That was an eventful week. It’s hard as a father of three kids to dive headfirst into the world of DIY punk rock as the kids still need to go school, football training and do all those things kids do. Harder still when DIY becomes the theme for much needed home improvements. Harder still when the man needs to be satisfied (and by that I mean working for the man).
Anyway the zine came out last week and after spending a huge amount of time putting it together I had to ensure it got out there. Contributors had to get their copy, shops and distros had to be stocked and people needed to know of its existence.
And so Social media was hit. facebook, twitter and he forums I know of were all hit. Envelopes were purchased and 30 complimentary copies were sent off. I then had to hit the shops of my hometown to see if they still stock zines. The idea of doing a fanzine is to communicate with people and I purposely had it in print as I wanted interaction NOT just at the click of a button. I want people to go into shops that are struggling, I want some effort to go into either reading or purchasing this. We live ina disposable society and it has many many positives but it’s nice to step away from it every now and then. And so I wnt to the shops I felt were worthwhile in Dublin. Starting with record shops, freebird, Elastic Witch were stocked. Tower are moving so I’m letting them settle with that. I was amazed by Spindizzy’s reaction – “not enough room, sorry”. It’s 26 A4 pages!, can’t take up that much space. I then hit the bookshops. COnnolly Books took them no problem but Books Upstairs were hesitant. I know it mightn’t mean much but if my zine is in your shop I can tell people to go there. Anyway it’s not there. Winding Stair and Gutter Books will get a visit this week.
Outside Dublin I’m a bit lost so I went for the old reliables. Plugd in Cork and WingNut in Galway. Cork has also got Cork Community Print Shop so some went there too. Punker Bunker in Brighton has been flying the flag for independent releases for years so I sent some to Buz. All Ages have yet to respond. Distros are getting thinner on the ground but they still exist, Suspect Device in SOuthampton and Me Distro in Sligo are the first ones. More will be added.
As I said the idea is to put them into shops and distros that deserve support. I will then let you know and encourage you to go to these places.
And then there was gigs. As I mentioned earlier I can’t go out every evening even if I wanted to and priorities in my world revolve around my family but I got out twice. Menshevik in the Academy. they were great but it copperfastened my belief in the diy scene. Merch stall taking huge commission and no way could you walk around with a bag of zines in your hand. On the opposite to this was Goldblade, The Outcasts, Paranoid Visions and Checkpoint where the stall was there but ironically the interest wasn’t. I should have walked around asking people to buy the zine, but I couldn’t. How times have changed? I was never fully comfortable with approaching people and asking for money in return for photocopied paper but I used to do it. I can’t now. Must try harder.
Then there’s the Hope show on Radioactive International. It’s on weekly so I did a special with all bands in the zine.
Getting there.
Hope zine can be purchased on paypal €4 to [email protected] more info
