MUSIC FAN'S MIC -

Re: Little music fanzines making a big noise

Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:18:00 +0000

Re: Little music fanzines making a big noise:

Music’s most exciting magazines are put together on a shoestring and given away in shops. Nadia Khomami meets the people behind the titles

There’s a piece in the Observer this morning about free music magazines, which a few weeks back I gave a couple of quotes about DIY for. That’s great - I’ve never really felt the medium was especially underground, but there’s a wider audience that will hear about titles that are away from the established old guard. As I’m constantly reminded, you have to build the brand. You can’t complain when somebody wants to cover the world you exist in. And (bar the title - fanzines(?) - whoever wrote that I’d love to have a chat to…) it’s generally a nice piece that I believe genuinely comes from a good place.

However, there’s one line that doesn’t describe the DIY I know. Not the quotes from my peers, obviously - they’re wise and sage people who know their stuff and speak sense - but one almost throw away aside doesn’t represent the publication my team and I work day in day out at putting together.

Now - and bare with me here - I love ‘zines more than most. Hell, I started a publication named after a bis song - how couldn’t I? They’re almost always brave, honest and inventive, often look brilliant and are born with a passion that it’s impossible not to admire. However, I think there is a difference between a ‘zine and magazine, and certainly what we (and in my eyes, some of the others mentioned) produce is a magazine. If I was to give it up tomorrow, another editor would be appointed to take my place - and most likely it wouldn’t be me anointing my own successor. While current reviews editor Emma and I founded DIY, it isn’t just ours anymore. It’s a title that will continue until the day it can no longer afford to, with or without us. We have a central London office we turn up to before ten in the morning and leave after six at night. The last thing I did on Friday was work on a presentation for a media partnership with a major festival. We have to think about brands as well as band, and square that circle as best we can.

Obviously we have a lot of ‘zine ethics going on beneath the surface (if it all came tumbling down you can be sure we’d be using our DIY callings the next month to put out something, in whatever way we could), but we do not see ourselves as in any way different in outlook, execution or ambition to our long established newsstand siblings. We just don’t charge - mostly because the distribution model looked a ball ache and the cross over would have been a nightmare for the long established website our print edition grew from. In 2011 when we started printing words and pictures on dead trees a free model simply made the most sense.

But that’s all in a word. You can argue that one until the cows come home, and really it doesn’t matter one jot. There are pure blood ‘zines that would put any traditional ‘magazine’ to shame. Both are brilliant and as time goes the line will become increasingly blurred. No. It’s this line which doesn’t describe DIY.

Indeed, though most of these magazines’ websites look good, most don’t bother with extra online content, and those that do – Fly, DIY and Crack – have nowhere near as much as mainstream publications.

With the greatest of respect, no. That’s just not right.

DIY’s website isn’t a poor relation of our print magazine, or our DIY Weekly tablet publication either. It’s sat the at the top table. It has to be - for the first nine years it was the only thing we did. To suggest it doesn’t go toe to toe for copy with ‘mainstream’ publications’ online offerings is both ludicrously wrong and (almost certainly unintentionally, I concede) a flat out insult to those who have edited our online arm down the years.

From Emma, Karis and a cast of often under credited, brilliant people who sparked us in the early days, through to Viki (the true engine of DIY to this day; one of the best in the industry who constantly makes me look like a ham-fisted idiot in comparison), to current incumbent and all star blog boy superhero Jamie - none of them should look at their traditional peers and deserve to be told they’d come up short. Everyone who has worked in the DIY bunker has literally given their lives to the cause - slaving every hour they can and over thinking in those they can’t. They’ve, to a woman and man, given more than I could or should have ever asked. Each of them has grown up as part of our publication’s rich and tumultuous tradition of never, ever saying a major publishing house’s money is a reason we shouldn’t match or better them. We always have, and we’re damn proud of it.

Yes, it’s a labour of love, but it’s also our profession. A couple of us might have started as hobbyists in our late teens, but that was a long time ago and certainly isn’t the case now. If you’re trying to tell me our news editor Sarah or art director Louise wouldn’t be a prized asset to a Bauer or IPC, then I’ll see you outside in five minutes, ‘mate’. Any magazine in the world would be lucky to have any one of my team, past or present. When the deadline has arrived they’ve never once let me down, however ridiculous my mad ideas and outlandish demands have become.

And that describes the rest of our online peers (who honestly, are more relevant that some print titles these days) too. Are you going to tell me any of them are poorer websites than some of the newsstand print titles? Really?! From where I sit they’re usually able to be better targeted and more generous with their copy. Rarely would I call them less professional, either. That’s no taint on the established names - the lack of red tape is a god send - but not one of them should be seen as a small endeavour. Every one of the poor bastards that dared start something with bigger ambitions than a blog beholden to their own whims and motivation will say the same. In their opinion, they’ve no intention of being anything but the most ambitious title full stop. Their big ideas will plague their dreams until they make them reality. Aiming for the stars would be far, far too low. Egos may occasionally bristle between titles, sure. No doubt we all have different ideas of what a good magazine - be it in print, online or somewhere inbetween - should be (as we should). Regardless, they deserve as much if not more respect for what they achieve, day in, day out.

The full quote I gave to the piece explains it best. In print, it’s shortened.

‘We’ve never been ones for being lo-fi for the sake of it – we’re a bedroom blog started in skipped uni lectures.’ – Stephen Ackroyd, editor

But completely unedited (so excuse the clunky structure)

‘The mag was the natural progression of what we’d done online for nearly a decade. We’ve never been ones for being lo-fi for the sake of it - we’re a bedroom blog started in skipped Uni lectures that aimed high and grew into a fully fledged music magazine printing 40,000 copies a month and distributing copies nationwide (and beyond). We aim to be big, colourful and brash rather than overly worried about being cool, niche or pretentious. Bad jokes and a belief that personalities are what makes bands great, rather than standoffish appreciation, sit at the centre of everything we do. We cover big acts and small acts, major label and underground buzz bands - we’re simply looking for things that will make our readers excited about music.’

Little? It’s all about perspective. I think we’re positively huge.

Anyone involved in a music magazine/ website puts in ungodly hours that sometimes they wish they could have back. But it’s worth it.

We’re in our DIY bunker for 10 solid hours some days and yes, it’s turning us into vampires. I expect that’s the same for most/all other publications.

The Fly, Crack, Beat, LiS, Zero Core are actual magazines, with most having brilliant, committed sites to boot.

It’s just like how the bigger independent music websites (Best Fit, 405, etc.) wouldn’t like to be called ‘little blogs’.

Also: There are some genuinely amazing *actual* fanzines out there, ones that *are* built on spare hours, that probably would’ve branched under that header a whole lot better.

Sd Laika | Idiot ThugIntense. Almost deafeningly so, depending...

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 20:35:38 +0000

Sd Laika | Idiot Thug

Intense. Almost deafeningly so, depending on how much it possesses you. 15 minute mix from Sd Laika, put together on another planet presumably.

garet lee | Paris In May Found this via a Youtube comment on an...

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 14:41:33 +0000

garet lee | Paris In May

Found this via a Youtube comment on an Ellery James Roberts song. ‘Paris In May’ is a sleepy, too-much-coffee-drenched slumber - the best of several songs on garet lee’s soundcloud.

Deep Slice | Need to Know U Miami Beach producer with an extra...

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:28:00 +0000

Deep Slice | Need to Know U

Miami Beach producer with an extra edge to boast, Deep Slice the sound of some alien summer just waiting to happen.

Danno - One Based out in New York, Danno’s first ever...

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 17:00:17 +0000

Danno - One

Based out in New York, Danno’s first ever “demo” is a severe experiment in pushing boundaries through sleepy, sleek electro pop.

ROLE | Ocean Madrid kids ROLE use shoegaze knowingly, like...

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 12:49:43 +0000

ROLE | Ocean

Madrid kids ROLE use shoegaze knowingly, like it’s a tool instead of a genre that constrains. A really exciting, blindingly beautiful debut single that gets by on hundreds and hundreds of pretty, looping motions.

Windbreaker | Unemployment sucks and my best friend died What a...

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 19:05:11 +0100

Windbreaker | Unemployment sucks and my best friend died

What a title, you immediately think. And then you find out the guy’s writing from an autobiographical perspective. And everything hits like a ton of bricks. And even though half of you’s thinking ’shit, I’ve never been through anything like that, how the hell can I relate?’ the other half is ensconced in the chaotic, emotional punch of Windbreaker’s debut track.

Musically there aren’t a lot of similarities, but this song really reminds me of Majical Cloudz. Devon Welsh has an amazing ability to entrance, to project these grizzly dark emotions and, almost out of punk ambition, forcing them out of his system without a care in the world. This Boston resident is the same. It’s an instinctive reaction for a lot of musicians to discover their best work through horrifying experiences, and that feels like exactly what Windbreaker’s landed on.

French Pickles - All those things The streets of Nantes light up...

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 23:11:58 +0100

French Pickles - All those things

The streets of Nantes light up for French Pickles. I’m not 100% sure if this is actually a project based out in France, but there’s a swing, an assuredness that seeps from the country’s concrete pavements right through to the very mood of ’All those things’. The kind of pronounced, referential musings - “why do I wear a ring, if I have to carry all the things” - that you might expect on the new Julia Holter record sweep in, backed by a mindful simplicity, one that’s trickier to replicate than it’d have you believe.

More: French Pickles on Soundcloud.

Our Mother | AGE OF EMPIREZ The best part about OUR...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:51:05 +0100

Our Mother | AGE OF EMPIREZ

The best part about OUR MOTHER’s website is that it simply presents a jerking gold disc and player of ‘AGE OF EMPIREZ’, which spins on a constant. You could play this song forever, no understatement.

Many might lump the 'mystery’ tag at a band who’ve existed several months while lacking any promo shots, but they’ve been playing shows in and around London since 2012, and this debut track is an open wound, full of emotions willing to be poked and prodded at, every if it bursts a nerve.

Gorgeous songwriting, with an intentionally baroque quality.

BAY. - Honey BAY. are in rude health. Everything they touch...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:15:00 +0100

BAY. - Honey

BAY. are in rude health. Everything they touch turns to diamond-encrusted crimson. Hook after hook snuggles up to one another on ’Honey’, a track where boring ideas go to die.

Been obsessed with this Croydon band since ’With You’, and there’s something about their ridiculous pop pomp that has limitless appeal.

Dat synth horn section, etc.

TIDEUP | Walk When ’Walk’ takes its first steps,...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:48:12 +0100

TIDEUP | Walk

When ’Walk’ takes its first steps, I’m expecting it to sift through some by-the-numbers chillwave, to soothe the soul but do nothing more.

Instead, in steps Noelle Indovino. Her voice isn’t childsplay. A background in musical theatre tells us singing is her life, and her work in TIDEUP tells us she’s very, very good at what she does.

Initially she plays her words out in tow with the music, like a sea creature swimming alongside a sailboat. But by the time the chorus flutters by she’s right at the forefront, her words piercing the surface with such beauty you’ve little choice but to sit back and take it all in.

CLUB KURU | Loot Londoner L L Erskine has put a lot of thought...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:03:29 +0100

CLUB KURU | Loot

Londoner L L Erskine has put a lot of thought into every aspect of this project. ‘Ku-ru’ is a name given to an incurable neurological disease which spread among a tribe in Papa New Guinea through cannibalism, and even a song title like 'Loot’ seems fitting: You hear a song like this and you want to smash the proverbial store window, seep out all its parts and use them for yourself.

Alongside the suitably strung-out ’Long Drive’, this is the more immediate of Erskine’s tracks. His vocals don’t decorate the scene with anything improbably ambitious, but the surrounding instrumentation is a strange, unlikely mix. Every touch is deft and calculated, each fleeting moment flowered with something precious. But its ultimate stance has something grim lurking beneath. Maybe not as grim as, say, cannibalism, but it sure is an enticing mix, one befitting the project.

MOUSTAD | IvorySometimes, as a guy who thinks he can write about...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:30:50 +0100

MOUSTAD | Ivory

Sometimes, as a guy who thinks he can write about music for a redeemable income, I get caught up in this pipe-dream: I begin to think that maybe, given the right tools and maybe a fuckton of luck, I’ll be a successful musician myself. I used to be able to play a couple of Muse songs on guitar, right? I can strum a few chords? What could possibly go wrong?

Within this pipe dream is a settled sound. An idea of what exactly these world-beating songs of mine will emerge as. It’ll tend to sound like several of my favourite bands at once. Actually screw that: It’ll sound just like MOUSTAD. ‘Ivory’ is the audible recreation of every one of my pipe dreams. I’m just glad they got there before I did, obviously.

Mei Saraswati | dash Savoir’s ’Zinli Rhythm’...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:27:00 +0100

Mei Saraswati | dash

Savoir’s ’Zinli Rhythm’ still holds up as my standout track of 2013 to date. It felt special at the time and still does. I’m holding my breath to see what James Ireland and Andrew Sinclair come up with next.

But Ireland and Sinclair needn’t get all the credit. Singing on ‘Zinli Rhythm’ is Mei Swan, who records under the Mei Saraswati name. Her Soundcloud’s a wonderful mix of off-cuts, remixes and covers.

But ’dash’, which you’d hope is part of a bigger release, is the real deal. Like 'Zinli…’ it’s an initial swarm of tribal percussion. 1 minute and 40 seconds in - to be exact - it lights another match. Mei’s flow gains momentum. “Ain’t impossible to understand / take a toke and pass it with the left hand”, she calls, before talk of being “reborn” and “re-instated” makes this song apt for an Easter Sunday post.

It’s an extension of 'Zinli’, and another clear 2013 standout. I want some of what Perth’s sipping.

Ides | CrybabySo much more than sorry sadcore. What draws me to...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:19:26 +0000

Ides | Crybaby

So much more than sorry sadcore.

What draws me to Ides is an ability to make big, emotionally draining songs sound otherwise. They don’t drag or weigh on the conscience. They don’t even bring out your own personal, misery-sodden memories. Well they might. But not in my case. I find myself more concerned with nestling in all the hate and the drama, all the distortion, and embracing it.

It’s raw and it’s exciting and it’s Ides all over.

Taken from the ’Songs About Love/ Hate’ EP.

Forêt - Corps maquillés Open a music magazine or wax over your...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:36:00 +0000

Forêt - Corps maquillés

Open a music magazine or wax over your average music blog and Montreal will be mentioned, time and time again, as some musical haven where creativity survives, while every surrounding area recovers from a dry-spell, as if we’re in middle of a nuclear season.

There’s no denying Arbutus and all its offspring are doing something spectacular But little’s been made of those who speak in a language distinct to the hyperbole-strewn press from both sides of the Pacific. France is in bloom, too, and Montreal's Forêt have an absolutely magnificent album in their locker.

It’s hard to pick a favourite from their self-titled debut. Beyond a genuine love for every single song, I find myself admiring this particular track’s craft. It initially spills out with a warm glow, before flourishing into a synth-filled burst that’ll remind you of every goosebump-inducing moment on Arcade Fire’s ’The Suburbs’. Turns out Montreal has plenty more secrest. Its story has barely even begun.

Forêt’s debut album is available now via. Simone Records.

Magical Mistakes | Snow Shoes Probably the last day I’ll...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:31:17 +0000

Magical Mistakes | Snow Shoes

Probably the last day I’ll see snow fall in this city. Who knows? Right now this song feels really apt, as a long week winds down and I’m about to bid farewell to what, sixteen years, of education? Everyone’s huddled inside and there’s the faint sound outside of children excitedly rushing outdoors, show shoes strapped on as per parents’ instructions. Here’s to the future.

This producer’s been a staple of soundtracking moments like these. Odd stages of reflection where only chopped acoustics and sharp percussion will do the trick. Always been a sucker for this kind of sound. Always will be.

Catch up on the ’Everything Uncertain’ LP.

Favela. - Onwards/Upwards“Look at all the days gone...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Favela. - Onwards/Upwards

“Look at all the days gone by.”

It’s usually around this time of year that resolutions of months past are completely ditched, the stress kicks in and routine bites back.
But music like Favela.’s, for all its apparent escapism, is compelling. It has a more powerful message than many an ardent, politically-inclined firestarter, in that it’ll get you reaching for the Winter coat, determined to get outside, see the people you adore, and explore. Onwards and upwards. It’s a cheesy notion, bound to grate on plenty, but how can you resist a song like this, when its message is so obvious, its sound so pure?

Download the Leeds producer’s debut EP.

Palermo - Book Of Ethics Prague’s a party city. By day...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:06:00 +0000

Palermo - Book Of Ethics

Prague’s a party city. By day it’s filled with tourists crossing bridges and seeing the city from skyline towers. After dark its basements are filled with drunk twenty-somethings prepping for a long, long night. But every party has a morning after, and Palermo, hailing from this very city, seem to carefully balance the party highs and the inevitable comedown. They sway between stately songwriting and tightly-wound, grandiose synth patterns.

Dominik Gajarsky, Roman Stetina aka. Palermo have a debut LP titled ‘Still Life’ out in May 2013 via. Crazy Iris.

BODYWORK | TAMEThe MFM site seems to have undergone some kind of...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:44:39 +0000

BODYWORK | TAME

The MFM site seems to have undergone some kind of inadvertent, odd redesign. I either performed it while stupidly drunk and can no longer remember, or it just took it upon itself to put the ‘old look’ out of its misery.

Something about this ’TAME’ track reminds me of the experience, of having virtually no control over what’s around you. Or in this case, the uncontrollable aspect is the limbs you possess - they go into their own zone when this song blares out. The Leeds trio BODYWORK have a debut LP out this Summer. If the direct, muscular, John Talabot-channelling ferocity of this song is replicated across an entire album, it’s BODYWORK’s very career that’ll be impossible to control. It’ll go skywards.

Listen out especially for the amazing, seemingly 'Tekken’ channelling closing section.