Full blog in depth blog from us about the day....... coming soon!
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!
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Our table at How Does it Feel to Be Loved? C86 indie pop club night, Brixton. We were glad to be invited back down to How Does it Feel to Be Loved? for their C86 special night at The Canterbury Arms pub in Brixton. A night of sweet indie pop tunes, browsing of vinyl, leafing through zines from the 80s and 90s (and being in awe of a couple of legendary ones), having a beer, and talking to people about everything from The Fall to Luke Haines's cat.
As well as record stalls and SW Zines selling our wide selection of music zines, there was also a stall with 80s and 90s indie pop zines on sale. It was really nice to be allowed to have a good look through these - rare items of indie joy! There were original fanzines by Sarah Records, Everett True, and Bob Stanley, amongst others. Bought an American zine from the 90s, as it was risographed and featured Galaxie 500 and stars. Had chats about The Waltones and Catherine Wheel with a record stall holder, and bought a couple of records by each. Was tempted by a Flying
Nun Records DVD. A nice night. Thanks for having us once again, Ian! How Does it Feel to Be Loved club night 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 When I started SW London & Surrey Zines last summer, I never imagined that we'd do our first 'zine event, or done so many wonderful things in just a few months. I really want to thank everyone who has been involved centrally, or shown interest, or bought or told me about/sold me or talked about a zine so far. In particular, the support of friends who have been involved, or come along to events and learnt about zines (something I hadn't told all of my friends about until this year), and also the neverending encouragement and support and help of the wonderful library staff at Stuart Hall Library at Iniva. I really don't think I would have had the guts to do a 'zine event without them! Their patience and help has been extraordinary, and I hope I have not been too much of a pest at the library and with the photocopier!
I also never thought I would get the chance to table at a zine event. SE London Zines were so welcoming and gave us a great opportunity there, to feel accepted and to be newcomers and to be involved at their brilliant zine fair. In all honesty, this group was started because sometimes there are feelings of non-acceptance/not fitting in to set 'zine worlds that exist. So to have had these two events so far for the group is something that needs to be looked back on with great satisfaction and appreciation and pride. And it should fill us all with much more confidence about our work and doing more great things in 2013. I hope we meet many more enthusiastic people, promote the thrill of 'zines to new people, arrange many more events - and of course make lots more zines and encourage you to make more zines too! Thank you everyone who has been involved, come to events, helped, shown interest in any way at all - you are invaluable, and you keep us going on! Looking forward to hopefully meeting you all again in 2013, and to meeting new people too. Watch this space for info on our next zine events, collaborations, meet u We had a zine meet up in a cinema bar in Wimbledon earlier this month. There was much discussion about our own zines, our experiences in making zines, and so on, and it was amazing to hear stories from someone who has been making zines for three decades! Talk also extended to books, poetry, recommendations of zines/events/lovely independent shops, and a lot more. It's always so useful, interesting, and enjoyable to get the perspectives of other zine-creators. I enjoyed buying zines, giving away my zines, sharing info/flyers, enthusing about various stuff, and just having a good chinwag, really. I thought we could make it a regular thing that we all bring in our favourite zines/recommended recent zines, as well as our own, and bring in flyers/info to share about relevant/related things. I also thought we could use meetings to work towards a collective zine or two! We began a page or two here, which is really as a way of introducing ourselves and our works and compiling it all in one printed place. A zine of resources would also be great to make, if we can. I started us off with a page of recommended zines, shops, etc. See below! And also see photo below of the favourite zines which I brought along. I wonder if anyone passing by our table noticed/were curious about the big stash of zines piled up around us. It was a little weird surrounding myself with said paper works whilst waiting for others to show up - but if it stimulates curiosity, and promotes zines to the unknown, well, that's our aim! We are holding another zine meet at the end of January. Watch this space for more details! Likely to be a Saturday afternoon again, in a nice pub, possibly in Guildford or Kingston or Croydon - we can't decide just yet!
I just wanted to mention our plans to have a zine stall at a new community market that is going to start in Wimbledon, SW London. I would like to sell a few different zines under the banner of SW London & Surrey Zines - this means, I would love to hear from any zine makers round these areas who would like their zines to be sold. I will not be taking a cut from sales - instead, I would just like to ask for £2 towards the cost of hire of the stall, plus a copy of your zine/s for the collective to share/swap/read. So you will get 100% of the sales from the day.I also wish to hear from you if you make any kind of craft.
I'm really excited about this new market, because I have been planning in my head - or rather, dreaming - about holding a zine fair at St Mark's Church in Wimbledon, since last summer. Only the cost of hiring the hall for the day was three figures and I was a bit terrified! This new market will also sell home-made produce (eg edible lovely things) plus crafts, and I think a farmers' market also. It will make this area so much nicer, I think. So, please do get in touch! Please tell me about your craft/zine. My only stipulation is that you live in SW London or Surrey. I am not strict about zine topics - it does not have to be to my taste, just not be offensive or politically unsound. Check out about the new market here, their site is so cute: http://www.thewindmillmarket.co.uk/p/our-markets.html I'm so excited about 2013 now already !! Went along to the LCC Freshers' Fayre 'zine fair yesterday afternoon - it was great! I actually forgot to take photos of the lovely colourful stalls, though, because of being caught up in looking at the zines, passing around flyers, and talking to the stall holders about their zines, and inviting them to our event! I met the university librarian, and she told me about their zine collection - over 600 zines from past decades to present day! And you can donate your zine to this collection by emailing here. I was thoroughly impressed and envious of them having things like, old editions of Smiths Indeed. One zine-maker was overwhelmingly kind and donated 4 copies of his art zine Flabby Dagger for the zine collection at Stuart Hall Library @ Iniva, east London. It is pictured in the bottom of the above photo. I also chatted to someone from Housemans shop. Shamefully, I have still yet to visit this amzing emporium, but I always buy loads of their publications when they're at zine fairs. I loved seeing old editions of Tom Vague's zine, Vague. I spent £10 on old copies. He wrote the amazing psychogeography about Notting Hill Gate, and I once saw him do a pop history talk on the area, an inspiring bloke. I am hooked on reading my copies of Vague - it puts most 'zines to shame with just how much content is packed in, plus it is A4 size (and I like the havoc it causes when I read it on the tube - it beats having a tiny little electronic screen any day) and you just never get A4 size stuff anymore, not sure why everything has shrunk, though I wouldn't be surprised if steep postage rises were not part of the cause. I then headed over to nearby 56a for more zine browsing and buying, plus putting up poster and flyers about our event which you can still get your name down for attending, if you just email the library: [email protected] I seem to have gone a bit link-happy with this blog, but I re-realised just how crucial it is to spread such information and support all things zine-related, and too often so much goes on and alnguishes in the reserve of a close-knit circle, or is simply unheard-of. |
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