COP3 - first hand interviews

Interview 1.

Interview with Steve Carlton at The Salford Zine Library, Manchester, 3 December 2013

Do you feel that advances in technology have had a positive or negative affect on zines? Why?

It's a bit of both, I think, but mainly a positive. People might say "isn't a zine just a paper version of a blog?" and not see the real point of zines. The common belief outside of the zine community is that zines will die because it's much easier to write a blog post and distribute it online.

This doesn't actually seem to be the case, though. If anything, the Internet has given zinesters a new way to promote themselves to wider audiences. From our blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts we've been able to attract donations from all around the world. That would have been much harder in the "old days", as it were. Similarly, zinesters are able to collaborate with people from around the world and have their zines stocked by distros that they might never have been aware of, were it not for the Internet.

I think also making zines has always been seen as a kind of outsider pursuit. Because it is so easy to write a blog post, I think zine making is even more attractive to people who don't necessarily want to conform to the mainstream. It requires some level of skill and patience (Although how much skill and patience you have doesn't really matter that much) and it's just a nice thing to do, isn't it? Anyone can write a blog post and get people to click on it.

What can printed zines offer an individual that a blog/website does not?

That's a tricky one - I suppose it depends on the individual reading the zine or the blog. I think zines tend to be more personal. I like that someone has spent time and energy putting something physical together. 

Most blogs can be accessed by absolutely anybody - a zine usually has a very short run, and the chances are that you're part of a relatively small group of people who will be lucky enough to read what you have in your hands. It's almost like the person who wrote the zine is talking directly to you. It's closer to receiving a letter from a friend than any kind of mainstream publishing, and I think that's part of what makes zines so special.

Do you feel that the popularisation of zines can be viewed positively, or has this led to things like personal gain and a loss of message?

I think it can only be a good thing. I mean, there are some things, like Topshop trying to claim that their catalogue is a zine (When it is in no way anything like what most people consider to be a zine!) in order to look slightly more edgy or cool or what have you- that's pretty rubbish. But I don't think there's any problem with zines becoming more popular in general.

The zine library accepts all zines, in whatever format, whatever the content, so if the maker identifies what they've created as a zine then we'll accept it! I think as long as it is self published, a zine can be anything. There is no general "zine message" as far as I'm concerned, aside from a vague promotion of DIY culture, so whatever people want to do with zines is up to them. It's a really cool way of expressing yourself, in whatever way you want to, and I think that opportunity should be open to everyone.

Interview 2.

Interview with Merrick Badger at Footprint Worker’s Co-op, Leeds, 3 December 2013

Can you give some examples of subject matters of the zines that you print?

A lot of it is music based, especially punk and some indie too. A lot of it is political, especially environmental, anarchist, social justice and animal liberation stuff (we won't print for any political parties though). And a lot is people's personal arty projects. There is a lot more beyond that too, zines about footballers moustaches or cartoons about dogs.

On average, how many copies of a zine do you find yourself printing for an individual?

Probably 200, but it varies from 30 to 2000. Most would be 100-500.

Do you feel that advances in technology have had a positive or negative affect on zines? Why?

I'm struggling to think of negatives. The falling price of copying is obviously a boon. The rise of computers makes it ever easier for people to organise and design their layout, but they can still be as rough and shoddy as they want. The barriers of money, skills and access to technology have diminished hugely, which means the only real barrier left is 'do you have something to say?’ Likewise, the Internet makes it easy for people of niche tastes to find each other, and zinesters are just one group who've benefitted.

What do you think is the best way of distributing zines? Do you see this changing in the future?

I don't really know. We've started doing a distro which we've not really got the website going but we do stalls at zine fairs, roller derby bouts and political events.

What can printed zines offer an individual that a blog/website does not?

Tangibility and posterity. The Internet has everything ever, so it's always beckoning you to scroll and click on to the next thing. With a paper zine you linger a lot more over the aesthetic. You go back and read the same one repeatedly - when did you ever do that with a blog post? From the maker's perspective, the greater time and effort it takes to make a zine means they have given it that bit more thought, that refining of the ideas that makes it into something that gabs you more. Also, a blog goes on and on, with a zine you're usually done in 15 minutes; that sense of interlude, of a brief wander in someone else's head yet getting the whole story they want to tell, has no online equivalent really. The fact that zine fairs have burgeoning in the online age proves that they're different media. Rock music didn't kill off orchestras. It's the same thing.

Do you feel that the popularisation of zines can be viewed positively, or has this led to things like personal gain and a loss of message?
I don't really see personal gain. Factor in the time spent compiling and editing, folding and stapling, posting, sitting behind a stall, really, who actually makes a living? Who even gets £1 an hour? It's the fact that the medium itself is essentially uncommercial that makes it so good. Yes, the fucking Daily Mail sells well over a million a day, but how many trust it? The thing with a zine is that it only exists because someone thought it should. There's no fortune, no fame, no advertisers or editors to temper the content, it's an open, honest expression. In an age of increasingly polished corporate media saturation they are ever more refreshing as a real human voice, produced on a human scale. The fact of their existence says we needn't be consumers, we can create, and if you're not seeing anything saying the stuff that's in your head, get it said yourself. That's empowering and there's room for everyone to do it. Even the daftest most puerile zine is, in that sense, profoundly political and a big fuck you to advertisers and Daily Mail World.

I don't see what 'message' there is to lose either. The whole point is that they're about whatever anyone wants to talk about; there is no overarching idea that they need to comply with. Imagine if you gran and her friends did zines, how much you'd want to read it. The more people do it the better.