Punk and Zines - mini documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiqQrVrW9XY
Zines: The Power of DIY Print (short documentary)
- The Dead Kennedy's - leftist political policies to counteract the nihilism of the Hardcore scene. Considered responsible for establishing leftist views in Punk music and is representative of the liberalism and politically motivated aspect of the Punk subculture.
- Punk is very limitless, expressive and aggressive and this translates into their art and publications.
- Punk aesthetics - usually underground minimalistic
- Shock and empathy created by images
- Punk art is usually straight forward and talks about political views
- Anarchopunk
- Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill) - punk zines did not have to be professional and represented the arrogance of youth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EeRAxdDdbE
Punk Rock Zines at the San Francisco Public Library - podcast
Publishers of Punk Zines from the 1970's onwards:
- V. Vale - publisher of Search and Destroy and Re-Search
- D. Mickey 'Creep' Sampson - Publisher of Creep Magazine
- Verna Wilson and Linda Walker- Co-Publishers of Ripper Magazine
Important Zines from the UK:
- 48 Thrills - Essex
- Ripped & Torn - Glasgow
- Londons Outrage - London
- Sniffin Glue - London *Considered the original fanzine that inspired the rest.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/may/06/fanzines-purest-explosion-punk-music-british-library-exhibition-punk-1976-1978
"The speed and cheapness of the format – A4 pages photocopied and stapled together – allowed for instant reportage and considerable creativity. There was no censorship: anything went."
- This highlights the difference between magazines and other publications and zines as zines are meant to be publications that aren't mediated/censored by large corporations and have no rules or guidelines. They can be cheaply produced as a result of this as the importance is in their content and expression.
"The handwritten articles, stark montages and jagged juxtapositions of image and text capture a moment at which events were happening almost too fast to process. They also embody the impulsivity – not to wait for approval or funding, but just to do it – that remains one of the most inspirational ideas to emerge from first-wave punk."
-Content did not follow strict design rules or were altered to fit an audience's aesthetic appeal although the result of this created an aesthetic appeal that was targeted at the Punk subculture. These are all a result of the impulsivity which relates to the need for zines; publications with no corporate rules.
Zines
Search and Destroy
This zine followed a tabloid format to represent its content of punk youth rebellion and influential artists as a tabloid format allows for emphasis as the smaller format reduces the amount of text allowed on a page.
The text itself was quite minimalistic which connoted the "new philosophy" that V. Vale believed in as "It was a hardcore confrontation with the black side of history and culture." The use of a monochromatic colour scheme also allows for high contrast and juxtaposition and a focus more on layout. A black and white colour scheme is also cost-effective in the production of zines as producing many copies would be easier with a photocopier rather than printing multiple colour copies and is more traditional to the production of zines. Search and Destroy was more mass produced than other zines as it originated in San Francisco where a larger audience was interested.
Ripped & Torn
One of the first generation of fanzines to come out of the UK.
48 Thrills!
1976 - ? by Adrian Thrills
This zine's content was more representative of punk fanzines as it explored Punk music, usually popular artists and bands. The editor/publisher said "I do the mag because it's enjoyable writing, gives me a feeling of involvement and a chance to say exactly what I feel." This conveys the idea that zines can be as personal as one would want it to be as it has no corporate guideline on appealing to a specific target audience therefore can be almost a diary and still be relatable to those who want to read about this editor's thoughts - brand loyalty?
His approach to the aesthetic of the zine was allowing the appearance of badly photocopied images to shine through as the fading of the ink and the lower quality was celebrated. The typeface was almost never consistent and varied from digital type to handwritten.
This doublespread represents a more modern way to approach Emo and Hardcore music fanzines as the original zines often had the eclectic and chaotic elements that Punk zines embodied. This design is approached by all lowercase letters to represent the concept of going against mainstream publishing formats as headers are usually uppercase. The sans-serif allows for a more personal voice as serif is used to connote dominance, whereas sans-serif can suggest a more handwritten and honest voice.
Feel The Music
This zine was formed in 1978 that explore obscure music scenes in a heavily illustrative and humorous style. This is most explored through illustrations combined with images, and handwritten titles that are both common of punk zines, however Major’s approach was much more light-hearted which appealed to a different audience.The use of black and white photocopying is present here as well, however the photocopying onto coloured papers allows the zines to pushed further away from other publications such as Newspapers as these colours and paper stocks were not mainstream, but give the zine more personality.
Ladyfuzz Issue 6
Feel The Music
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