Zine of Strength

Issue 1.5, the re-release of Issues 1 and 2 with Drug Control and Crime Desire in a special cut and paste edition featuring a brand new interview with Soul Power is officially out now and limited to 100! Link is below 

This zine was started in March 2015, at the time it was just me and my long time good friend. We wanted to make a zine that would not only provoke kids in thinking about the complexities of the world, but to make a zine that would also invoke a certain level of nostalgia. We wanted to make a zine that we felt was a bit more organized and focused in ethos, and had an aesthetic that reflected that. We wanted to stray away from the traditional cut and paste zine look and try to do something a little different. So far we have felt we have done just this, and we are proud of the work put out. However that is not to say this zine hasn’t come with problems though, from an early name change and content redirection, to the hours deducted from our school and work, to the funding difficulties. For even in the face of expenses, one thing we wanted most was to distribute this zine for free. We had seen some sketchy things after writing zines and starting bands for so long and didn’t feel gross profiting off of something we love so much was right. So to fund this project we sold vinyl, worked overtime, and split the costs of printing and shipping between the two of us evenly, and for the first issue it worked. However life tends to happen as it does, and my best friend had to follow his heart on a life long dream thus rendering him unable to continue on with the zine. It was unexpected and upsetting, but I didn’t want to give up so soon, Issue 2 had just been released and it felt like kids were getting excited. So I took on the organizing, writing, editing, and funding of the project by myself for Issue 3 with the mentality of ‘we’ll see how far we can take this.’ So far I am down over $330 from my own wallet. Now I am not complaining, and this wouldn’t be so bad (money comes and goes, it’s not important to me, never has been) but I actually found out there were 2 distros (namesake they aren’t important to mention) selling the personal PDFs I had sent them. Goes without saying but this was pretty hurtful to find out. I was at a cross roads, so when I flirted with the idea of discontinuing the zine, a lot of kids objected and urged me to reconsider. So because of the situation, and the response so far, I am going to do away with sending out PDFs, and I am going try the big cartel route. I really hate doing it, and it kills me to do so, but it’s a middle grounds I think is appropriate, something at least worth a try. The costs however will always reflect the print costs, and because of this might fluctuate here and there, but I pride myself on transparency, and printing invoices will always be available on request. And after seeking counsel on this decision from a trusted friend, he left me confident and assured with the statement that “if kids aren’t willing to pay a dollar for this zine, they don’t really want it in the first place.” Thus the zine will fall in the hands of the kids that want it, and this what means the most to me. Quality over quantity, always, and if this zine is meant to survive this will be the reason why, and that’s all I can ask for.

Alan

Decline is a youth crew straight edge band hailing from Chicago, comprised from ex-members of Expired Youth and Noose. We recently got to ask them a couple questions for the release of their 2014 demo. The transcript is below, enjoy! 

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1. Congrats on the demo, it looks like kids are excited. I read via your Facebook you received over 1000 hits in 24 hours, that’s awesome! So being that you are from the ‘midwest’ I wanted to hear a bit about the organizing that goes on out there.

Nowadays the scene out here seems very fragmented. It's not uncommon to see a couple shows happening on the same night which of course in my opinion is never a good thing, but it happens. A lack of solid consistent venues seems to be an issue in Chicago often and that's been something that's been happening since I can remember going back to the early 90s. There’s still a decent amount of shows that go on but it almost seems like that information doesn't get out very well. Perfect example is 7 Seconds played here a couple months ago and there weren't any posts about it anywhere. Now I know some might say but they're a bigger band blah blah blah but it's 7 Seconds for God’s sake!

2. I love your old-school sound and the aesthetic, but what attracted me the most was the deeply charged political lyrics. What’s the writing process like for you guys and do you ever feel there is political apathy that’s growing in this scene?

Bucky was in charge of writing all the lyrics. What I love about Bucky’s writing is that being a college professor he's one intelligent guy and he can frame a subject intellectually without going over people’s heads which can be hard to balance. As for the writing process usually Kyle will come up with guitar riffs and we'll organically start putting the song together. Later Bucky will throw lyrics together as the song is developing. As for political apathy in the scene I think it just depends which part of the scene one is talking about. You have your straightforward youth crew type hard-core which generally you don't see too infused with political messages where as more of the punk edge scene you'll definitely see that being more politically charged.

3. I saw a FB post of yours from a while back, to where you said to some extent, you weren’t trying to “reinvent the wheel, but just wanted to play a style of hardcore you grew up listening to and still enjoy.” That resonated pretty deep with me because I know you all have been in this scene a long time. So with that I am sure you have seen some trends come and go, but looking back at yourself, what’s something funny you admit you used to do, or a passing trend you fell victim to?

I think some of the worst trends were in the 90s. It was all about how big our jeans could be and double XL shirts, writing slogans on our arms with magnum magic markers, X's on our hands that were the size of Texas and of course you can't forget the chokers. I definitely took part in all of those things haha.

4. Any last words?