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XOX9DIY Wow! Everything is getting really hectic here at Camp XOX. We’ve got our mega huge Mystery Jets gig to plan for in July (with support from Esser, Televised Crimewave and Tim Burgess- spread over two days and tickets only £5- but you knew that, right?). As well as Djing for Ladyhawks CTRL gig we’ve been painted by her brilliant artist Sarah Lanarch; we’re also Djing at Camden Crawl which we’re super excited about- in a Church no less! See www.myspace.com/sameteensmanchester or www.xoxjournal.blogspot.com for all the events coming up!

For XOX 9 we’ve decided to launch into the murky world of doing it yourself. A while back, kickin’ it 1990’s style, the craze for doing it yourself didn’t just extend to Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen camping up your kitchen and diner- it also embraced the Riot Grrrls, the punks, the independent music labels rebelling against the fabulously rubbish Spice Girls phenomenon. And we’ve moved on ten years later and to look you might think that the music and fashion world is now ironically run by those rioting against the machine in the first place. Luckily we’ve unearthed a few people still living for the good grace of DIY. Poking people from The Smell in LA to 50 Bones in London we’ve unearthed all that is great and good about getting off your arse and doing it yourself!

Jade French

XOX SINGLES CLUB GOODBYE SHE WROTE Keeping with the idea of people being creative for their own purpose and pleasure we scoured around to find someone unique for this Singles Club and without the backing of a label and unsigned. “Goodbye She Wrote” is a two person band with soft guitar refrains and a folk-esque take. The alluring feminine vocals make for a Laura Marling comparison but the more upbeat melodies take the shine off this a little. With Babyshambles/ Roses, Kings, Castles Adam Ficek a fan (even claiming he’s “going to nick” the chorus of Forget These Times!) it isn’t surprising that the low-fi, melodic and folk inspired sounds are familiar from the off. It’s a little bit like Officer Owl meets Alessi’s Ark (with, admittedly, even a touch of Kate Nash). Soothing and summery.

DOWNLOAD HERE www.zshare.net/audio/595834864950c183/

“Then we went to Spalding to play a gig and crashed the car into a lamp post on the way home.”

LOVVERS I could exercise all the music-pigeon-hole-maestro-ing within me and it still wouldn’t come anywhere close to these guys’ musical output . They say they’re making a record to cross over into the big-time, I don’t know about anyone else, but personally, I’m most looking forward to seeing how Throbbing Gristle impart their musical influence. Keep yr ear to the ground.

So Lovvers, how’s it been kicking in Texas at SXSW? Reckon you’ve made a good impression on all the fat cat transatlantic music-sausage-factory dons?

Not really, we were hoping to fob off some major label head honchos with tall stories but they didn’t even come to watch us! We did hang with some good people and saw a really large amount of great bands we hadn’t seen before, which was great. We’d recommend it to anyone who can get over. The Iron Cactus does good veggie enchiladas too.

You say you’re currently busy recording over the other side of the pond, whereabouts are you recording?

We’re recording at JACKPOT! studio in Portland, Oregon up in the Pacific Northwest.

Why the decision to record stateside? Are there not adequate recording facilities available back home

to meet your forthcoming music artistry?

We decided to record here because we were coming over for SXSW and also it adds novelty value to hear an engineer talk to you in an American accent through your headphones – ‘you gotta lean into that bass, man’ I know it’s early days to tell (seeing as I’m only catching you in the initial stages of recording) but assuming you’ve already written most your material and aren’t just super rad ad-libbers of awesome music – what can we expect from this album?

The songs are a bit more developed and there are some total catchy bangers, as well as some rockers and some fun tracks which are a bit different to our previous releases.

Your MySpace headline describes it as ‘crossover’, what in essence is it that you are crossing over into?

Why, we’re crossing over into the bigtime of course!

If it’s not too tedious – what would you list as your influences going into the music you’re recording at the moment?

The Kinks, the Beatles, Mark Sultan, The Replacements, Nodzzz, Blur, David Bowie, Pavement, Throbbing Gristle, and not as much black metal as usual.

Seeing as this is the ‘DIY’ issue I thought I’d peel back the layers of the metaphorical band-life onion and take my questioning right back to your formation – I’ve read some pretty gold material about how you guys started as a band – reckon you could do a cheeky sum up of how you guys got together for our XOX readers?

We lived in the same town and were looking for a band to be in, and when we went to play 5-a-side but there were only 4 of us, we sacked off the soccer match and

went to write a few songs. Then we went to Spalding to play a gig and crashed the car into a lamp post on the way home. Then we played at dot to dot and recorded a 7” in the heat wave of 2006 and carried on playing some more shows and making some more 7”s. Then we made a 12” and went on some more tours.

Then we got to leave the country!

Finally, I will leave you with the generic interview question: What’s next for Lovvers?

Our record is coming out in late summer, we’re doing more tours and records in far flung and exciting countries whenever possible, we’re gonna have some good b-sides on our singles, we have a 4 way split 7” coming out soon on OIB records, and probably do an awesome cassette of demos as well. We might even play a couple of shows in Britain! www.myspace.com/letscommunicate.

NO AGE & PPM RECORDS. Dean Spunt’s noise pop duo No Age strives to ultimately exclusively play all-ages shows in unconventional venues. His label PPM records only puts out records by his buddies’ bands. It’s all so DIY purist it’s almost irritating. Kind of like that infuriating smart popular girl in class who’s also in every sports team, wizard at playing every instrument and somehow always manages to look scrubbed n’ pretty like she smells of birthday perfume and tastes like home-baked honey cake 24/7 too minus the lame and inevitable nervous breakdown, plus some sweet vinyl and killer cool factor. We had a chat with him about The Backstreet Boys, shows in the LA river and Brazillian Pop Singers. Here’s how it went: Let’s talk about PPM first. Let’s take this right back to the beginning. What was the first record you put out?

The first record I put out was a 7” by a band called the Intima. They were form Portland / Olympia. I saw them play and was so moved. I was 19 and I came into some money because of a car accident I was in so I wanted to start putting out records.

What happened to you in the accident?! Was it super bad or was it one of these minor-injury-largemonetary-windfall personal injury cases?

Yeah it actually wasn’t that crazy, the crazy part is who I got in the accident with. It was a member of The Backstreet Boys! He hit me and my girlfriend at the time That’s fucking brilliant! Well not that you and your girlfriend got injured...but like, was it worth it for the novelty factor? Did you write a song about it?

Yeah, it was the start of my upward trajectory. We only sorta got injured. I had a lot of back pain and stuff for a while, nothing too serious looking back.

No song, but it was pretty funny and crazy, especially for a 19 year old.

Popstar compensation scrounging aside, were you involved in a lot musically before PPM? Yeah I was in stuff in high school. Nothing serious. Around the same time I started PPM I was in a band called the JEWS. We were an avant gard band.

Then I was in a band during that time as well called Rotophone where I played bass, it was an all girl band, they were all lesbians So when did you first start playing in bands then?

My first band was when I was 13. I sang in a band called The Grommitts.

It was really crappy fast punk.

But a lot of really crappy fast punk is beautiful.

Yeah we were awesome.

What did you listen to growing up?

Punk rock stuff, mix tapes. Pretty much high school was any punk music I could find and The Smiths and The Cure. Then in 11th and 12th grade I started making sound collages by myself, like distorted keyboard, acoustic guitar etc. And listened to that stuff... I have this one funny tape of some acoustic guitar and a cassette I made of my parents arguing. It is all layered on top of each other. I should find it.

Transfer it to digital and whack it online, I would most definitely be interested in hearing that. Speak-

“It was a member of The Backstreet Boys! He hit me and my girlfriend at the time”

ing of the widespread digitalization of music today, what are your views on the subject?

Well, people are buying more vinyl and CD’s are shrinking in sales. Digital is awesome too just for the quickness.

But vinyl is the best for listening at home, nothing compares So what new releases would can we expect in the not too distant future from PPM? In May I got the new Mika Miko record called WE BE XUXA. It rules Where did the name come from?!

XUXA is a Brazilian pop singer. Then in June and July a split 12” with HIGH PLACES / SOFT CIRCLE and a full length from an awesome band called Silk Flowers from NYC I have no idea who XUXA is, I feel kind of inadequate that I’m not learned in the ways of South American popular music now. So anyway, how do you normally go about finding your bands? Is it widely people you’ve played with first or do you hear demos and contact people?

It is usually always friends. I have never been blown away by a demo, but I do get a lot, and a lot are great... I just usually need to know the people.

I suppose it keeps the process a lot more organic that way. So moving on to No Age, how did you guys get together?

We were in a band called Wives, who were also on PPM. And that band broke up, so we started No Age, we really enjoy each other’s musical ideas. So we keep making music!

What are some of the current musical influences you guys have going into those ‘ideas’?

Well, lately it is The Beatles, Crass, Psychic TV, Husker Du, Throbbing Gristle, Brian Eno etc That’s a pretty varied list to be saying etc. Do the Beatles and Crass both follow a distinct music trend?! Anyway, so I heard you guys have a policy of trying to play mainly all ages shows?

We try. It mainly stems from being a kid and wanting to go places and not getting in. plus I think a bar is a real crappy place to see a band play. I much prefer a warehouse or a field or something What’s the best unorthodox situation you’ve played in?

In the public library. Or in the LA river.

How did that work out?! Without sounding like some awful health and safety concerned sad-o; I thought water and sound equipment didn’t mix...

Well, we were very careful, it wasn’t in the actually IN the river, we played on the shore.

So, what are your plans for No Age in 2009?

We’re playing around the world here and there, writing our record as we speak and working on other things related to the band like art and creative spaces. We are real excited for this year and next! www.myspace.com/nonoage www.postpresentmedium.com

DUM DUM GIRLS

Although the name may suggest otherwise, Dum Dum Girls is in fact, one girl producing ‘bissed out buzzsaw’ tunes over on da west coast. www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls. Girl Power.

preference. At one point or another, those four songs were on my MySpace page, and people downloaded them using some sneaky site or program, so they’re out on the web for sharing.

So Dee Dee, how’s in hangin in LA? It is great, there’s a lot to do here.

I read your name is a nod to the stooges. That’s pretty rad. yeah, “Dum Dum Boys” from Iggy Pop’s album the idiot. i was actually staring at The Vaselines album Dum Dum and wanting to do something in reference to that, and then the Iggy Pop song came to mind, and it seemed like a sign. Sonic Youth has the perfect name combination, and I suppose this was my attempt.

Your music seems to be very DIY in its essence, which is what this fanzine is all about! I really admire how you’re kicking it solo. Have you had many musical projects before Dum Dum girls?

None that made it out into the public.

So I heard somewhere that your collaboration with Blank Dogs was done over the internet? That’s just like a lot of our stuff! People piss and moan about the digitalisation of everything but isn’t the internet beautiful when it’s getting people together to make awesome music? How exactly did that come about?

Yes, exactly, it’s this awful monster that is becoming part of everything for better or worse, and in this case, for better. It’s the perfect tool for bicoastal collaboration.

When captured tracks asked to put out an EP, i was really into the idea of mister Blank Bogs doing a song with me for it. That didn’t happen, but the desire stuck around and eventually he sent me a song he’d been working on and I added a lot of vocals to it and sent it back. It seemed like it should be more than a one-off, so we’ve kept it up. It’s a really interesting way to make music with someone. We’ve never even met!

For an artist who has found acclaim through the use of the modern technology of mp3’s online, why the decision to release your EP only on vinyl format?

Captured Tracks (Blank Dog’s label) only releases records and tapes. I personally only have records & mp3s in my collection, and I think that’s a common

Where does the footage for your music videos come from? They are intense! Who made them?

It’s just footage I found on YouTube. One is a home video and the other is from an anti-drug propaganda short film. i just edited (poorly) segments of them together on my computer.

If you had to sum up your musical output up in say 10 words to inform our readers, how would you put it?

I probably wouldn’t. But “blissed-out buzzsaw” came to me in a daydream and i feel that is a vague enough, but accurate description.

What can we be expecting from Dum Dum Girls in 2009?

Full-length LP, some related 7”s, a few split 7”s, a cassette of older stuff and covers.

Any plans on hopping over the other side of the pond in the not too distant future and giving us guys in the UK some of your lo-fi pop live?

Cross your fingers.

too lazy and too cheap to get a fake ID. That’s what most kids do if they feel the need to drink underage.

But in reality. It’s the American way to drink beer at sixteen. And most do. It actually makes it fun. Doing things you’re not supposed to do is totally cool though, right?

So when can we be expecting some physical releases from you guys?

Our first 7” is a four way split with Male Bonding/Rapid Youth/Graffiti Island is on pre-sale right now. So you can order a copy and they will be shipped in April. We will probably have the other releases done in the next six month’s. I am very patient when it comes to releasing the music.

NAZI ZOMBIES & OLD BLOOD So Caleb, what’s it like being in a band with your sister?

Very uncomplicated. She doesn’t know much about playing music so I don’t have to deal with creative control changing hands. I tell her what to play and she plays it. I like simple rhythmic beats.

I’m super jealous of your sibling set up. I think your family stole all the cool genes. In fact, I don’t even think you HAVE parents. I bet you two we both conceived in test tubes somewhere a la brave new world and conditioned with garage punk records and plaid from birth. Discuss.

LOLZ. Well, if you asked the people we call our parents about that they would probably agree that we came out of left field. No one on either side of my family were artists or musicians. Our cousins and uncles and aunts and grandparents think we are grade A weridos. Which isn’t far from the truth.

It reassures me that life is fair to know that you too, deal with the trials and tribulations of normal people relatives. I feel your pain brutha.

Yeah, no one thinks about what it was like to be related to say... The Ramones. Or one of the guys from Dow Jones and the Industrials. They all have relatives you know? And they couldn’t all have been into the same thing as them Cool people’s kids are always destined to be total brats anyway. True coolness always comes out of doing it for yourself, kicking it solo on the path to obscure greatness. So anyway, I read somewhere that both you guys are pretty young, both under 20?

I just turned twenty in January and Jael just turned 18 in January as well. So yeah we are pretty young I guess Don’t you have that whole over 21 restrictions thing going on stateside? Does it actually stop you from going to a lot of places? I can imagine it being a total killer I’m only 16 so its bad enough having to lie I’m 18 with my friend’s drivers license over here, let alone 21...

Yeah we do actually. And yeah it does. I just wanna go to dive bars and drink beers. And I cant because I am

Perfectionist?

Yeah I am a perfectionist; Kevin Shields inspired me to be one. When I was 15 or 16 I would watch interviews of him on youtube and think he was such a passive guy.

But then you read about how he went through like 15 sound engineers or something for Loveless. The album was so brilliant that I knew that perfection is the key to the sound that you want. Before I even write songs I think about the sounds and effects I want to use and how much I should use.

That ethic is sounding more kinda prog than punk to me dude?

Oh well yeah. Just because I love punk doesn’t mean I am a complete poser! Kevin Shields is more punk rock than most people think. I saw him twice when he played LA and when he did his infamous twenty minutes of noise. People walked out. It was so loud people just left. And he didn’t have to poop on the floor and punch people in the face to make them leave.

Changed my life.

So what’s your normal/intended recording process like? Does your perfectionism extend to doing that totally DIY too?

Yep, I got the equipment I thought we needed to record the way I want to. The first few recordings we did was with one mic through ableton which is thought to be more of a dj’ing program. Daft punk of course was the first to famously use it. So when people hear that we record through that program they generally don’t believe it.

So when you’re not rigorously putting your music through the Caleb excellence-processing factory, what do both of you guys do? Like...working? Learning? Daytime TV watching?

My mind is going at an insane speed thinking about a lot of artistic things, so I like to play call of duty online.

There is a game called Nazi zombies. Where you shoot zombies. I love b horror type stuff so its right ups my alley. Also we watch a lot of TV. Big love is one of our favorites.

NAZI ZOMBIES?!! That sounds intense. Why have I never heard of this game?

I play it on ps3 but it’s on every current gaming platform. It’s an extra game on call of duty 5. You have to beat the story mode to unlock it. But it’s like a game in itself.

I am epically bad at call of duty. But I will definitely have to buy it and persuade a gaming nerd friend to unlock it for me. Goodbye productivity.

Yeah it can do that. It can kill relationships and everything. But it’s so worth it.

So were you in a lot of bands before Old Blood?

No, I tried to start like, three before Old Blood. But the guys I would collaborate with were frontman types so it never worked. Until I started a band the beginning of last summer with one of my best friends Ryan. We were called The Cokeheads. Old Blood began as The Cokeheads minus Ryan because Jael and me were the only members. Ryan lives in LA and we moved to Vegas because it was cheaper to live here so that band had to be put on pause. Old Blood just became a continuation of where The Cokeheads were sort of headed Sounds like a very organic process. Good vibes all round.

Yeah, it has been up to this point. Nothing is being pushed. It’s funny because I just put the initial recordings up to show my friends in LA. Then Kevin from the No Pain In Pop blog somehow found us and after that quite a few bands found us and you know it goes on and on. And now our first live show ever has us playing with WAVVES, KING KANH AND THE BARBEQUE SHOW and THE STRANGE BOYS (among others), which is huge to us.

I sincerely hope the metaphorical popularity ball gets rolling big time and you’ll be able to come over this side of the pond in the not too distant future.

That would be awesome, we want to, very badly. We have gotten several offers for shows, but there isn’t any way for us to get there. We are so broke all the time.

But I am confident that eventually the good vibrations we’re setting off will get us their soon.

I got a good feeling about it

CLUB CLIQUE Clique is the glossy magazine equivalent of a clubnight. Vogue remixed by The Twelves if you like. Since switching to the swish location of Mint Lounge last year they’ve gone from strength to strength with guest DJ’s including Lovefoxxx, Foals and Frankmusik and still manage retain a lovely Do It Yourself ethos. We caught up with Ian and Damien to ask them Firstly, can you give us a quick run down to what Clique is about?

In short it’s a clubnight for kids who like to dance fast, get tipsy and dress up to an amazing mix of underground and overground dance, disco-pop and alternative records, played in an exciting way in a glamorous setting. It’s the ‘getting ready at home’ vibe but all night long.

The best was FrankMusik because the level of excitement and interest and new kids who came down was so unexpected. We booked him as we liked all his tunes, we didn’t realise quite the popularity he had! Also it was filmed for TV so it was a new thing for us.

4. Could you give any advice to people thinking of starting their own club nights?

Do something no one else is doing - that’s the main thing.

5. Got any top DJing tips?

Play what you like, and just chop stuff up, throw odd things in, play acapellas, instrumentals, old stuff, bootlegs, weird mixes, fun stuff, funny stuff, don’t play what other people think is ‘cool’ it’s so BORING!

2. How long did it take for you to find success in Clique? .It took 4 Cliques in our old venue (a pub basement with a 200 capacity) to get a good crowd going, and within six Cliques there was a queue round the block.

This was pre myspace/facebook so we really had only word of mouth and a bunch of cool flyers.

6. What made you decide to focus playing more electro music?

We actually never liked the newer school of noizy electro that much, maybe 10%. we like a mixture of good disco-pop, pre-house dance tunes, 80s remixes, indie stuff from the last couple of years, mash-ups/ bootlegs, Balearic-y stuff, the smart vocal dance stuff.. we like loads of stuff.

3. You’ve had some really cool guests from Lovefoxxx to Foals DJ-ing who’s been the best guest DJ so far? Why?

7. What have you got in store for Clique in the coming months?

Loads! We just want it to keep getting better and bet-

“Don’t play what other people think is ‘cool’ it’s so BORING!”

ter so the kids can enjoy it even more. We’ve always got about 10 things we’re planning and if we do half of them we’re pleased!

8. Do you think you had a certain “DIY” ethic in starting your clubnight?

Its totally a DIY thing. We still do everything just the 2 of usaside from taking some photos on the night and guest DJing. All thewebsite stuff, design stuff, booking, playing, etc etc is done by the2 of us with help from Melissa our Design honcho. It’s no different from Djing to 200 in a basement as to 500 twice a month we’re still Doing It Ourselves.

9. What do you think are the most DIY scenes in Manchester at themoment, if any? Why? We like some of the ‘zine-y stuff and fashion stuff, obviously XOX is great because it looks great and is fun and friendly. Club wise we like what Prostitutes & Policemen are doing and the Contort Yourself guys as they did it the same DIY way and they are big now too.

10. If you could have anyone DJ Clique who would it be and why?

Jacques Lu Cont because he’s our favourite remixer of the last few years, Prince and the Revolution, The Twelves, Pet Shop Boys..

Photography Melissa Cohen Words Jade French

CLIQUE TOP TEN: Copacabana Club - Just Do It Annie - Anthonio (Designer Drugs Remix) Tiga - Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore Katy Perry - Hot ‘n’ Cold (Yelle Remix) La Roux - Bulletproof Fischerspooner - In A Modern World Fever Ray - When I Grow Up (Lissvik Remix) Phoenix - 1901 (The Garage Band Teenagers Remix) VV Brown - Leave (Style of Eye Remix) Madonna - Luckystar (Digikid84 Remix)

THE SMELL

There is a tale told that if you veer away from the smooth Californian sunshine and dig a bit deeper into the murky side streets you’ll stumble upon a club. This club, it is told, is so much more than DJs playing music or bands stumbling over a bad chord refrain. Legend also tells of an ally way which smells like fish (hence the name) and a helpful homeless man who sometimes works on the door and always helps to watch over the crowd. It’s a magical place of music for the sake of music with a Do It Yourself ethos literally written into the very walls (as graffiti is scrawled and independent artists make their marks). Everyone involved volunteer from running the door or serve up drinks without any profit.

It’s all ages- it’s anything goes. It’s art and music and fashion and the avant-garde all rolled into one. It sort of makes me want to jump on a plane.

Starting up in 1998 the totally unglamorous notion of fire-code violations saw the closure of the Smell after relocation problems- showing if you’re kicked when you’re down get up and rock it out. Not being deterred by deflections and fire hazards the Smell was reborn in 2003. Turning its back on the Hollywood glamour that surrounds it to let the alt-punk genre flow free out of its doors it’s as though reverb and noise instead of lipo

and dollars run into the streets. It sounds like heaven (if heaven played fuzzy music like Mika Miko, No Age and HEALTH).

The bands which play at the Smell help to categorise its ethos- as well as those mentioned above Abe Vigoda, BARR and The Mae Shi all lend their own incorrigible blend of music which makes you feel like you’re ears have been mauled and the space around you violated. When listening to ‘Skeleton’ by Abe Vigoda the sound infiltrates the air, thudding drums skidding under the rampant vocals and juddering guitar; it’s indistinguishable, it’s a holy racket. To have made their mark in LA seems incongruous, that noise and feedback should be the music of choice where possibly the lulling strains of the Beach Boys would be more appropriate.

However, it is the double-take which makes the Smell even more exciting, to completely buck the trends of mainstream and offer up something that people can care about and get behind.

If the lure of eternal sunshine and the possibility of bumping into a Hollywood A-Lister wasn’t enough to make you want to move to LA here, at last, is the third and final reason.

Jade French

19TH CENTURY- THE YEAR OF THE ZINE?The USA of the 1800s probably wasn’t producing ‘zines full of underground music reviews or debating whether Chopin or Brahmas produced a better EP that issue.

What they did do though was produce independently collections of poetry and fiction on printing presses. Not a very professional look and a very limited circulation number (see Punk).

SCI-FIThe 1920s and 30s see the sci-fi lot start writing, printing and distributing en masse their opinions on science fiction. What seems like a primitive form of social networking breaks out via a system of letters, swapping of fanzines and recognising each other as “faneds”. See: Amazing Stories, 4SJ and The Comet.

1960s FILMOff-shoot of the Sci-Fi lovin’ came the Film zines which took many Horror genres and put them on paper. Why? A good question which probably can’t be answered but it happened.

PUNK HITS- As Xerox prices hit rock bottom (10p) many more people find it easier to fund there ‘zine printin’ needs. The ‘Punk’ look of scrappy bits of newspaper text stuck down; typo-stained, irregularly printed letters and stapled together pages all develop due to lack of funding. Sex Pistols make this look the world-wide, appreciated Punk stamp of approval. See: Sniffin’ Glue

THE (VERY BRIEF HISTORY) OF A FANZINE

1980sBruce Mania means that the Springsteen has over five fanzines dedicated to him in this time in the UK alone. That is some good goin’ there Brucey.

RIOT GRRRL“We need to start a girl riot”. And they did.

The girls started doing it for themselves with bands like Bikini Kill running way out ahead of all the others and giving feminism another bout in the boxing ring. Zines such as “My Little Fanzine” give kitsch and grrrl power a new lease of life.

THE INTERNET RUINS EVERYTHINGOr makes everything easier, depends on you’re point of view. If you are skint (i.e. your credit has been crunched) then YAY! You can still get your music, fashion, ranting and ‘zine lovin’ selves out there and start a blog!

The world is smaller, and fanzines are still around. Ding-ding.

THE FUTUREBy the year 2040 fanzines will have developed micro-chip style. Insert your fanchip into your digital sunglasses and sit back and watch the magic. By 2050 though the world is taken over by aliens and fanzines are banned. C’est la vie.

COMANECHI

50 BONES . How did 50 Bones come about?

I was really loving a track called knockout by these faceless French guys the shoes. I went over to see their first gig in Reims, the champagne capital of the world, we hit it off so I decided to set up a label to release their record. The name came from our designer rich, to him bones is money and 50 is the biggest note.

2. How do you decide which bands you’re going to put out?

At the moment we’re just a singles label so we basically search for tracks we love by acts we love and can see potential with. The artists need to have some fresh idea’s for the packaging of the release, that as important as the music in this game!

3. Which are the best bands you’ve put out?

Am I meant to say ‘I love them all the same’?haha I don’t think we have released a whack track and each band has been fun to work with. Primary 1 and the shoes are the best to get drunk with, Rogues are fun too. Primary 1 made a sort of guest appearance on the label, he’s set to take over the world and is the future of pop.

4. Is there any particular reason you focus on oneoff releases?

At the moment that’s all we can really afford to offer artists! We’re not totally against doing second singles if we are offered the chance and the track is killer.

5. What makes a band special enough to put out?

Its nice when you hear something that gets you excited and you meet the person / people who made it and they make you feel even more exited about the potential of what they are doing. When I first met up with Victoria Little and she played me an unmixed version of ‘Meddle’ just to hear about everything she was up to was enough to sell me on doing the release, the fact the track is great was a bonus!

6. You’re vinyl’s seem to have a certain aesthetic about them.. Do you feel like vinyl has a certain charm?

Its a lot nicer to hold than a CD and its more fun conceptually when it comes to packaging. Im also really

into the fact a lot of people probably don’t even play them and just listen from an MP3. That’s why we seal the top.. I guess we are making them to collect rather than play. To be honest, ive never listen to one of the finished records, just the test pressings!

Is it important to create something like that in the internet/download age?

Totally.. I don’t think people will ever stop wanting to own physical items. We sell a shit load of vinyl to some uber cool record shops in Japan, Japan is more futuristic than any other country and the most advanced when it comes to digital music, they also love vinyl still!.

7. Is there any major competition on the indie record circuit?

No, I don’t think we’re really in a position to be competitive. It works a lot better to stick together. I met up with Kate who runs the isomorph label the other day, she’s got a wicked idea for a bunch of us to do some kind of joint release, that totally makes sense. We’re all about throwing some joint parties this summer also if we can get organised enough! I love what Phantasy sounds are doing as a label, you cant compete with that.

8. Which bands are you scouting out for the next release?

We have just agreed to release the debut single from these amazing Brazilian teenagers called Mickey Gang, look out for that one... they are about to take the UK by storm!

9. How hard was it to start up the indie label?

We get a lot of help from Puregroove records when it comes to making and selling our Vinyl so that made it a lot easier to start things up. The hardest thing now is dedicating time to the cause as we all have full time jobs also, its a lot of fun though so we’re not complaining.

10. What do 50 Bones have lined up for the rest of the year?

A couple more singles.. we’re also looking at putting together mixtapes with Fancy Footwerk and Sky Ferreira.

Oh and a compilation too!

Jade French

Special Event!

Same Teens present Mystery Jets Fri 3rd & Sat 4th July / Pavillion Theatre £15 beds for all those going to this event!

We’ll even throw in a light breakfast for free!

To book call us on 0161 236 9500

PHOTO DIARY

PHOTOGRAPHY LEWIS CHAPLIN

Been inspired to pick up a pen or a camera or pose like Madonna? God knows we were put to shame by the sheer amount of people out there starting bands, writing magazines, doodling cartoons, putting on club nights, living in LA, taking photographs! Well, do it (yourself) and submit it (to us)- we’re always looking for people to write, photograph and model for us.

Our Mystery Jets event (3rd and 4th July) is another chance for you to get involved; get a ticket for a fiver and come along- we’re going to have a studio set up for budding models, somewhere you can text questions to which will be put to the bands and we’re even making a film so any bits of footage you capture on your mobile phones can be submitted and used!

Bye for now XOX Editor Jade French Guest Editor Holly Lucas LOVVERS interview/No Age Interview/Dum Dum Girls Interview/Old Blood Interview/ Comanchi Shoot Holly Lucas History Of Fanzine Jade French Design Ryan Doyle (DR.ME)