Posted by slobodan burgher on August 27, 2008, 4:08 pm, in reply to "Punks Is Hippies / Slobodan interview in Russian fanzine (part1)"
6) how you fill up the collection? Whether it is a lot of zines to you send?
Yeah, so I have personally bought a bunch of fanzines in auctions online, say about 30 or perhaps 50 of them. In fact I had to sell a bunch of records to finance this (my at the time pregnant girlfriend wasn't too pleased ha ha ha!). Otherwise I tend to write to people to harass them into sending me scans or paper copies of zines, with some success. But actually, surprisingly even, most of the stuff is people who contact me and offer their help. How these people managed to find Punks Is Hippies I don't know, and everytime I go to concerts people always tell me all this flattery shit, which is weird. Even people who play in bands that I like (such as Amebix and Disorder to mention just two) tells me that Punks Is Hippies is a great thing and that is obviously very cool. I get perhaps a handful of zines every month sent to me from people who would like the website and cares enough to help, most of these are scanned ones but occasionally I get paper ones too.
Since I started doing my own zine, Distort Hackney, earlier this year I have started to get to know more and more people who do zines and to trade zines with so with some luck people will agree to having their zines put on the website, if that works out I think the website will grow very quickly (meaning I need to rework it urgently!).
7) and you like to listen to what music and what groups most of all?
My favourite bands have always been Discharge, Anticimex and Terveet Kadet with Amebix as added bonus. But recently I have been finding out about all the great Japanese bands. A few years ago it was impossible to hear about the bands because the internet wasn't around and obviously it was very hard to get hold of the music if you were lucky enough to know about the bands. So for the last two years or so I have almost only been listening to bands like Gauze, G.i.S.M., Gai/Swankys, Confuse, Deathside, Systematic Death, all the burning spirits bands, all the noise punk and crasher crust bands, also some of the weirder avant garde noise bands.
At the moment of writing I can't get enough of Chaos Channel and Dust Noise in particular.
I also realised a few years ago that it is very ignorant to only be listening to "dead" music so I am trying to make an effort to find out about bands that play today. Bands as diverse as #### Channel (USA), Abnorm (Sweden) and DH Pamoash (Sweden) are some worth checking out.
8) you conduct a blog under name Punkishippes.Ïî÷åìó you have chosen such name áëÿ the blog? And how in general to you the idea to be engaged in conducting blog has come?
Yes, the name comes from the G.i.S.M. song. It is not really a statement or anything. The idea I had in mind for how the website would be for visitors was influenced by KFTH (Killed From The Heart), you know simple design, but heavy on information and good structure. Now that website is obviously named after album by the Dicks. At the time I was also listening a lot to the KBD (Killed By Death) and Bloodstains Across… bootleg compilations, and they're named after a Motorhead and a Agent Orange (USA) song respectively. Basically there were all these different things that were named after punk songs and I liked that as a subcultural concept. But Punks Is Hippies is particularly cool because it is grammatically incorrect in English – "punks" is plural and should be followed therefore by "are" instead of "is". Punks are hippies, is the correct way to write it. I think the mistake is hilarious and very punk and as such very fitting for a website about fanzines.
9) I know you let out the zine.Êàêàÿ at it subjects? How many numbers left? And where it is possible to get it?
Yes my fanzine is called Distort Hackney and I have almost 3 issues ready but none printed so far! I am obviously very lazy but hoping to have this done soon. But anyway, the first issue is basically a backlog of old stuff that never got printed elsewhere mixed with newer interviews, bands are Amebix, Terveet Kadet, Deathcharge, Sub Alert, Shit Lickers and about 10 more. This issue also have a very special feature and interview with the infamous and hated record collector that goes under the alias LewdSnot and/or RobNoxious, that he actually agreed to answer this interview was for me almost like a wet dream and I am very pleased about that. The second issue is a noise punk and Japanese special and has interviews with bands such as Disorder, Wankys, Chaos Channel, Chaos Destroy, Geranium, D-Clone and a bunch more. These two issues have been done since about April but for various reasons I never got round to printing them…but since then I have done almost the complete third issue which will include a double-band features and interviews with Americans-Japanese 1980's bands Dead Cops, Corruption of Peace and SIC, Warvictims interview, Zyanose (Japan) interview, Reality Crisis (Japan) interview and some more. The idea for this third issue was to make it either a special for bands with female singers but in the end all those bands got delayed in answering interviews, or a Swedish special but likewise all those bands were late or else I started to get non-Swedish bands answers back so…well it's a bit upside down this fanzine business ha ha ha.
All the zines will be on Punks Is Hippies for free to download but before that they will be printed in editions of perhaps 250-500 ex each and sold at distros all over the world, USA, Japan, UK, Europe etc. I will of course have copies myself to sell or trade but best way would be to get in contact with me through either of my blogs.
10) Name what the best modern zine in your opinion
Agitate from the UK is the best zine in my opinion. Very very well done. Issue 9 just came out. 6 issues are on Punks Is Hippies. Check it out.
11) whether As you consider to let out actually paper zine while the quantity web-zine constantly grows?
This is a very good question and I am very glad that you ask me this (maybe I have been waiting for someone to ask me this for a long time ha ha). I really don't have any problems with the internet, as I think my trackrecord testifies to, but sadly I have yet to see a really good webzine. (Well, Stu's Shit-FI website is perhaps the only one that is worth mentioning – at www.shit-fi.com). Strange as it may sound, having set up Punks Is Hippies, I greatly prefer fanzines on paper than on a computer screen. I mean, I can barely stand to read a scanned zine on the internet and am kind of hoping that one day I'll be able to print out all the zines from the website…this is why I keep saying I would like to see the website improved greatly, to make readability more standardised as well as have transcripts of texts as well as translations and all the rest of it; but I simply don't have the time to do all this now, but it's a long term project…
So, personally, to make a zine on paper was a no-question for me. Of course it had to be on paper! The fact that you will eventually be able to have it both digitally and on paper does not have to mean that they compete with each other either; but that each format complements the other (the same goes for music; with mp3s and LPs/CDs I am convinced).
12) is at you in a collection zine from Russia? If is not present - you would like them to receive that?
I have no Russian fanzines. There are some electronic ones which I have downloaded and read, obviously I don't understand Russian (my girlfriend does but she's not that much into punks so…ha ha ha) but I like how Play Hooky! looks and from what I understand from its contents. I would certainly welcome more Russian zines to the website (and into my hands ha ha ha)!
13) thanks for interview! You have a possibility to address to readers of mine zine and to tell it something
It was my pleasure, I hope I did not digress to much ha ha ha. Anyone interested in fanzines should immediately go to www.punksishippies.com. My other blog is at http://only-in-it-for-the-music.blogspot.com. For my fanzine Distort Hackney either keep your eyes glued on PunksIsHippies or else drop me a comment somewhere with your email and I'll get back to you. Hello Russian punks!
117
Message Thread:
« Back to thread