London Zine Symposium 2009

We're excited to announce that we've been given the thumbs up for a spot at this year's London Zine Symposium! The all-day extravaganza takes place on Sunday 3rd May '09, just off Brick Lane at The Rag Factory, London, from 12-6pm. The event (now in its fifth year) will play host to small-press, comics and zine makers, encouraging a large get together of zinesters, with the intention of building a stronger DIY network and community. After the success of the Brighton Zine Fest, we're already making up flyers and posters for the show, and might even attempt some baking (despite probably being the only people EVER to fuck up a kids' chocolate cornflake cake recipe)!

Workshops for the day have just been announced, and include:

- The politics of zines and comix since 1970 talk by Roger Sabin and Teal Triggs
- Examining the rise of the zine festival and how to organise one
- Running a zine library with speakers from Barcelona, New Orleans, and Poitiers (France)
- Zine readings with Alex Wrekk (Brainscan zine/must-have zine bible Stolen Sharpie Revolution) from Portland, Oregan and other zine readers from across the UK
- Facilities to make a zine from the day with collaborations from those attending with the help of Footprinters print co-op
- A radical history walk of the local area (“Housing, Class and gentrification in Spitalfields walk”)
- How to use popular website Etsy to sell zines

For updates on the day, visit London Zine Symposium Site

Issue 2 Artist Profile: Kate Morris

I've only just noticed that after promises of Kate's work in glorious technicolour in the feature, her work is no where to be seen on the Flickr link! I've just tried to get on to upload the images, but have managed to get locked out of the Flickr account. I've got absolutely no clue what the password is, and the password resets aren't working. Oops.

So here - finally - is Kate's work in full colour, which as you can see, is a lot better than in black & white! If you want to find out more about her beautiful paintings, get yourself a copy of issue #2 and read up on her thrifty collections and secret adoration for Mills and Boon. Indulge your eyes!

Record Store Day

"If you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends"

Record shops are my favourite places ever. Where ever I may find myself, stumbling upon an independent record shop, full of unknown promise, is geekily joyful. But times are tough, and a lot of our beloved and trusted indie's are biting the dust hard, leaving only the corporate bigwigs to provide us with some physical musical indulgence. I've never really enjoyed MP3s, with their lack of album artwork, liner notes and speedy, throwaway deliverance. It's a really impersonal way of listening to music, just plugging in and watching files stream across the screen. The more creative aspects are lost amongst technical jargon and the clicking of buttons.

Which is why I'm pleased to announce that on April 18th, Record Store Day is celebrating the modest indie record shop, and all the joy it can bring. Started in the US in 2007, the day often involves special vinyl and CD releases made exclusively for the day, and hundreds of artists making special appearances and performances in shops across the world. Festivities include live performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades and djs spinning records.

But why only make a day of it? Pop by your local store today, show support and let's hope the independent record shop will remain an exciting visit for years and years to come.

For more info and listings of the day's events, visit Record Store Day Official Site