SHIT HAPPINESS

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.“ - Jim Jarmusch

Big Brother Is Watching You And He’s Bored - God Bless Generica 2004 USA Big Brother Is Watching You And Remo Too - Misha Remo 2013 Moscow

Yesterday was a pretty epic day at God Bless Generica HQ.  We received a clipping of an amazingly hilarious review from the legendary Razorcake completely trashing our last zine, Grimm Memes.  A review so scathing and sarcastic you’d think we wrote it.  God Bless America Projects…  Hilarious!!  I love how the basis of their hate is the zine’s intersection of internet and their definition of underground zine culture, then goes on to frame the review with facebook references, and an Uber plug for the cherry on top.  So much lol.  I can’t wait to quote it extensively in future promotions, I think they know that too.  (Thank you so much to the awesome stranger in California for tearing a page out of their precious Razorcake and sending it.  You’re a saint and will be rewarded accordingly!)

On the same day in the po box, I received a request for the same zine from a federal correctional institution.  Apparently reviews of Grimm Memes appeared in the winter issues of quite a few magazines recently, so I anticipate receiving more letters from prisoners requesting zines.  I’m always happy to oblige and sometimes wonder what they “did” but it doesn’t really matter.  However, I can say with certainty I would defend this person’s “crimes” any day and it’s in fact an honor to be sending them anything by request, and especially our silly meme zine.  Stoked is an understatement.  I hope we can be palz.

HEY LOOK!!! It’s the KC Zine Con #2 organizing committee meeting today to discuss… KC ZINE CON #2!!!  What?? TRUE!!!!

—-> August 27, 2016 - KC ZINE CON #2 <—-

THANK YOU KANSAS CITY!!! THANK YOU MIDWEST ZINESTERS!!!

Last week was amazing!!  We’re still recovering from the overwhelming weekend, but we couldn’t be happier with our first KC Zine Con!  The turnout was incredible.  We are overflowing with gratitude to everyone who contributed to making this event great, the artists who participated and to everyone who attended.  

Thanks especially to these fine folks for helping us along the way…  Julia Arredondo, Billy Badass, Kate Blackman, Blondie Brunetti, Maria Vasquez Boyd, Jamie Braun, Tim Braun, Broadway Roasting Co., Sherman Breneman, Rita Brinkerhoff, Flannery Cashill, Chasm, Eliza Cox, Jaclyn Dalbey, Raul DeLeon, Craig DeMoss, DJ Pintsize, Julia Eff, Patrick Egger, Frank Farmer, Farm to Market Bread Company, Madeline Farrell, FOKL, Violet Fox, Dana Freeman, Abby Gallagher, Lindsey Griffith, Annie Harrigan, Katie Hogan, Suzanne Hogan, Holy Cow Market & Music, David Hudnall, Ink Magazine, Inner Altar, It’s A Beatiful Day, Jonas, King of Herrings, KKFI, Robert Knapp, Lauren Krum, LaBudde Special Collections, Ned Leager, Isidoro Leon, Adri Luna, Jeremy Luther, Bryant Mann, Lisa Manning,  Adam Meredith, Hugh Merrill, Mills Record Company, Megan Mulvihill, Peggy Mulvihill, Charlie Mylie, Nate Allen & The Pac-Away Dots, Lizeth Nino, Oddities Prints, Cleyre Odegard, Oh Snap! Photo,  One More Cup, Andy Ozier, Parisi Artisan Coffee, Erica Peterson, Kelsey Pike, Pioneers Press, The Pitch, Nicole Pizzatto, Annie Raab, Dan Regan, Dana Regan, Tia Regan, Relic Harry, Luke Rocha, Ruff Sage, Ailecia Ruscin, Jori Sackin, Vicki Saviano, Arnold Serna, Shy Boys, Stefany Spears, SPI Custom Print & Design, Uptown Theater, Vacant Farm, Jill Valentine, Lucas Wetzel, Alex Wrekk, Asa Wilder, Kelsey Wroten, Jake Young, Erin Zona, Zz School of Print Media… If we forgot you, we’re sorry.  There were so many people who contributed to making this thing so great. 

Last up in our lineup of Regional Featured Artists, one of the most important zine creators rocking the photocopier today, the one and only Julia Eff.

“Julia Eff is rumored to actually be a swarm of wasps in an overcoat but they’ve been making zines for over 10 years.” Julia Eff is from Detroit and writes about about “gender, myspace bands, and feelings” and has produced legendary titles such as All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues, Read Once & Destroy, and their best-selling Every Thug Is A Lady: Adventures Without Gender, recently published as a book by Pioneers Press. Julia’s zines are pocket sized chunks of art that win for more content per square inch than any other zine around. You might be exhausted after reading one of their ¼ size or mini zines, but in a good way, wanting more.

Step inside the mind of Julia Eff…

Why zines? JF: OH MAN SO MANY REASONS. I started a zine because I could, and because I was super annoyed that the hicks I went to school with were missing out on this wacky-ass news I was hearing about, so I didn’t have anybody to talk to about it. But there’s something super gratifying about being able to just write whatever you want, your feelings or opinions or your particular spin on something that has happened, have absolute control over how it turns out and how it looks, and then send it out into the world. No ugly formatting, no crappy fonts, no same-old publicity photos. No hard deadlines. No feeling liable for other people, or feeling like you have to be objective. Lots of gluing things to other things. It’s an excuse to drink a lot of coffee and hoard office supplies, too.

Any words of advice for aspiring zeensters? JF: Start writing, stop doing push-ups. Just do it. Literally all you need is an idea and a pen (no pencil please, it doesn’t photocopy properly)! My first zine ran for 50-something issues, and that was all just handwritten with my own scratchy illustrations. Don’t sit there and talk about how one day you’re gonna maybe make a zine to get people to look at you and think you’re ~super cool~ or ~artsy~ or whatever–go make the thing, print it, put it out there, and stop worrying that other people are gonna think it sucks. Everybody thinks their zine is crappy, especially their first, so you’re already halfway there. And look to other places for inspiration! I started my zine before I even knew there were other ones out there–I didn’t see anybody else’s zine until like 2.5 years into it, so my whole aesthetic came from things like album artwork, old handbills and newspapers, vintage propaganda, internet culture, show flyers, cartoons, band newsletters, and books written by hippies. There’s a whole world of stuff to look at out there, just waiting to be stolen by you.

What’s your favorite thing about zine fests? JF: Traveling (both the getting-there and the being-there), hanging out with friends, kissing hands/shaking babies, seeing how much caffeine I can fit in my trash body in the shortest possible amount of time, and picking up new stuff to read!

What are you most looking forward to about KC Zine Con #1? JF: I GET TO TAKE THE TRAIN THERE. I’m pretty stoked to meet new zinesters I haven’t met yet, drink coffee I’ve never had before, and pick up loads of new things to read, but I get to take the train. TWICE. And one of them is a DOUBLE-DECKER. I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON A DOUBLE-DECKER TRAIN BEFORE. I AM SO STOKED ABOUT THAT MY ARMS FEEL LIKE THEY’RE GONNA FALL OFF. MAYBE.

Julia Eff would also like you to know they “drink a lot of tea and generally smell decent.” We are extremely delighted to be featuring Julia Eff at KC Zine Con #1.

Next up in our lineup of prestigious Regional Featured Artists, one of the most prolific and widely respected zine makers in the game today, Jonas.  

Jonas is a self-described “crusty old Midwest zinester” who lives in Chicago with his wife, child and “noose of financial debt.”   Jonas became a fixture in the zine scene with the heavy-hitting Cheer The Eff Up, which ran for six issues.   Jonas has one published book, The Greatest Most Traveling Circus, a novel/anthology.  He has also curated and edited two hearty compilations featuring rockstar zinesters, SRVIV and What Matters, and is currently producing the perzine series Fixer Eraser.  Jonas creates zines that are sincere, smart, and important, and is a heckuva nice guy to chat with at zine fests.

We asked Jonas a few questions, and once again we received some excellent replies.

Why zines? J: There are a lot of reasons. Maybe the main one for me is that you can express yourself, you can share your creative work, you can get it all out there and you can avoid all of the obstacles that come with the traditionally accepted definition of “writer.” You don’t have to constantly submit your work to publishers, magazines and journals, hoping for validation from some faceless editor that you don’t even know. You don’t need the stack of rejection letters that supposedly prove that you’re going all the way, that you’re “putting in your time.” You don’t have to consider a target audience, target demographic. You really don’t even have to put much thought into what sort of category your work falls into. You write the thing, you lay it out in a zine, you make copies and you distribute it. Maybe people will like it, maybe no one will like it and maybe no one will read it–you’re liberated from that. It’s like, you know, finding the beauty in being another drop in the ocean, instead of hoping to be a star.

Any words of advice for aspiring zinesters? J: To quote the French philosopher Shia Labeouf: JUST DO IT. Don’t think about what a zine should be or what it needs to be, or whether you’ll be good enough. Write out what you are feeling. If words aren’t coming to you, use pictures. Make collages. Put it all together by whatever means you have at your disposal–computer, typewriter, magazine clippings, glue, scissors–then make copies of it. Then relish how good it is to finish something. If immediately afterwards you look back on it and think it’s all crap–well then, make the next one better. Enjoy the process and enjoy expressing yourself, and try not to feel as though there’s a big spotlight on you and whatever you create–because there isn’t.

What’s your favorite thing about zine fests? J: That’s easy. Zine Fests are my excuses to travel around the country and spend time with friends that I absolutely adore. Now, I love zines. Love them. Love making them, love reading them, love tabling and selling them. But the zines themselves are practically nothing compared to the friends I’ve met through them.

What are you most looking forward to about KC Zine Con #1? J: Well, my last answer pretty much answers this too. But I’m also excited to meet new zinesters. And, you know, also share my zines or whatever.

No zine fest is complete with Jonas in the room, and we are very honored to have him as one of our Regional Featured Artists at KC Zine Con #1!!