5to9zine issue 1

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Joe Biel • Josh Hammond Kait Mariutto • Pete(r) Menchetti BKFoxx • CH3’s Mike Magrann & Kimm Gardener • Kelsey Simpson

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5to9zine issue 1, Fall 2017

Introduction

Contents

Welcome to the first issue of 5to9zine, the brand new print zine dedicated to showcasing people’s side hustles, passion projects, hobby businesses – whatever it is people call that thing they do when they’re not at the 9 to 5. We call it your 5 to 9. In our premier issue we’ll get up close and personal with several amazing people and their awesome side projects that we just can’t wait to tell you about.

In this issue we feature Joe Biel of Microcosm Publishing, Josh Hammond of No Love City, Kait Mariutto of Give Hope, Fight Poverty, Pete(r) Menchetti of Slovenly Recordings and StickerGuy!, BKFoxx and her amazing murals, Mike Magrann and Kimm Gardener of the band Channel 3, as well as Kelsey Simpson of Gluestick. All these people are doing incredible work in their off hours and we hope they inspire you to do the same. Follow us on Instagram (@5to9zine), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/5to9zine), and visit our site 5to9zine.com to stay up to date on what’s going on with 5to9zine and there you can also order the next issue or get a quarterly subscription.

Also, if you or someone you know has an interesting side project that you think we should know about please email us at 5to9zine@gmail.com and tell us.

We’d love to hear from you!

Finally we want to say thank you to our Kickstarter supporters who got behind this, our own side project. Also, a big thank you to our sponsors who make this zine possible. Please check them out, follow them on social media, and be sure to always #supportthosewhosupportyou.

Tell ‘em 5to9zine sent ya!

– Chris, Dave & Holly

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Joe Biel: Building Movements from the Ground Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Josh Hammond: A Labor of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Kait Mariutto: Giving Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Pete(r) Menchetti: Loud & Slovenly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 BKFoxx: Larger than Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Mike Magrann & Kimm Gardener: Two Outta CH3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Kelsey Simpson: Connecting with Zines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The 5to9team

Dave Combs

ChrisRWK(Robots Will Kill)

Holly Combs

Rocky the Cat

Editor / Designer

Creative Director

The Guy with a Million Questions

Production Assistant

Contents copyright 2017, 5to9zine. All images and text are the property of their respective owners and may not be reproduced without permission. 5to9zine is published quarterly. Office of publication: 5to9zine, c/o Combs, 5805 Lowell Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46219, USA. Subscriptions available at: www.5to9zine.com 3

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Interview by Dave Combs Images courtesy of Microcosm Publishing Joe Biel is a man of many talents. He runs a publishing and distribution company in Portland, Oregon, Microcosm Publishing and on the side makes films, writes on Quora, is a bicycle activist, and does workshops for teens and adults about expressing emotions in healthy ways. He is the author of Good Trouble, Building a Successful Life & Business on the Spectrum & Against the Odds. We’ve known Joe for several years and we decided to catch up with him about one of his side projects, building Autism awareness and support.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

Of course! Happy to do it.

And what an original idea.

Greg Clar ke

Thanks! Can you talk a little about what you do at Microcosm Publishing?

Sure, so Microcosm is really four different things: we are trying to build a social movement for people who feel like there isn’t something for them in the mainstream that reflects their views, needs, experiences, and aspirations.

And principally we do that through publishing books on these subjects, which is really doing everything except the printing of those books.

We develop each one with the author so it accurately reflects the benefits that it offers the reader and gives them the power to impact and change the world around them.

We handle 75% of our own distribution as well, in order to make sure that our books make it to all of the corners of the world that would benefit from them.

We have numerous “ground game” tours where we go on the road and talk about those books 5

illustration by Cecilia Granata

in a different environment with the readers and would-be fans and connect the dots in real time.

And lastly, we try to reshape the publishing industry to be more reflective of the population of the Earth.

That is awesome! Microcosm was originally your side gig and then became your full time work.

Can you talk a little about how that went?

So I started Microcosm in 1996 in Cleveland.

I was a pizza delivery driver for a small restaurant that my friend’s dad owned. All of my roommates had 9-5 jobs and I worked 4 PM to midnight. I was pretty depressed and had a bad drinking problem at the time and… I really just needed a hobby to get me out of my funk.

I had been loosely—as in a few hours per week—involved in booking and promoting shows at the punk club Speak in Tongues at the time.

I would get drunk there and spout about all of the stuff I was going to do. And apparently— I have no recollection of this—I spouted to Sean Carnage that I had a vision and I was going to start a publishing company based on the ideals of punk rock. Sean is now a very successful concert promoter in L.A. and I created my punk rock publishing house. I only found this out 6

when I ran into him many years later and he was like “You did it!” That conversation probably happened around 1995.

And I lived in this house with five roommates and they let me have this cavernous room upstairs. My bedroom was bigger than my living room now. And it had this little room facing one of the windows with two closets attached. And I set up that room as my ground zero publishing base of operations. I tacked up cardboard to keep the insulation from falling into the open boxes and began writing letters to everyone that I respected.

In hindsight, I wish I had taken better photos of the set up because I am envious of it now. The house was really cold and the winters are really bad there but it got me out of my depression and got me to stop drinking completely within five years. Microcosm really is my life’s meaning and purpose and I was lucky to discover it over 20 years ago.

That’s quite a story! On the side you do work to build Autism awareness and support.

Tell us more about what you do for that.

I was diagnosed as Autistic in 2009. I had always known that I was different and that was a major cause of my social difficulties, depression, and

I was diagnosed as Autistic in 2009. I had always known that I was different and that was a major cause of my social difficulties, depression, and anxiety. anxiety. Getting the diagnosis really gave me the toolbox to better understand the condition and how it impacts quality of life. I was much older than most Autistics are when I got diagnosed due to the history of the how psychologists think about disability in the U.S. and as a result I quickly found myself in a mentoring role for many young Autistics whose parents didn’t understand them and who lacked role models to grow into. I wondered why there was no rights movement as all of the resources seemed to be directed towards parents who were upset that their children were Autistic. And I still cannot tell you how many times people just have no idea what it means and tell me that I “don’t seem Autistic” or understand that it just means we have a different brain than neurotypical people. I read quite a bit about the lack of disability rights movements in the U.S. and came to passionately pursue the same kind of work that I had with Microcosm. I wanted to be able to both create a protected group where Autistics could support each other and politically and strategically plot our future and as well as working with my mentees to spread Autism awareness into neurotypical groups and organizations.

Our group is called Re:Spectrum and we are in our infancy. It feels a bit like herding cats since everyone is so socially isolated and a major symptom is self-obsession that it’s hard to agree, relate, and build together, especially for people over 25. The younger people have these hip YouTube channels where they get all sassy and are just happy to find each other. The older people have developed very different coping mechanisms and often have self-isolated.

I believe strongly in the work and the outcome.

I believe Autism awareness is decades behind other social movements because of the awkward history of disability in the U.S. How has doing this work impacted you?

In many ways it’s exhausting. I’m working 40100 hours per week on Microcosm, which has been my full-time job on and off since 1999.

I get off work at five and pursue this stuff on the weekends and nights. In many ways, it’s regressive since a lot of the younger Autistics want to talk about dating and problems that I’ve

aged out of and in many ways talking through them is a painful revisiting of those common experiences. But it’s empowering too since I can show them that it gets better and I can see that my mentees are plugging into these issues in completely different ways that I never would have thought to. It gives me hope that the next generation will simply grow up with this awareness.

I do feel like the modern identity politics is divisive so I’m really stressing the idea that we must educate other people rather than tell people to educate themselves since that is divisive and missing an important opportunity. I think too many modern political movements fall on their own sword in this way that reduces their bubble smaller and smaller until they are forced to cannibalize each other and I’m trying to prevent those mistakes from repeating.

What do you think is the biggest hurdle you have to overcome in building a movement and how are you approaching that?

I think the most difficult thing is to get everyone to see the common struggle, a common set of

photo by Greg Clarke 7

concerns and values, and that this work benefits all of us and people that haven’t been born yet.

Autistics are quick to decide to move to a desert island and no longer socialize. We criticize each other and forget to compliment. We leave it implied what we like, appreciate, and support about each other when it really needs said. And we hurt each other’s feelings a lot as a result. So redirecting everyone towards our commonality is definitely the biggest constant challenge. I try to always take a step back, think about the goals, and re-engage towards them, rather than continuing a debate, especially if I think someone else is being unreasonable or unhelpful.

What would you like to see happen in the future and what’s next?

I think with Re:Spectrum a big thing would be to find our magnum opus: I think finding that fire in the belly as a group has been difficult and a lot of times things quickly devolve into comparing experiences. We need a project where all of our members agree that the outcome is important and we can work on it together because everyone understands how the outcome benefits all of us.

So far, even when I suggested writing comments on inaccurate news stories about Autism it was strangely divisive. Autistic people have been hurt so much that there is a lot of fear of retribution.

What advice would you give to someone considering starting a side project?

I think you have to deeply believe in a side project. It’s similar to a hobby in many ways but you are much more invested in the outcome than in the passing of time or building of relationships.

I listen to the podcast How I Built This and they spend many hours comparing these old homespun businesses that are often household names now to modern “startups,” which exist in a very different sphere. The idea for these side projects many years ago was that it fulfilled a deep need in the founder to act. It was basic and the motivation was based in their internal meaning and purpose, rather than the modern conceptual idea that you would create a “good idea” into a startup in your spare time and then sell it in a few years to angel investors or an existing corporation. How I Built This disputes this logic quite a bit with examples of people that founded startups that were great on paper but just weren’t the passion of the founder who had to do them as side projects. The successful things were 8

always deeply tied to strong personal feelings in the founder, even if they were terrible on paper and were never going to be sold for big bucks.

For example, my longest running side project, Building Safety Awareness (BuildSafe.Tumblr. com), hits two different aspects of my meaning and purpose. It teaches critical thinking/ media literacy and it challenges the way that these news stories are written where cars crash into buildings every day and the media reports the crash as if it is inevitable even though we have long known how to prevent these crashes and fatalities through engineering and speeds but choose to prioritize keeping traffic moving faster instead. I’m never going to be able to sell BuildSafe to anyone nor do I want to. It’s purpose—and somewhat marginal audience—is mostly for my own meaning and purpose to have occasional meaningful interactions with strangers who are familiar with the website and to talk about their favorite stories and share their own experiences. THAT is why I still put a few hours into it each week.

That makes so much sense. Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciate all you’re doing both in your day job at Microcosm and your side projects.

Yeah, congrats on your own new side project!

Keep up with Joe at: http://joebiel.net and at: http://microcosmpublishing.com

photo by Laura Stanfill

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Josh Hammond

A Labor of

LOVE Interview by ChrisRWK (Robots Will Kill) Photos by Sergio Garcia www.picsbysergio.com Instagram @picsbysergio I recently had the pleasure of finding out a little more about Josh Hammond. You might be asking, “Wait who is Josh Hammond?”, well Josh is the owner, founder and brains behind No Love City. He gave us some background info and future goals for himself and NLC. So sit back and learn a little something about someone you might already know or maybe someone you’ve never heard of.

Can you tell me a little about what day jobs you’ve done?

For quite a while, I was an inventory manager and consultant for a huge third-party logistics company. They closed the site I was working at and laid off the employees. I did some traveling work for them after that, but ended up leaving the company as we didn’t want to relocate.

More recently, I’ve enjoyed working in custom picture framing. As an eclectic collector of various types of art, it’s pretty cool to get to see a wide range of art on a regular basis.

Not only that, but being someone who is artistically challenged, I found an outlet where I have the ability to be artistic in my own way by enhancing the look of pieces with custom mats and frames.

Your side project is No Love City.

Tell us more about what you do for that.

Almost everything, and I love it. I try to handle or at least be as involved as possible in every aspect of the business. There may or may not be some control/OCD issues involved.

Founder/Owner is a cool title to have and throw around, but it essentially means you do whatever needs to be done: sales, shipping and receiving, QC, packaging, customer service, marketing, legal, accounting, whatever. I think that’s why it’s necessary to be passionate and persistent about what you do.

Luckily, I have a wife (Crystal) who is loving, supportive, and down to work hard and do everything as well; and whatever she needs for the business. Without her, I would definitely struggle and likely fail.

Why do you do this side project?

Because I love it. “Fashion” is definitely not an industry I would’ve ever thought I’d be working in or love, but I do. There’s a pride that you feel when you put something out into the world that you made. It means so much to me when people choose to spend their hard-earned money on a No Love City shirt rather than some other shirt. That drives me to make the best products I can, so that I don’t ever let a customer down.

Where’d the name come from?

For me, it was actually a natural progression from a previous hobby working with music.

I dabbled in producing, beat making, and a 11

...we want people to be fueled by it and turn it into a positive thing, encouraging them to overcome adversity. little mixing. I once put together a mixtape called No Love City, thought the name would be awesome on stuff, and that somehow evolved into making t-shirts and skateboards.

I enjoyed the music, but that’s another industry probably more challenging and saturated than fashion. So as I let the music fade out, I began focusing and turning NLC into a brand.

No Love City is also a nickname some use for the city of Chicago. It’s basically a way of describing the crab mentality of “if I can’t have it, neither can you” because there’s always someone around to offer negativity.

They’re everywhere in every city, which is why we created the slogan, Every City Is A No Love City. While this might be the case, we want people to be fueled by it and turn it into a positive thing, encouraging them to overcome adversity.

I’ve seen you do work with different artists.

Was this something that was planned with the project or just happened naturally?

As I previously mentioned, I’m self-aware of 12

my artistic shortcomings; so I will typically come up with ideas for NLC and enlist artists to bring my ideas to life. I’ve had the pleasure of commissioning designs from a handful of amazing artists that we’ve consistently worked with over the years. Friks84, who also designed our logos, Sweyda, Jon (Ink Park), and Dayne Henry are mostly responsible for making us look cool. We take pride in the fact that our artwork is all original and usually begins with pencil to paper.

We’ve also been lucky enough to collaborate with some other awesome artists and companies. For me, it’s an honor and just really cool to get to work with these people that I admire and draw inspiration from. I’m planning to continue working with even more different people going forward and releasing various crossover pieces, products and more.

How much of your day jobs crossed over and vice Versa?

There’s never been any crossover that I can recall. But I have always tried to learn as much as I can from whatever I’m doing in life, and

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then apply that to NLC. There’s been a lot of trial and error over the years, so anything I can do to improve what I’m doing with the brand is great.

What else are you passionate about?

We’ve always tried to give in our personal lives, as well as in business, to various charities and foundations that we believe in. There are countless worthy causes out there, so it’s really tough to just focus on one. We are personally passionate about those that help veterans, kids, and animals.

As No Love City is so connected to and inspired by art, we’ve tried to give to those whose focus is on kids and the arts. It’s unfortunate to see there being less of an emphasis or just no arts programs in schools these days.

We want to help have a positive impact on kids’ lives by supporting programs that work to keep the arts in schools, or offer them to kids outside of a school setting.

What’s next or where do you see this side project going in the future?

I’m constantly striving to do more with 14

No Love City and make it my primary focus.

I plan to continue expanding the product offerings and definitely want to collaborate with more artists/brands to make awesome stuff with cool people.

As it becomes my main project, I’ve already been slowly working on another, other side project. My wife and I will be launching (at some point) another clothing company, one that’s inspired mainly by tattoo culture.

We’re being very meticulous and not giving ourselves any deadlines. We’ve learned a lot over the more than decade of No Love City, and plan to do everything our way and right the first time, this time.

How can people contact you?

Anything regarding business, people can reach me by email at: contact@nolovecity.net You can also find No Love City online at: www.nolovecity.com Instagram @nolovecity Facebook /nolovecity Twitter @nolovecity

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Kait Mariutto Giving Hope Interview by Holly Combs Photos courtesy of Give Hope, Fight Poverty Kait Mariutto is a full time elementary art teacher, a co-owner of one of the top restaurants in Indianapolis, Shoefly Public House, and on the side helps run Give Hope, Fight Poverty, a nonprofit organization which helps impoverished children in Swaziland, Africa.

We caught up with Kait about her work with her nonprofit and had a great time getting to know more about her and her work.

How do you balance doing Give Hope, Fight Poverty and all the other things you do?

Well I did quit my job two years ago thinking that I would have more time to help out at Shoefly Public House, more time for Give Hope, Fight Poverty and things like cleaning my house.

That’s what I thought would happen, but what actually happened was completely opposite.

I’ve had less time for myself, I’ve been more unhealthy, it’s almost like without the structure of a job I flounder with this open, vast schedule.

When I started helping out at Shoefly I thought it would take a couple of hours each day, but it wasn’t like that at all. For one, I was learning it, and two, I wanted to come in, get it done, and

leave. But if I got there at eight or nine in the morning I’d be there until noon and then you have lunch. The next thing you know, I’m not back home until two, and then I’ve got to walk the dog. Before I know it it’s four or five and it’s like, now I’m going to sit down and do Give Hope, Fight Poverty. I mean, I do, but it’s not like that vision I had where it’s like I have four or five hours to do Give Hope, Fight Poverty each day. Having the structure of a job and a career gives me the ability in my own self to say no to some of the other things that get in the way of doing the things I need to do.

So now you’ve made a shift to have a full-time position teaching art. How will that work with Give Hope, Fight Poverty?

And I’ll still be helping out at Shoefly. I really think I’m going to be able to do it because it will be more structured. I’ll be at work every day from 8 to 4 or 4:30 and on each day, I’ll have certain things that I’ll have to come home and do.

And if I just get in that habit, I’ll do it. Whereas when I have all this unstructured time, I think, oh I’ll just do that later, but in reality I go weeks without doing things and then I have to spend the whole weekend catching up. It’s all about doing a little bit every day. Art teaching is the 17

For me, the whole reason at the end of the day is to make everybody nicer... It’s like that butterfly effect. job that best fits my personality and aptitudes, making it less of a struggle to feel accomplished at the end of the day... leaving energy for other endeavors.

Because it’s a good match for you?

Exactly. And because I’m much better at being all in to one thing rather than spreading myself around 16 different little things that I can do but are kind of boring but I can do it. And then your phone goes off, and you’re like, oh what are my friends doing? But when you’re teaching, you’re not on your phone. It’s forced focus.

Can you describe the mission of Give Hope, Fight Poverty and when did you start?

We started formally in Spring of 2011. My partner Annie and I we met through Andrew Lee of Art With a Heart. Her organization had a booth next to his at Kids Meet in the Park in 2010. And she told him we’re taking a group to Swaziland and we want to do art. And he told her, Oh Kait will help you with that. And instead of just giving her advice I wanted to go so I went on a trip with her and eight college students to Swaziland, and I fell in love with the country.

We really enjoyed it and we got along really well and enjoyed the service learning trip concept and we did another one and, but the organization she was working with at the time wasn’t quite meshing with her so we decided to start our own organization. Our mission is to foster philanthropy at home with younger generations by exposing them to different communities in Swaziland and through that the programs we do are there to empower and lift the orphans and children out of poverty. To empower them to lift themselves out. All the programs have an education focus because that’s one thing that can’t be taken away. With that, it’s hard to study if you don’t have a safe roof over your head, and basic needs met. So our organization does work to provide those as well to our orphan education students and to the community as a whole.

People think we just pay school fees, but we do more than that. We make sure they have uniforms. When we’re there, there are a lot of family dynamics, so there may be a kiddo who’s living with an aunt or an uncle and they may be no longer welcome. In times like that, that’s when you’ll see us building houses for kiddos because 18

they need a new place. Because they don’t have their own homestead.

So you’ve been doing this for six years now.

What motivates you to keep going?

The kiddos, and the mission itself. And the relationships I’ve formed with the people of Swaziland. I know that no matter what happens, we’re going to stay committed to the mission for the kids that we’ve told we’re going to pay for their school. It’s the personal connection for me.

Sometimes we talk to people who are hesitant to start a side project.

What would you say to them?

In all honesty I would encourage them to sign up for something that has an end time. To test it out. Something that has an end so you can try it and then get out without feeling guilty for quitting.

Because it may take a while to find the thing you want to commit to over time?

Definitely. And there are so many opportunities to do different things. I think finding something can take time to get just the right fit for you.

How can people get involved with Give Hope, Fight Poverty?

Go on a trip with us to Swaziland. That’s the most impacting for us, it’s the most impacting for the individual, but it is also the most costly. If you have the money, that’s the best way to get involved. If you don’t, there are other ways you can help. Like us on Facebook and stay up to date on the events we have and you could come and check it out. We have a lot of donation drives where we collect shoes and books, because we found an organization that gives you money for old shoes. And we need money. Like we can buy them shoes, but we have to buy them over there.

For people who want to get involved but don’t have money, I would say maybe you work at an office you can contact Annie or I and say, I don’t know what I can do but I work at say a dentist’s office. Well, we can use toothpaste. Also, by helping spread the word. Because you may not know who in your circle has the means to go on a trip. For me, the whole reason at the end of the day is to make everybody nicer. Because if you take eight or ten college kiddos and they see

photo by Kait Mariutto 19

how other people live in Swaziland, even if you never hear from them again you know they’re moving through their life with a little more empathy. It’s like that butterfly effect. It’s out there.

Where do you see Give Hope, Fight Poverty going? Any new projects coming up?

Over the last six years we took on some larger projects, like building a school. But we came to so many barriers and challenges when it came to dealing formally in the country with government and all that stuff. There are cultural traditions that are difficult for us to understand. And that’s their world. It’s not for us to judge. Doing these large projects, like building a school, are very difficult. So we’re constantly looking for simpler ways for us to have an impact there and continuing on with school fees, uniforms, and supporting existing things that are already in place. We did a library and computer lab. We’re doing more projects that have an end date and a completion. We built a playground at the youth center. That’s where we’re going, just keeping ourselves manageable by doing things that the community wants and needs, but that is not an ongoing commitment.

photo by Kait Mariutto

That’s sounds smart. We love what you’re doing in Swaziland. Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us, and best wishes for everything.

My pleasure.

Find out more and get involved with Give Hope, Fight Poverty at: www.ifightpoverty.org and on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/GiveHopeFightPoverty 20

photo by Pamela Nichols

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Interview by Dave Combs Images ganked from the interwebs Pete(r) Menchetti is the owner of StickerGuy! and also runs the record label Slovenly Recordings. We caught up with him about his work with both. We loved hearing from him and learning more about what he does and what motivates him to do it.

Can you tell us a little about what you do at StickerGuy!?

Since 1993, we’ve been printing high quality,

silk-screened vinyl stickers for independent bands and record labels, small companies, tattoo shops, artists, political movements, whatever – pretty much anything, unless we hate it. We do sometimes refuse business from racists, ignorant assholes, and gigantic corporations that we feel could afford to send their business to a bigger print shop. We don’t want to tie up our presses printing hundreds of thousands of stickers for the same customer, when we have thousands of smaller customers all needing cheap stickers. We’re also a small shop, so we don’t really have the capacity either.

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And if you’re asking what I do for Sticker Guy, well – a lot. I’m the owner, I basically manage the inner workings. Lately I’ve been very busy working on a new website, which will be ready by the end of summer this year.

You also run Slovenly Recordings.

Tell us more about what you do for that.

I’m on the road a lot, traveling a lot, always looking for new bands, and I’m also busy organizing the We’re Loud Fest – the official festival of Slovenly Recordings. We of course feature a lot of bands from the label, but not exclusively. We really enjoy the festival, we like to get involved in music scenes around the world – every year the fest is in a different place. I do a LOT on a day to day basis – sales reports, emails, organizing the next We’re Loud Fest, which will be in Naples, Italy in October. (sloven.ly/napoli) I do a lot of the graphic design for our records, and the website, social media, a LOT. Heh. I’m constantly communicating and coordinating with everyone else at Slovenly. Joe is our production manager, I work closely with him,

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coordinating things for the record releases.

Joe’s also in charge of logistics. Christine does our bookkeeping and manages the US-based mail order, and Oihane does the worldwide orders, based out of Berlin. Rin handles our affairs in Japan.

How is StickerGuy! connected to Slovenly?

It’s probably better to ask how is Slovenly connected to Sticker Guy… basically Sticker Guy started first, and Slovenly lives off Sticker Guy, in many senses. Our back catalogue of records inhabit the dark corners, the spare space of the SG warehouse. As Slovenly is not a commercial venture, we don’t make records for money, we’ll make any record that we like.

We don’t really consider whether or not it’s going to sell - except when we decide how many copies will be pressed. But whether or not a record will sell doesn’t influence if we’ll press it. It being a non-commercial venture, it’s hard for it to be economically self-sustaining, so it’s very nice to have that income from making stickers to cover having spent several thousand dollars to make a record that’s not

...don’t be afraid to start small and grow slowly. I’ve noticed things that come up really quickly are more likely to fall down really quickly. selling very quickly.

I’d also say that they compliment each other - I started doing stickers because of my involvement with music. I started my record label when I found myself with $1,000 in my bank account for the first time in my life. It seemed like the right thing to do - to give back to the music scene that I love.

What motivates you to run Slovenly?

The first thing that motivates me is music. If I hear a band I really love, I want to help them however I can. One of my ultimate goals with the record label is to provide an income that they can live off of. And that’s very difficult these days, because people don’t buy music the way that they used to. But we do everything we can.

I guess I’d have to say I’m also motivated by the lifestyle that surrounds the record label. I travel a lot, for the label, because of the label, touring with bands, going to festivals, organizing festivals, going to conferences… every now and then… actually I hardly ever go to conferences. Boring!

I remember 702 Records back in the day.

How did Slovenly originally come about?

As I mentioned before, I started the label when I first found myself with a tiny bit of money for the first time. I used to have shows at my house, in my basement, bands that were touring the state, and one night a band let me hear a tape with some recordings they had done. They wanted to release a 7” but they didn’t have any money - and that was our first release on 702 Records. I continued with that for about 8 years, and we did about 32 releases, and then I decided I wanted to focus more on a particular sound instead of just shit I liked from my friends. 702 had punk bands, hardcore, metal, power pop, power violence, garage pop, garage punk, all kinds of different stuff. But for Slovenly, I wanted to do something more focused; I realized one day that my favorite labels had a “sound”,

so if I went to the shop and saw a record on Estrus, Crypt, In the Red - I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to be like. Based on the other records from them that I heard, I knew that I might like that one and would be a lot more likely to buy it. That’s been part of my goal with Slovenly, to create a label that people can rely on, just buy a record without necessarily listening to it first, knowing that they were probably going to like it. The sound has broadened quite a bit over what I initially envisioned, but I think we’ve accomplished what I set out to do... I think.

What would you say makes Slovenly different from some other record labels?

The biggest difference between Slovenly and other labels is that we’re very international due to my lifestyle - I’ve been traveling nonstop for several years now, and I’ve gotten involved in music scenes all over the world.

Maybe another difference is that we actively encourage our bands to sing in their native language. I’ve heard that other labels encourage bands to sing only in English, and frankly that infuriates me.

What advice would you give someone who is considering starting a side project?

I would say do it!! It’s hard to answer that question without knowing what kind of side project and who was considering it, but I always encourage my friends to go for it when they’ve got a good idea. General advice that I’ve given to people starting any long-term project, anything that you hope will grow, is don’t be afraid to start small and grow slowly.

I’ve noticed things that come up really quickly are more likely to fall down really quickly.

What’s next and where do you see Slovenly Recordings going in the future?

I have some big crazy dreams that I’ll be actively pursuing in 2018, after the Sticker Guy 25th anniversary party in Reno, which’ll be in the spring of 2018. Hopefully by the end 25

of 2018, I’ll have a small seacraft on which I can organize parties, maybe a restaurant/bar, maybe have some rooms to rent, and that’s where I plan to live. Probably in the Mediterranean somewhere, or possibly the Caribbean. And of course, we’ll keep putting out records – we have our 200th release coming up soon and there’s no end in sight. I’m also hoping to expand our YouTube channel – we just published a new documentary about the 2016 edition of the We’re Loud Fest, which was in Greece (sloven.ly/10daysdoc). It’s a really great documentary that a good friend of mine from Italy put together.

More at: www.stickerguy.com and at: www.slovenly.com

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“Self Portrait 1”

Interview by ChrisRWK (Robots Will Kill) New York is a place with tons of things going on. So to get stopped dead in your tracks is a rarity. Unless you come across a mural by BKFoxx. Her murals are huge in scale and talent. Let’s learn a little bit more about her and her process.

Can you tell me a little about what you do or have done for your day job or jobs?

Everything. I didn’t go to college, I worked instead, so I spent a lot of years in all kinds of jobs, offices, retail, bars & restaurants, etc. I learned a lot, including that office life is not for me. And that no matter where I am, I will inevitably be making things.

Your main(/side) project is painting.

Tell us more about what you do for that.

I paint as many walls as I can get my hands on.

And then occasionally some studio work.

How and why did you start painting?

Especially murals.... huge murals at that.

I started just over four years ago, because there were some abandoned buildings near where I lived, totally covered in paint. Really not sure why I was so inspired to keep going back in

there and painting, but I was. And having not too many people around, it gave me plenty of time to start working out how to paint bigger and better, and it just kind of progressed from there.

How would you describe your painting style?

Because it’s realistic but with a stylized touch and color palette.

Realism plus, I suppose? What I really like about realism is how people react to it. It’s a challenge, because the viewer immediately knows if it’s right or wrong, but when you get it right such a wide range of people are responsive, because it’s something they recognize. It’s a good way to communicate, as such. And I try to make it my own, take my own reference photos, change the color and lighting, etc, and generally make it as perfect as I possibly can.

The subject matter in your murals have spanned everything from the shower scene in Psycho to little kids drawing flowers. How do you decide that?

Is it project specific?

Yes, it usually is. Something I like about walls is that they exist in their own environment. You 29

“Please be Reasonable” photo by Ben Lau

can move a canvas anywhere, but a wall lives where it lives. I always take the location and atmosphere into consideration.

With the larger murals, how do you handle things like perspective? Size relation?

I use a really basic grid system usually, for the sake of time, or when a wall is so big you just can’t really see where things are in relation to each other. That’s about it, just a few starter marks, no projectors or any other tools. And it’s actually more for the composition than anything else, I always wind up using my eyes to get the details of the look of things, I like how it turns out that way.

Something I like about walls is that they exist in their own environment... I always take the location and atmosphere into consideration.

What’s next and where do you see your main(/ side) project going in the future?

I have a lot of things coming up, hopefully they’ll be better and better. I really value the opportunity to be able to change the landscape for so many people on a daily basis, and I want to be able to use it to express my thoughts and feelings about things that are important to me.

I put a ton of work into what I do, and even one person who tells me they are moved by my work makes it entirely worth it.

Thank you! And huge shout out to everyone who has supported me thus far, words are not enough to describe the appreciation I have for so many different people. <3 More from BKFoxx at: www.bkompleted.com Instagram: @bkfoxx 30

photo by Max Sornik

“Lines” photo by Gershon Abramashvili 31

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“Long Road Ahead” photo by Audrey Connolly

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Interview by ChrisRWK (Robots Will Kill) Images courtesy of Earshot Media Mike Magrann is the lead vocalist and guitar player for the band Channel 3 as well as the owner of a metal fabrication company.

Kimm Gardener sings backup and plays guitar in the band as well as owning his own sales company. We got a chance to catch up with Mike and Kimm upon the release of their brand new CH3 album, Put ‘Em Up. This is what they had to say.

Can you tell me a little about your day jobs?

Mike: Hey there-this is Mike Magrann. I own my own metal fabrication business in Southern California. We basically bring in plates of steel, cut em down to size, punch holes and plasma cut to shape, form them up as parts and out the door. We make heavy stuff, parts for the trucking industry and oil refinery equipment.

Kimm: This is Kimm. I own a sales company and we represent several companies specializing in ‘Licensed’ apparel and accessories We help to sell to stores across the US things like Music -ACDC to Bowie to Joy Division to the Misfits to the Velvet Underground. We

also carry things from movies-new and old, Marvel, Batman and Superman as well as Japanese Anime.

Your side project is Channel 3.

Can you tell us more about what it is?

Mike: Well, CH3 has been going on for 35 plus years, so it’s become more a lifestyle than a side project!

We released our first record way back in 1981 on the Posh Boy label, and have been playing in one way or another ever since really. We’ve had some quiet years and busy ones, but the

Art from the CH3 album, Put ‘Em Up 35

It’s pretty rare that your day job allows your artistic ambitions to be expressed, so I think everyone needs that type of outlet. – Mike Magrann

band has been the true constant in our lives.

Kimm: Some guys play golf—Mike and I play our guitars. We get to get out and play music and best of all we get to travel and play to people across the country and in Europe too.

Why do you do Channel 3?

Mike: We’re damn fortunate to have a hobby like being in a band. There is nothing like that first time playing a song with your friends in the garage, artistic outlet come to life, you know? And to see that through– from playing parties to clubs, recording and touring, it’s just an unbelievable thing to have in our lives.

It’s pretty rare that your day job allows your artistic ambitions to be expressed, so I think everyone needs that type of outlet.

Kimm: We played steadily and toured in the 80’s but stopped in the 90’s. It wasn’t till 1999 that we did a website when the internet was just starting to become a force. We had a section where people could write in and make comments – People wrote in and wanted us to play…funny thing…we got back together in ’99 and have not stopped playing since!

Was it always the side project or was it your main project?

Mike: There was a time we might’ve thought the band could be a career. We had some high powered management that started to focus 36

more on the business (commercial) possibilities of the band, but that all went away pretty quickly. We came to realize that you can’t really translate your art into a business unless you are in a pretty rare spot.

We almost lost the true value of this band by trying to commercialize it, but were lucky enough to recognize it as our true passion project, ya know? And the fact that some other people might enjoy the thing we love to do, well that’s just a great bonus.

Kimm: We worked hard in the first decade to tour and make something of ourselves via the band. We ended up breaking up and realized that sometimes you can’t push things to become a ‘full time’ gig.

Sometimes things happen and by luck you do get successful and your hobby becomes your job. That so far has not happened, but who knows where tomorrow will take us….

You guys took some time off.

Was this because of your full time projects?

Mike: We did keep a lower profile as a band in the 90’s, partly because the local music scene had changed a lot, but mostly because we all got busy doing the normal things: starting businesses, raising families. Both Kimm and I are very lucky to have our own businesses, and I think the punk Do It Yourself philosophy really informed our ability to do that. So in a way, our day jobs and our night job feed off each other.

Kimm: Mike and I have been best buddies since we were in 2nd grade. We went to High School and College together. We did the band for many years and when we broke up, we wanted to check out what life had to offer outside of playing and traveling all the time….getting married happened for us both and kids too…I feel pretty lucky.

photo by John Gilhooley

How much of your day jobs crossed over into the band?

Mike: There are a few instances. We actually practice at my metal shop, so that’s a helpful thing. I guess the best way my day gig helps the band is that I have the ability to take the time off to travel with the band when needed.

My customers seem to get a kick out of my music as well, so that helps!

Kimm: We work with bands often and run into and have gotten to be around some real characters over the years. We do trade shows several times a year and meet a lot of people from stores and from bands and management….fun times, hard work and some great stories. It’s always been a blast to be involved when you see a new band start and grow in both music and merch worlds that you can be involved with.

You guys are about to release a new album and play some shows.

How will that affect your jobs?

And what else is next for the band?

Mike: We do indeed have a new album, Put ‘Em Up, out now. We will be touring through the end of the year, and into 2018 to promote the record, so there will be some time away

from the shop. We’ve learned that daily life is always there waiting for you when you get home, so it’s pretty much business as usual on all fronts. We will be playing Midwest dates in September, a Texas swing in October and then the East Coast in November. We’ll get back to Europe in April as well before starting a Summer tour 2018.

Kimm: One of the perks of my job is that I can work from anywhere….just need a phone and computer for the large part and I can do that while we are out doing shows…and we have a lot planned to drive the new release Look for videos for the new tracks (new for us) as well as shows over the next 12 months... planning on getting out to Europe twice next year while we zig zag all over the US! Can you tell us about the band lineup over the past 35 years?

Mike: The constants in the band have always been me and Kimm, and I don’t think that will ever change. We’ve actually been through quite a few band members through the years, countless bass players and drummers.

But Anthony Thompson has been with us for years, and new man Nick Manning has 37

really energized us with his drumming. It’s always the most important part of a band, the personal chemistry, so we’re just lucky we all get along. You spend a lot of time traveling and doing a lot of waiting if you’re in a band, so you gotta have some people you can get along with!

Kimm: We have really had a number of players over the years—brothers in arms for the most part.Anthony Thompson has been playing with us going on 20 years and Nick Manning on drums who is new but both bring their game to the new record…we are all pretty excited.

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How can people contact you?

Mike: We are easy to get a hold of through our Facebook page or website.

As far as the metal shop, stay away unless you want to get extremely dirty and put to work lifting slabs of steel! Cheers, MM Kimm: Drop us a line through our website or Facebook message us –we will get back at ya for sure!

More from CH3 at: www.chthree.com and: https://www.facebook.com/CH3band

KELSEY SIMPSON Connecting with Zines

photo by Eric Cox

Interview by Dave & Holly Combs

Kelsey Simpson has two day jobs, and on the side is the Founder and Managing Director of Gluestick, which is a festival but is also a block party of sorts featuring booklets, prints, stickers, pins, publishing workshops, and more. The goal of Gluestick is to encourage community through small publishing. Whether this takes the form of a zine, chapbook, comic, or other publication the aim of the event is to give the city of Indianapolis one day during the summer to meet other local and regional artists.

Through Gluestick, Kelsey and crew intend to honor and continue what was started by those who have come before in the small publishing world of distros, DIY spaces, and collective bookstores in Indianapolis.

We caught up with her and here’s what she had to say.

Can you tell us a little about what you do at your day jobs?

I work at Comic Carnival and Square Cat Vinyl. Comic Carnival has been a business for over 40 years. We sell comic books as well as games, toys, and trading cards. Most of my time there is spent running the cash

register but I also file and bag comics for part of the day. My bosses found out that I like to draw so lately they’ve been asking me to make different signs for the store which is amazing! Square Cat Vinyl is a record store that is also a bar, coffee shop, and all ages venue. We are close to our first birthday! I have worked most of my adult life as a barista.

At Square Cat I don’t get to make a ton of coffee but I still get to have fun. I spend a lot of time checking vinyl records for scratches and dust. I enjoy helping with concerts and events. I also often contribute to chalkboard art around the store. Both of my day jobs are very similar, actually!

Your side project is Gluestick Festival. Can you tell us more about what you do for that?

I am the Founder and Managing Director of Gluestick. Gluestick started as a small scale festival that became much bigger than the vision I originally had for it. This year I spent a lot of time meeting with other zine passionate folks discussing how we should handle the instant growth of the fest. In its first year we had around 25 people table and this year we nearly tripled the amount of 39

Gluestick is my way of connecting with the world around me.

Zine making is a very personal practice and I want others to feel supported and loved in the process! When people come together, especially creatively, great things happen. participants. I try to speak to each participant on an individual basis in order to encourage a sense of community between zine makers and paper artists. I spend about six months before the festival planning the actual event as well as smaller events leading up to the fest.

How do you find time to do all you do with both your day jobs and running Gluestick?

I have really had to make a serious effort to make time. I am in a constant struggle to manage my anxiety. If I don’t make time for Gluestick I become overwhelmed with work.

My current day jobs are fun and not necessarily stressful, but I’ve had very stressful jobs in the past. When Gluestick first started I was working three jobs, one of which that I had to be up at 4:30am for and it was miserable.

It felt like I was drowning in work that didn’t reflect what I truly wanted to be doing. Gluestick is a reflection of where my heart standswith the community and with art. I carry a notebook with me wherever I go in the event I can make time to plan for Gluestick.

Why do you do Gluestick?

I have done work similar to Gluestick since I was a kid. Some people go to church, I organize concerts. Some people have family they are close to and can create with. I have my friends and the great people I meet along the way that I create with. Gluestick is my way of connecting with the world around me. Zine making is a very personal practice and I want others to feel supported and loved in the process! When people come together, especially creatively, great things happen.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to doing a side project like this as a female?

I would say an advantage could be that this is a great time for women in zines. Folks are coming together in a really sweet way and if one is looking for community it is certainly out there. A disadvantage would be that there are still many people out there that simply don’t relate to women or know how to treat them. It’s shocking, really. I have had to really speak up for myself and often times convince

photo by Eric Cox 40

photo by Kelsey Simpson 41

photo by Sam Murphy

There seems to be a stigma about embracing a side project.

Your dreams and creativity are legitimate and should be nurtured! others that Gluestick really is my project. The name Gluestick comes from a zine I was doing before creating the fest--Sushi Gluestick.

It was a single page folded up with drawings and poetry on it. I have had men talk down to me about their vision of what a zine fest should look like and even ask to meet “the person in charge” after having explained my story to them. It can be frustrating and sad.

How many people tabled and about how many attended this year?

We believed that around 500 people were in and out of the theater this year, and between actual tablers and poets we had 65 participants.

What have you learned from doing the festival?

I have learned that there are so many people out there hungry for an event like this. I wasn’t sure if this would appeal to everyone, or a younger crowd. We have families participate, older women, teenagers, a wide variety of people. Gluestick is about zines for anyone, not necessarily just the “punk rock” set.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a side project?

Be ready for anything and everything. Make 42

time for your side project as though it was your day job. There seems to be a stigma about embracing a side project. Your dreams and creativity are legitimate and should be nurtured!

What’s next / where do you see Gluestick Festival going in the future?

It’s tough to say. The growth was so significant this year, we are unsure at this time whether or not we should consider a venue change. We have a good relationship with the Irvington neighborhood so I would like to keep the festival going there. I know that Gluestick will continue as a festival and that we may host more local events. I hope that more people will want to get involved and that each year has a fresh take on what is best for Indianapolis.

How can people get in touch with you about Gluestick?

Anyone can e-mail me at: GluestickIndy@gmail.com or message through our Facebook page which is under “Gluestick”.

Thank you, Kelsey, and best of luck with Gluestick and all your creative endeavors!

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