you to the wonderful speakers of Black Feminists for their excellent talk - Stephanie Phillips, Aurella Yussuf and Rianna Parker were so authoritative and articulate and inspiring. Other talks throughout the day included ones on unemployment (I thoroughly enjoyed the guy who had turned stand up comedian after so many dispiriting experiences on the dole (Saban Kazim of Gissa Job Zine, who made a zine on the actual paper that you use when you are filling out your job search). I learnt a lot this day. You see things in a new light, and it's so important. Here how the language of unemployment has changed - eg it was once known as 'social security', something solid that we should all be able to seek out in times of dire need, now it is known as 'welfare' as if people are getting a hand out and it actually helps them when really it is a fight to live on the paltry sum alloted. Other speakers here were Sarah Tea-Rex (Graduating in Unemployment Zine), and Robin Bale (Dole arts). The film about DIY artists was great too, which was DIY or Die (how to survive as an independent artist, featuring Ian Mckaye of Fugazi & Lydia Lunch). It will stay with me this quote even if I can only paraphrase it a little, which is how people might not 'get it' (your work) at first, they might find it weird and it might not fit in, but have to keep persisting with your work, because there will come a time when it isn't new or weird and someone out there 'gets it'. Very true. The panel on Prisoner Zines, Writing & Creavity was also enlightening. And there was a discussion about 'craftivism' which perhaps I hadn't quite fully appreciated till now, but will investigate, since I protest and am creative so combining both is an ideal. Since there were two of us on the stall (thank you so much Vicky for your hard work and help here! Really could not have done it without you!!!), there was opportunity to explore other stalls and talk to other small press/zine makers. I always enjoy the sharing of info with people at these events. I recommended independent printers, art/zine libraries, zines, I swapped flyers and learnt about others' work (zines and far and beyond), and I bought many, many wonderful, amazing creations. A week on, I have caught up on rest/sleep, and am still enjoying reading all the many zines I bought. The breadth of perspectives you get with zines is simply unique, and it keeps me sane in a chaotic and unaccepting world. Here's to more events from Sofia Niazi, Hamja Ahsan (who let's not forget make 'zines too! Go here and here), and their friends and many volunteers (let's also not forget how many kindly volunteers were involved!), in the near future! Now... go and read a 'zine! DIY Cultures It was a privilege to be at the inaugural record fair of How Does it Feel to Be Loved? last month. 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. The event also acted as the launch for the newly printed issue #2 of The All Thrills No Frills Music Bill.
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 http://www.allthrillsnofrillsmusic.blogspot.com |
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