Zines!: Incendiary Interviews with Independent Publishers

Flaunting off-beat interests, extreme personal revelations and social activism, zines directly counter the pseudo-communication and glossy lies of the mainstream media monopoly. These interviews with a dozen zine creators (per volume) capture all the excitement associated with uncensored freedom of expression, while offering insight, inspiration and delight. Empowered by the "DO IT YOURSELF" (DIY) philosophy of the punk rock revolt of the '70s, thousands of dissatisfied, savvy malcontents are expressing their authentic thoughts and feelings via the cheapest print medium available: xeroxed zines. There are other affordable means of independent communication, including stickers, flyers, posters, newsletters, home-made cassettes, 7" vinyl singles, and pixelvision filmmaking using discontinued Fisher-Price cameras whose "film" is a cheap standard cassette tape. However, the zine remains the fastest, most conveniently reproducible and effective means of getting a substantial message across.
In the past two decades a quiet revolution has gained force: over 50,000 "zines" (independent, not-for-profit self publications) have emerged and spread--mostly through the mail, with little publicity. Flaunting off-beat interests, extreme personal revelations and social activism, zines directly counter the "psuedo-communication" and glossy lies of the mainstream media monopoly. These interviews capture all the excitement associated with uncensored freedom of expression, while offering insight, inspiration and delight.