Flotation Device #14

Flotation Device #14

Keith Helt 

40 pages, 14cm x 21.5cm. Black & white, on cream paper.  

$2 (USD)

Obviously, reviewing zines means there is mainly a nowness to what I'm reading - the latest issue, or a recent capturing of thoughts or events. But there is a deep pleasure to be had from older zines. For that reason I'm always up for reviewing past issues of anything - as long there is some availability for readers to get hold of a copy.  We all read old books, listen to old records, and watch old films, without thinking - yet that doesn't happen so much with zines. Largely it's a scarcity factor, limited print runs, and creators - quite rightly - moving on to making something new. Although some publishers and distributors - Microcosm for example - is helping to plug that hole by printing, and reprinting, compendium versions of out of print zines. 

Why am I telling you this? Well, the distance of time and space is hard coded into Flotation Device. This issue was written and published in 2015, focused on events that happened in the previous decade. Those memories cluster around playing in a band from 2001 to 3003, and working in a comic shop from 1998 to 2006. 

The zine is split into two linked pieces composed of text fragments, illustrated by photos taken at the time. The first piece recounts the relationship dynamics of playing in a band, tensions around songwriting, pre-show nerves, divergent musical ambition, and the realities of practising in a comic shop after it has closed its doors for the night. 

The second section focuses on the years Keith worked in a comic store. Keith's writing is sharp enough to allow you to visualise the shop in detail - the stacks of old comics, the trashy knickknacks that are branded collectable, but you also get to understand it's rhythms, the personalities of the staff, the particularities of the customers. There is stuff in here too about zine making, running festivals, and workshops. 

It's not an easy task to draw you into a stranger's life and make you care. Flotation Device does that effortlessly. There is an unflinching honesty to the writing too - about not fitting in, how anxiety can form itself around even insignificant interactions. 

Flotation Device #14 was my first encounter of this really solid zine, written by a really solid writer. Completely recommended. 

Buy a copy via Etsy: etsy.com/listing/584494430/flotation-device-14-a-zine

See more on the Flotation Device blog: flotationdevice.wordpress.com

Review by Nathan Penlington

Rum Lad #10

Rum Lad #10

by Steve Larder

A5, black and white on grey paper, 16 pages

£2 (plus postage)

Rum Lad is a unique combination of diary style comic and astonishingly detailed illustration. When sending me the latest issue (it's one of the best things you'll read this year - read my review here), Steve also sent over issue 10 for review. 

When Steve isn't drawing he makes noise in a band called Moloch - Rum Lad #10 is essentially a diary of the Moloch / Savage Realm 2016 tour. Moloch make music that is around the Sludge/Doom area of the spectrum. If that doesn't mean anything to you, they describe themselves like this:

Moloch's primary objective is to ruin everyone's night with a bass tone that has so much treble and distortion that it reduces humans to paste and a turbo brute behind the pots and pans who just won't give in until every snare is destroyed.    

The zine follows the the ins and outs of touring, lugging gear, soundchecks, crashing on floors, discovering new bands, new people, and new places to eat. Also included is a breakdown of some of the finest Slayer moments. 

Rum Lad #10 is a peek backstage at the reality that underpins the moments a band is on stage, all the unseen and unexpected acts of kindness that allows that raw brute wall of noise to happen. 

You can listen to Moloch on their bandcamp page - moloch.bandcamp.com - but it doesn't have to be your kind of thing to take something away from Steve's zine. 

Buy a copy via Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/501213378/rum-lad-10-comic-zine - and while you're pick up issue 12 too! 

And visit Steve's site for more of his incredible illustrations: SteveLarder.co.uk

 

Review by Nathan Penlington

Basic Paper Airplane #12

Basic Paper Airplane #12: The Interview Issue

Joshua James Amberson 

14cm x 21.5 cm, 36 b&w pages , risographed cover. 

$3 USD (plus $1 p&p w/in US, $3 international)

The theme for issue #12 of Basic Paper Airplane is simple - a collection of interviews - but what makes it unique is that they are all interviews Joshua made with a diverse array of artists, musicians, and writers, while working on a series of articles for The Portland Mercury. The original articles only included a few quotes, so this zine sets our to rectify that by collecting together longer interview transcripts for the first time.

Each section opens with a paragraph or two that sets up the interview, roots the process of interviewing in real time, real place, and a real mindset. What emerges is Joshua's sensitivity for the creations of the interviewee, and a genuine love of being excited by things other people find joy or inspiration in. As testament to Joshua's approach the interviews are full of pertinent observation and considered thought about the practice of creation - whether that discipline is music, writing, or film. 

The zine follows a simple layout, with a photo of each interviewee heading every section. The cover though, designed and printed by C Stone and Anthony Michael, is a thing of risographed beauty. 

The best way to look at Basic Paper Airplane #12 is as a primer on the work of creators you haven't yet discovered. It will have you scrabbling to track down albums & books, that you know from the interviews alone, will be rewarding. Its no easy feat in a cultural climate that constantly sells to us through every channel, to the point it's easiest to disengage, to succeed in creating active engagement. Basic Paper Airplane #12 does exactly this - through honesty, personality, and passion. I can't recommend it enough. 

Buy a copy from http://www.antiquatedfuture.com/zines/basic-paper-airplane-12-the-interview-issue/

Or say hello - PO Box 42081, Portland, OR 97242, USA. 


Review by Nathan Penlington

Break the Chain, Volume 2

 A5, 44 black and white pages

£2.90 (+£3.62 p&p)

The second volume of Break the Chain is a battle cry from the Jacksonville punk scene. Sequels are always tricky, and so I was eager to see if zine maker Matt Sessions could pull it off.

The first interview is with Dawn Ray’d, a black metal band from the north of England (my neck of the woods, how exciting!). Reading through this interview, I was a little disappointed with myself; my surprise at the band’s articulation and love of poetry (their band name comes from a poem by Voltairine de Cleyre) spoke volumes about my own preconceptions of heavy metal bands. Much of their interview was an exploration of the power and beauty of words, and yet it ended with a reminder of the anarchy at their core - “Fuck the pigs, smash the Nazis”.

This volume also offered fantastic artwork from Matt Jaffe. His images have been created with thousands of dots, each one carefully placed, each one a crucial part of a bigger picture. Jaffe’s artwork is sharply evocative, but more importantly it teases one’s curiosity – each image bears a strange caption (“alienergy”, “sickened”, “radiate”), none of which make sense straight away.

It’s clear that Sessions has held onto the same punk ethos that birthed the fist volume of Break the Chain, and he’s built on this significantly in the second volume. The pages are crammed full of content, each item fitting well within the theme of angry protest whilst offering their own distinct point of view.

Sadly, some items fall a little short. Ed Dantès’ essay “In Prisons We Trust (part one)” is full of angry commentary, but unfortunately offers very little depth or intelligent examination of the points he is criticising. I was really rooting for Dantès – his argument started off well, gained momentum, but the deathblow never came (perhaps it arrives in part two).

This volume is a gripping read, and I think this has a lot to do with Sessions’ obvious love for the music scene in his area. It’s clear that he doesn’t make Break the Chain for profit or notoriety (you won’t find his name anywhere in these pages), but because he loves the Jacksonville scene.

On the whole, the second volume of Break the Chain is a triumph. It it builds on the themes of protest and angst introduced by its predecessor and the result is a zine which is polished and cohesive – clearly, Sessions is finding his groove.

Volume two of Break the Chain can be bought here 

Review by J.L. Corbett

Nirvana Rules

Nirvana Rules

by Adam Void


11cm x 14cm, 14 pages, coloured paper, hand printed card cover.

$/£: trades encouraged

We all know that Kurt Cobain ruled right, but who or what is Nirvana Rules? Adam Void sets out to solve the mystery of a series of graffiti tags that started to appear around Baltimore. Is it just a reference to the band? But where are the references to the band artwork or songs? And why did it only start appearing in 2010?  

Nirvana Rules is a great zine - part documentary of a DIY subculture, part mystery, part interview, and a DIY artefact itself. It's got a perfect old school feel to it with the use of a typewriter, handwriting, and stencil. And it's got an extra Nirvana fold out in the centre too.

If you want a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. If you want to make yourself drool and/or make yourself feel envious check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

  

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth – Issue 2: The Gigs

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth – Issue 2: The Gigs

by Russell Barker

£1

A5, black and white, 28 pages

The follow up to the first Lunchtime For The Wild Youth in which Russell revisited the records that sound tracked his teenage years. This time he documents the first 22 gigs he went to.

Issue 2 follows the precedent set in the first issue by again removing technology from the process of making the zine. The result is in keeping with fanzines of the 80s - written on a typewriter, produced on a photocopier, cut & paste, with facts less important than experience.

The contents of the zine are pieced together from a faulty and sometimes very specific memory and a gig book Russell kept for 8 years, in which he stuck tickets and documented every obscure support band. Like Issue 1 Russell’s enthusiasm for music energises each description, and it will have you scrabbling to Spotify to rediscover bands you’ve forgotten or check out bands you’ve never heard of.

Now where are those ticket stubs you couldn't bear to throw out?

Fill a lunchtime, buy a copy here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/502597924/lunchtime-for-the-wild-youth-issue-2-the

Review by Nathan Penlington.

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth

by Russell Barker

£1

A5, black and white, 24 pages

The concept behind this zine is simple – Russell sets out to revisit albums that were loved in his teenage years, and not played since.

Russell’s enthusiasm for music is infectious. The zine will have those that were there at the time – in the mid to late 1980s - scrabbling to their shelves, storage units to dig out CDs and vinyl, or to eBay to re-buy their past.

And those who aren't quite old enough to remember will discover something new. It is a project born out of a love for the lost tangible joys of record buying – bunking off school to be the first in line at the local record shop on release day, the zines and community built through exchange and bootlegs.  But it is a zine that gains from being able to listen to almost any album in minutes through the magic of Spotify. Reading LFTWY had me compiling a list of albums and songs that sounded interesting and playing them as a kind of soundtrack to the zine.

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth is smartly executed - straddling the divide between youth and adulthood by removing technology from the process. The zine was written on a typewriter, produced on a photocopier, nothing fact checked using the internet.

The artwork, drawn by Russell's daughter Robyn is a charming addition, and a reminder that music has a power that transcends generations.

This is an infectious zine that will have you itching to do the same with your own wild youth.

Buy a copy here - https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/496577105/lunchtime-for-the-wild-youth

Review by Nathan Penlington.

Terminal Punk

Terminal Punk
V.Vale

Black & white, 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ 40 pages, illustrated.

$5

V.Vale is responsible for the mind expanding counter culture publishing company RE/Search. Throughout the 80s and 90s RE/Search was crucial for treating the work of JG Ballard and William Burroughs with reverence long before the universities caught on; publishing anthologies about once taboo subjects such as body modification, and the history of women and tattoos - subjects that have had a renaissance of late before ultimately being co-opted by the mainstream. 

RE/Search have also published work of zine interest - re-issues of the influential punk zine Search & Destroy started by V.Vale in the late 70s (while he worked park time at City Lights Books), and the ground breaking collection of interviews with zine makers in Zines! Vol 1. 


V.Vale is counter culture personified. So he is in the perfect position to talk and write about Punk, not just as a short-lived music phenomenon, but as an ethos and aesthetic with relevance today. Terminal Punk is a series of interviews and conversations that reflect on the terminal philosophy of the Punk movement - not the spitting and safety pins Punk has been reduced to by the corporate machine - but the aesthetics, influences, history, and social outlook, that fuse into a way of living.   

Vale explores the DNA of Punk, outlining the three fundamental elements that form its make up: Black Humour; DIY / Anyone Can Do It; and Mutual Aid. Even if you don't think Punk is 'your' thing, if you have only the smallest interest in the creative process you'll take something away from reading this zine. Throughout Vale stresses the need to increase our awareness to fight the distraction culture we live in - making, distributing, and reading zines is still a significant way of doing that. 

As Vale says, "Until we have a perfect world I don't think Punk will ever be dead or obsolete".

Buy Terminal Punk direct from RE/Search researchpubs.com/shop/terminal-punk-zine-philosophy-w-i-p-by-v-vale

Signed copies are available from Rough Trade in the UK for £5: roughtrade.com/magazines/terminal-punk-zine-philosophy-w-i-p-by-v-vale-signed-copies



Review by Nathan Penlington

The Screever - Issue 9

The Screever - Issue 9, spring 2016

A6, 56 photocopied pages.

£1

This is the third issue of The Screever that I've read - my review of the last issue holds true: I still love The Screever. 

It is the perfect distillation of what makes zines great. Where else would you find - an interview with IDestroy, a RiotGrrl punk inspired band from Bristol; an interview with Dead Bride Comics artist Dan Barnes on his wrestling themed Blood Stained Canvas; instructions on how to make a pin-hole camera; a recipe for mini oat pizzas; a feature on the West Midlands skating scene; an interview with illustrator Bodie H. about his Choose Your Own Adventure inspired zines (which sound right up my street!); and a pile of reviews of old and new bands - all in one place? 

It is the belief in sharing a personal range of interests and issues, reaching out to other people who have something to say, and putting it out in the world to connect with others. That is what zines are about for me. And that is what The Screever does so well. And it does it all for £1. A pound! There isn't much that is great that you can buy for a pound. And of those things, a bag of Haribo, and The Screever, are at the top of the list.  

Buy a copy here

Visit The Screever Facebook page and The Screever Blogspot

Review by Nathan Penlington

Suspect Press (Denver's Underground) #8

Suspect Press (Denver's Underground) #8
32 pages, newsprint, 9 x 11        
Free or Trade

Artsy rag with a little attitude, doesn't take itself too seriously. Mostly written and produced by three people, though I don't think that's their goal. Seems to want to be an outlet for lesser know talent.. While somewhat bohemian, it doesn't appear to be specifically or especially underground. But hey, what do I know about Denver's underground? There's a variety of the usual suspects: fiction, comics, cool art, poetry, commentary, interviews, music and book reviews, lots of local ads, and 10 Reasons Why Keanu Reeves should come to my birthday party.

Better than average content for a zine.

denversuspectpress at gmail.com
suspectpress.blogsplot.com


review by Jack Cheiky

Resist 47

Resist 47

52 pages, digest

$6.00 Delivered (US)

The last zine in the world I thought I'd love would be one about bicycling and gardening. Boy was I wrong.

47 is friendly, straightforward, instructional, well written, artistic, and has an overall punkish sensibility and DIY demeanor. It comes with a packet of seeds stapled inside, (mine were zucchini.)

Other topics covered in this per-zine include butchering a turkey, building a wash tub bass (like in Hee Haw,) installing an outdoor water spigot, how to solder copper tubing, pet worms, and lots of bike and garden stories and tips.

My favorite part was a piece at the end, "Why I do what I do." Here I find similarities in outlook and approach to life.

Very cool. Thick.

Order:

Matte Resist

PO Box 582345

Minneapolis MN 55458

Website

http://www.resistinstrumentworks.com/

Contact Form

http://www.resistinstrumentworks.com/contact.html

The Screever - Issue 8

The Screever - Issue 8, Autumn 2015.

The Stars are a free show - Volume Two

A6, 56 photocopied pages. Compilation tape made in conjunction with The Screever zine.

£4 (for zine, tape and a patch)

Ok, I’ll be up front – I love The Screever

I love the size. It has travelled in my jacket pocket for a couple of weeks, filling the moments I want to disconnect from the constant digital push with articles, interviews and features with people making things their own way. Like Thomas Lee Rutter who is making a western based on Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, shot in Worcestershire and Barmouth. Like Joe Solo who was responsible for the We Shall Overcome events to help express collective disapproval of the government’s hateful austerity measures. Like Crow a new diy West Midlands skate brand.

I love the tape. Mix-tapes are about curation and duration, which is rare combination to find these days. It is so easy to miss the bands starting out, playing small gigs hundreds of miles away in venues you've never heard of. Those bands might be making music that speaks to you personally - how do you find them in the digital swamp? In this instance that’s where someone like The Screever steps in. The Stars are a free show features 19 mainly currently unreleased tracks including the excellently named Bratakus, who are also interviewed in the zine, The International Hookey Club, La Mascleta, and Movies, Games and Videos.

I love how The Screever has been put together with an equal amount of passion and care.

I love its attitude and inquisitiveness.

Just buy I copy, you’ll see what I mean. 

Buy a copy here

Visit The Screever Facebook page and The Screever Blogspot

Review by Nathan Penlington

Morrissey: Misery in Bitesize Chunks

  

Morrissey: Misery in Bitesize Chunks - Raechel Leigh Carter

6 x 9 inches. 46 pages. 
Edition of 100, published by Tinynoggin. 
£5. 

Morrissey - everyone knows who Morrissey is right? Miserable. Daffodils. The Smiths. Songs like This charming man and Heaven knows I'm miserable now. But that’s where my knowledge of him ends, and I guess it does for the majority of people who know him only through his music. 

In 2013 Morrisey published his autobiography, matter of factly titled Autobiography. Unfortunately the book is more of a hinder than a help to a greater understanding of his life. Thankfully, Rachel Leigh Carter has stepped in to bridge that knowledge gap. Morrissey: Misery in Bitesize Chunks is an adaptation of a blog that was started to help people who were struggling through the 480 pages of his life story. 

“Anyone who has read (or tried to read) Autobiography by Morrisey knows it’s not the easiest of reads. It took me well over a week to read 130 pages and I knew other people who struggled with it too. So I thought I should do the world a service and read it on behalf of those who couldn’t manage it but wanted to get the nub and the gist of the whole brouhaha”. 

Illustrated by nicely drawn pen and ink images of Morrissey through the years. It is perfect for fans of Morrissey or the favourite miserablist in your life. 

Visit the Tinynoggin shop: Etsy.com/uk/shop/tinynoggin

For more Tinynoggin: tinynoggin.wordpress.com 

Review by Nathan Penlington

The Screever – Issue 7

The Screever – Issue 7, Spring 2015.

A6, 48 photocopied pages, limited to 150 copies.

£1

I’ll be honest, I had to look up the meaning of the word ‘screever’. The definition according to Collins English Dictionary is:

1.      a person who draws on the pavement with chalk and earns money from the donations of passersby

The Screever uses the pavement in a wider metaphorical sense, drawing attention to people and things you’d miss otherwise. 

It’s a great little zine, well put together, diverse, consistently interesting, and the features really illustrate how artistically and culturally vibrant the DIY scene is in the Midlands. Interviews in this issue are with Stourbridge’s Temple of Boom music venue, ‘one of the strangest sounding bands you’ve heard’ The Perverts, comic creator Patrick Scattergood, record label Wolf Town DIY, and zine maker and obsessive diarist Becky Kidner (see this recent post about Becky’s zines). Plus music reviews, puzzle pages, and a recipe for vegan gummy bears.

You can't really do better for £1. 

You can get your hands on a copy here: glassofspit.bigcartel.com/product/the-screever-zine-issue-three

And this is The Screever blogspot: thescreever.blogspot.co.uk

Review by Nathan Penlington

Hiroshima Yeah! #123 [May 2015]

        

6 pages, 11.5" x 8.5", by Mark Ritchie & Gary Simmons >>> donbirnam [at] hotmail.com ... $1.00 or friendly email should [might? may?] get you a copy

Gary's life-in-prison series is about to wind up - this issue's instalment we find Gary with a mere seven days to get through until he's let out of the cage like a little bird, but it's not gonna be easy when there's a retarded douchebag calling him "wolfman" through the door of his cell. What's he gonna do? Smash the bloke? the twat deserves no less, no doubt about it, but smashing some prick who deserves it was what landed him in gaol in the first place. ... Mark's reviews are always a pleasure to read, and the one of The Eagles 'The Very Best Of' album was funny because the person who sent it to Mark probably thought he would - and hoped he would - do a "hatchet job" on it. However the plan backfired since Mark has always had a soft spot for the band. Which fact shortly leads to further admissions of "guilty pleasures". For example: "Oasis (but Liam is still a twat)" and 'Come Undone' by Robbie Williams, "(also a twat)". ... Among the reviews, Mark gave my diary comix the thumbs up! [Phew!] ... The other great piece in this issue is Simon Morris's 'Guide to Sex, Love and Relationships Part 2'.

• Current Music:7 Horns 7 Eyes - 'Phumis: The Falsehood of Affliction'

Review by Stratru

http://blackguard23.livejournal.com/148748.html

The Recoup #1

The Recoup #1
digest, perfect bound, 42 pages
$5 digital copy/$7 print copy
Joseph Kyle is a music journalist who believes that "a record has no expiration date," and so, frustrated with the lack of coverage older, lesser known bands receive in today's music magazines (even when classic albums are reissued), he decided to do something about it. And that's how The Recoup was born. It's "a journal dedicated to music -  superb, excellent, forgotten-about music." In the debut issue you will find interviews with the drummer of Semisonic, a member of Texas is the Reason, Peter Byrne/Naked Eyes, and Brother. Following the interviews, there are 8 pages of reviews of reissued/classic albums. The issue ends with Joseph discussing his Yoko Ono obsession with a friend of his who shares his obsession. It's a great looking little magazine, and, in my opinion, a very worthy cause.
http://therecoup.wordpress.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/josephhkyle

Three Zine

By Squid
www.squidishere.com
squid.bigcartel.com

One of the first thing you notice about this zine is the way it's printed. I have no idea how Squid did this, but the blacks on this zine are incredibly black and shiny. There are a couple of pages that are mostly black, and they just feel thick with ink. It's really neat.

As to the content, Three features drawings (of monsters!), comics, and recipes, but the majority of the zine is made up of "interviews with cool females".

Squid talks with one of the organizers of the Women's Autonomous Nuisance Cafe (WANC), and female members of the musical groups Lilies on Mars, Seaming To (okay, a person rather then a group), and Creatures of Kontrast.

I enjoyed reading all the interviews, as they range across a fairly wide variety of questions and talk about some cool stuff and actually made me go and listen to the bands online. The WANC interview discusses lady DJs, squatting, and other neat stuff, while all of them feel more like conversations than some of the interviews you read.

There are also reviews of concerts by a couple of the bands. The first of which seems to degenerate into a fever dream ("AAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Giant cockroaches with TV's for brains and temporary bus stop signs for noses!") before returning to talk about the music. Though considering that one of the band members say that they like "confusion, paranoia, and craziness" I think this is probably appropriate.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Gadgie 24

By Marv
PO Box 93
Boston
Lincolnshire
PE21 7YB
England

Gadgie is another of those big, thick (over 30 pages) punk zines that covers music, zines, complaints, and whatever else is running through the creator's mind.

Gadgie's been coming out for ages, and its creator Marv is now in his late 30s, married, and even has a child. Old punks don't die, they just (pro)create the next generation.

In this issue Marv talks about the punk scene in Boston, England (both current and its origins), going to Loch Ness for a holiday with his partner and kid, misheard lyrics, a pretty epic account of every injury he's ever acquired while playing soccer/football, and loads of other stuff.

I like how Marv seems really enthusiastic about everything, and how being injured bothers him because it means he can't go and dance at punk shows. However, his nonstop style of writing was kind of exhausting, as you don't really have any idea when the longer pieces are going to end or what's going to happen next.

Marv has a really distinct style of writing, a sort of stream of consciousness "I did this, then I did this, then this happened" type of thing. If it appeals to you you'll probably be happy to read anything he writes, but if it doesn't then I'm not sure there's any topic he could get you to read about. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)

Something for Nothing #63

Something for Nothing #63
digest, 36 pages, free
After a 5 ½ year hiatus, Idy is back with a new issue (the first of several) of Something for Nothing. I was super excited to see this in my PO Box, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who considers this a very welcome return. Something for Nothing, to me, stands out as one of the best music and review focused zines around and has one of my favorite layouts. In this “resurrection issue,” Idy spends almost half the space writing extensively about each Dead Milkmen release (Idy’s favorite band). Next Idy offers more than a dozen book reviews, followed by reviews of a few 1960’s ska compilations. The most unique offering, though, is Idy’s section of short reviews of many of the Subway restaurants he has patronized over the years. Idy has a very personal and personable tone in all of his writing, and his zines are always very text heavy and full of fun information. If you have never read an issue of SfN, which I would find hard to believe to be the case for anyone who has been involved in the zine world for any length of time now, this return issue is an excellent place start. Welcome back, Idy!
516 3rd Street NE
Massillon OH 44646
USA 

Busking issue 1

By Celeste
www.etsy.com/shop/ofcourseyoucan
notfitforsociety.tumblr.com

I think busking is pretty neat, and to some extent I envy people who have the skills and personality to successfully perform in front of other people (and make a living from it! I don't think I'd make much money busking by offering to edit things)

Celeste has been playing accordion for several years, and makes her living from it. Of course "her living" is far different from what most people would consider: she eats from dumpsters, doesn't own any new clothing, and doesn't really buy anything. Of course she's perfectly happy doing this, as not having a regular 9-5 job means that she can spend her days doing what she loves: playing accordion, volunteering, making art, and other fun things. She actually pities people who have deadening office jobs, and as someone who has one of those jobs I kind of envy her life.

This zine is filled with stories and anecdotes from Celeste's times busking across Canada. Some are told in comics, while others use text. She also has an FAQ of questions people ask her while she's busking like "Are you on drugs?" and "Are you actually rich?". The whole zine is told in an upbeat and appealing way that makes me wish that I was friends with Celeste and got to hang out with her.

I recommend this zine, and am excited to learn that she's almost finished her second issue. Check out her tumblr for some of the comics that will be in issue 2!

(Originally written for 365 Zines a Year.)