Feb 17, 2015 LA Zine Fest 2015 recap
On Sunday, I made a last-minute decision to check out the LA zine fest at the nearby Armenian cultural center. It was only five minutes away and free, so why not? I love zines and in addition to helping to found and make some (Giant Robot, Robot Power), I have also contributed to more than a few of them over the years (Flipside, Fear of Grownups, Peko Peko…). Anyway, I was stoked to see a lot of them at Art Book Fair a few weeks ago and was ready for more.
Sadly there wasn’t enough time to check out the entire ocean of tables, but the first zine that caught my eye was called A Punkers Guide To: Cumbia. I couldn’t resist because the zine had such a tight, unusual focus and included bonus aspects such as a fold-out poster and accompanying mix CD. On top of that, all proceeds went toward providing creative outlets and studio time to at-risk 16-21 year olds. Three of my best spent bucks ever and the CD is pretty rad.
Right around the corner, I spotted my old friend V. Vale. He was a founder of the Search & Destroy punk fanzine in the ’70s, documenting the original wave of American punk (Devo, Dead Boys, Iggy, Dead Kennedys) as well as the first British punks to hit the States (The Damned, The Clash, P.I.L., Siouxie & The Banshees). Of course, he went on to help start the RE/Search publications which was largely responsible for introducing the idea of subcultures to my generation: Incredibly Strange Films, Pranks!, Survival Research Labs, and J.G. Ballard, not to mention the very notion of not only writing but publishing from a nonacademic, not journalistic peer’s point of view. I told Vale that all of the zine makers that packed the building should give him a dollar for his contributions to the scene and he didn’t disagree.
And then I found Dean at the Giant Robot table. GR magazine co-founder and carrier of the torch Eric wasn’t there, but I did find an assortment of Cometbus in-between issues that I didn’t already have and purchased all of them. There were also some reprints of Giant Robot 1, 2, and 3 that I resisted buying for my archives. I have the originals somewhere, so there was no need to hoard…
Through a hall and around corner there were more vendors. They may have been out of the way but they did enjoy air conditioning and tunes courtesy of Alec from KXLU‘s A Fist Full of Vinyl show (11:00 to midnight on Monday nights). In the spirit of the fest, the DJ provided his own stapled-and-folded zine featuring interviews from the likes of Laura Jane Grace from Against Me! and Sean Bonnette from Andrew Jackson Jihad–not to mention the station’s own spring publication, an impressive assortment of badges, and some Fund Razor compilation CDs. I donated some dough and grabbed some goods. I love KXLU!
I thought it was badass that there was a Teen Angels booth. The low-rider art magazine is from a totally different type of underground than most of the DIY publishers in the crowd, and it was rad to see their table representing the O.G. and influential East Los scene and culture.
Nearby was Razorcake, whose totally appropriate slogan is “We Do Our Part.” The non-profit punk zine carries on where Flipside left off and then some. In a world where links and streams to music are shared by the dozen every day, their print publication turns me on to way more cool bands with a shockingly high hit-to-miss ratio. Every single one of their vinyl releases is excellent–start with White Murder, Dan Padilla, and Tiltwheel–and it’s always great to see contributors at punk dives like the Redwood (Hi, Daryl!) or events like the recent Marky Ramone book signing (Sup, Todd.) around town. They prove that old punks and new punks can not only coexist but are more awesome together. It’s my dream that they’ll cover Save Music in Chinatown one day.
Another familiar face! It took me a while to place Sarah, who seemed out of place away from Long Beach where I usually see her, and of course she was helping to promote a hometown zine fest that she is involved with. Check out the Long Beach Zine Fest on April 12 at MOLAA, and also look around for her Long Beach Music Zine, read her food writing in the LA Weekly, and dig everything else she does, too. What a busy and cool human being.
More friends! I haven’t seen Hellen Jo in ages but will always be a huge fan of her art, comics, and being awesome. Her blend of manga style and underground comix energy is unstoppable. I was proud when she was a contributor to Giant Robot‘s comics page, and I was really stoked when she moved from the Bay Area to SoCal so we can consider her a local, too. One of us.
Right next door was Mark Todd representing the Fun Chicken empire of zines and art books that he has created with Esther Pearl Watson. I appreciate that the friendly couple not only partakes in DIY publishing but also encourages the culture through instruction and seeks to promote and document the art form in books. Yes!
On the way out I finally ran into my old GR magazine partner Eric, who was taking part in a panel about diversity in zines while Wendy, Eloise, and I were walking around the event. I actually heard him give a description about GR during the panel’s intros and he was way too humble. We made a real groundbreaking zine that did a lot for Asian culture way before it was considered cool! It’s always great for Wendy and me to catch up with him and remember how much fun we had making and growing the magazine together, too.
Yes, zines are totally biased, not journalistic, and nonacademic, and for those reasons are way more honest communication and accurate time capsules than “real” media or reports. They’re also more fun. And my experiences and selections at the LA Zine Fest was completely different than anyone else’s, so please don’t rely on my recap of the event. You really have to grab a bunch of zines at a gathering like the LA Zine Fest or the cool stores that support the scene. Better yet, make your own zine!
My haul: A Punkers Guide To: Cumbia (w/ mix Kumbia Punk Mix CD); RazorCake 84 (w/ “I <3 Drinking Coffee and Reading Zines” badge); Cometbus 50 1/2, Cometbus 55 3/4, and Last Supper; LB Zine fest propaganda, “I Want All The Cats To Love Me The Best” patch for Eloise; A Fist Full of Vinyl and KXLU Spring Zine (w/ KXLU bars badge); Slingshot 117. I also lugged around my hardcover copy of Please Kill Me for authors and LA Zine Fest keynote speakers Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain to sign but I arrived and left early and never ran into them.
More information on the annual event can be found at lazinefest.com. And follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too!