My sister took me along to the new Twilight markets held in Brisbane’s West End, every Saturday night. Hesitant at first, as I’m sick of going to markets that promote themselves as hand-made, organic and local… while everything is mass-produced and made in China junk. During the day, I heard an interview with one of the coordinators of the Markets on Triple zed. He mentioned zines and vegan treats! Now I was excited!

Do It Together is a new zine distro run by Erica and Lena. “We’re keen to stock zines with substance”.  Do It Together has been running for the past six weeks and a regular at the Twilight Markets. Erica and Lena are also working on a zine that will discuss how to support someone grieving. I can’t wait to see the disto grow. No doubt they would love to hear from you. Write them a letter or send you zine to: PO Box 5750 West End Q 4101 or email: doittogether AT riseup.net

With a zine in hand, tasty vegan cupcakes from New Leaf Vegan and tunes from Emma Dean. It was the best Saturday in ages! Can’t wait to bring friends along next year.

Thanks for supporting The Paper Cuts Collective throughout 2011, 2012 will be a massive year. We have 2 dates already pencilled in. Feb 4 and 25! Workshops, Zine fairs and events to be announced shortly!

PCC

The Best of Bizoo is finally here, and on Saturday 8th October it’s Brisbane’s turn to Celebrate! You can grab a copy and read all the most entertaining and infamous articles from Toowoomba’s greatest export - Bizoo Zine! Toowoomba based Folk/Punkers Jack Flash will also be launching their debut album, on the day, alongside illustrious Brissie rockers The Giants of Science, The Strums, and Gunk. The whole shebang is totally free, and so is the book! The fun starts with a zine fair and workshops at 10:30 am in the Zed carpark, with bands hitting the stage at 3pm. Proudly presented by: Bizoo, 4ZZZ and The Paper Cuts Collective.

Please drop an email to the Bizoo crew to book a table to sell your paper goods at the zine fair - Bizoozine @ gmail.com

Hey guys! Matt here from Demolish and Paper Cuts “fame”. I’m back from my adventures overseas with Steve Towson and am getting stuck into issue #7 of Demolish. I’m hoping to get it out before the end of the year. But until then I have found a few back issue of Demolish, going back 9 years! Plus the latest (issue 6) issue which I never made more then 30 copies of before heading off.

If you would like to get a copy please check out my Big Cartel website: http://mattlimmer.bigcartel.com

Lots of Love, Matt

Bizoo, 4ZzZfm & The Paper Cuts Collective Present:

The Bizoo ‘The Best, the Worst and the Trash that Never Made It’ Book Launch and Zine Fair!

After three years in the making, the [FREE & CARBON NEUTRAL] Bizoo retrospective Book that chronicles the life and times of the music arts zine that grew from Toowoomba in 2001 and wrapped-up mid 2006, is being unleashed in Brisbane. The book has taken the best (and worst) bits from the 25 issue street zine ‘Bizoo’, added the trash that never made it, and published a 160 page odyssey to all things community and DIY.

With thanks to 4ZzZfm, and in keeping with the books content and styling’s, the Bizoo crew will celebrate and release the book in Brisbane via the 4ZzZfm Car park, (St Pauls Terrace – Fortitude Valley) with a zine fair, music and DIY events throughout the day on Saturday 8th of October.

Kick off the day in all its paper based glory from 10:30am – 2:30 with local writers, zine makers, comic crew and indie creators on site at the zine fair with a number of DIY workshops and hands on activities to coincide with the festivities.

The Bizoo retrospective book is not the only thing being launched on the 8th of October. Once you’ve had your fill of all things zine, Bizoo’s muso friends, new and old, will be performing in the car park space to show off what this book was all about supporting. After a string of successful EP launches over the years, our favourite folk punk friends from our hometown in Toowoomba, Jack Flash, are excited to announce the launch of their first full length and debut album. The full list of bands to accompany them will be announced shortly.

To book a table at the zine fair (roughly the size of a single coffee shop/school table) contact Dr Jerm on bizoozine@gmail.com. Tables are $10, all of which goes directly to 4ZzZfm. Places are limited!

Saturday 8th October 2011
4ZzZfm car park
Zine Fair from 10:30am
Bands from 3pm

Hope you can make it along!

Dr Jerm & Bizoo Crew

www.bizoo.com.au

Borders close down but zine-creators fire up!

 It’s ‘International Zine Month’ in July, and what better way to come to a close then with a zine making BANG at the Smells Like Zines Shop (203 Margaret Street). As traditional book shops close their doors, the art of DIY and paper is still alive and kicking. It’s time to celebrate all paper based arts –paper aeroplanes, flip books, origami and zines.

24 Hour Zine Making; the Challenge and Reward

The Challenge: Participants have just 24 hours, to create a zine from start to finish. Sound easy? Think again! This is a chance to show off their talent in dynamic forms while experimenting with size, style, material, binding and of course a few paper cuts.

The Reward: Have your zine credited and exhibited on the walls of the Smells Like Zines shop for 2-3 weeks in all its paper based glory, before being immortalized in the zine library.

How to: Participants can scour the zine library for inspiration and make use of all the Smells Like Zines space is offering; local artists on hand to help create and illustrate publications, paper aeroplane fights, origami, all things cut and paste.

Do I have to stay at the zine shop for the whole 24 hours? NO ! But everyone is welcome to spend as much time as you need to. Participants are free to come, go and bring me snacks as you please.

I don’t live anywhere near Toowoomba? No worries! The exhibition doesn’t run until the following weekend so you can post your masterpiece up and still be involved.

Contact: smells.like.zines@gmail.com
When: 12pm to 12pm July 30th-31st
Cost: Free to enter, BYO materials or $3 to use ours !
Where: Smells Like Zines Distro (Shop 4, 203 Margaret Street)

http://smellslikezines.com/
FaceBook Event Page

This interview is done as part of the plan to open up discussion, expose other creative areas of endeavour + share with the greater Indie/DIY community, those who publish, get published + of course, self publish (apart from zines) across Brisbane + the greater areas of QLD. 

There is such a diversity here is Queensland…that there seems to be a need to show how these other industries/disciplines  cross over + bleed into each other…like zines + comics…comics +books,  books + Artists Books then into galleries etc… Over the rest of the year, I plan on interviewing Poets, Established Comic Book Artists, Gallery owners, Take a look at the QLD bookbinders guild speak to those who not only love + support zines + comics – but ask how they see the genre + find out what else is alive in QLD… 

The interview –   “Burger Force is the story of an undercover espionage agency located beneath a fast food take away.  Burger Force agents spend part of their time serving thick shakes and fries and the rest of it thwarting diabolical masterminds committing crimes against pop culture.  Burger Force is an independent comic featuring real people and locations that have been ‘comified’ through a laborious combination of software and hand retouching.”

 

Where did you grown up + what were your interests in school….
I grew up in Brisbane.  My interests at school included English, avoiding a Jazz-ercise teacher who tried to make us exercise exclusively to Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’, playing practical jokes and trying to develop secret codes and signals for use in the playground jungle. 

What do you work as now …
I work part time designing adverts for a newspaper.  The rest of the time belongs to Burger Force.  

How + when did the idea for ‘Burger Force’ come to fruition…
I’ve been writing it on and off since 1999.  There are two defining moments in my pop culture life were ‘The Avengers’ (Diana Rigg period) and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.  Burger Force, to my mind, is what would happen if these two entities met up on a dark and stormy night.  This is basically just me writing the type of stuff I like to watch.

 

How long have you been working on BF…
Since the end of last century.  Even the Soviets only had a 5 year plan.

What are some of the obstacles you have faced with producing BF?
Time and distance.  The actors are scattered all over the country and have pretty full schedules so it is quite a business getting everyone together in the one place at the one time.  Making the comic is also very time consuming.  I just hope I get the thing finished before we’re all retired.  Maybe some nice nurse will read the final issue aloud to us at the nursing home. 

How has it been perceived by the comic peeps to the zine peeps?
Is there more receptivity, do you think, from one or the other? People from both communities have been very welcoming.  I have had more to do with the comic community (what with it being a comic and all) but zine folks have been very inclusive.  The general thinking seems to be that as long as it is an independent work it is welcome in zine places.

What can we expect from BF in the future?
Plot twists, romance, revelations and good fashion. There is also an exhibition coming up at Brew Gallery. Opening night is on Wednesday, June 22nd.



What is some advice you would offer to anyone aspiring to create their own comic or comic based zine?
Read widely within the genre.  Be fluent with traditional methods for story telling with sequential art before choosing to depart from them.  Will Eisner and Scott McCloud have both written excellent books on the subject. 

Where can we get your hands a copy of BF?
If you are in Brisbane, they are at Clayton’s Comics, Avid Reader and Rocking Horse Records.  Melbournites can find them at Minotaur, Polyester and the Sticky Institute.  Everyone else can find them in the online shop at www.burgerforce.com

Hey friends,

Do you make a zine or know someone who does which you really enjoy? Nominations for the nationwide Australian Golden Stapler Awards for most excellent zines are now open.

Good luck!

Hugs,

the PCC

xo

goldenstapler:

When I initially imagined North Queensland, I pictured endless beaches, the reef, and genuine, easy -going folks. All of which is true, but once you scratch the surface, a vibrant and exciting zine and self-publishing culture is hidden away. Over last couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the amazing crew that are cutting, pasting, drawing, printing and creating.  In all honestly, the community that exists in north Queensland would rival most capital cities. A perfect example of this was the Gutter Trash event that was put on by long-standing Zine creator, Graff Artist, upstanding dude and founder of the Artist Run Initiative, The Upholstery, Daniel Wallwork aka Wally. Gutter Trash was held in Cairns in March 2009 and was a launching pad for ten, that’s right, ten local zines!

For the past decade, The Upholstery have been pumping out zines, most coming with handmade bags, stickers and goodies.  Another couple of zines that I’ve come across in Cairns that I recommend checking out are Fez and Marcel (zombie Hill Zine).

The Run Collective, based in Townsville, have also recently released a massive zine that covers the history and profiles the collective. It is well worth getting your hands on a copy if they have any left. The hand screen printed cover is amazing!

Recipe for Run & Honour Among Thieves by Jordan Grant

Fast forward to the present day. I was recently invited to run a zine workshop coinciding with the May’s Lane street art exhibition held at the Mackay’s Artspace. Mackay was only town in Queensland that lucky enough to score the show! During my time in Mackay, every time I opened my mouth and mentioned zines, the first thing everyone would say was: “so have you met Autumn who does Gypsy Kat?” After a few phone calls and voicemails, we caught up, beers and random shenanigans were had and by the end of my stay a rough draft of a zine was done from my misadventures with Mackay and Miss Autumn. Since crossing paths with Autumn, my Po Box has never seen so much action.

Another charter that has been floating around the band and zine scene for a good number of years is Joel Goodman.  Joel runs a zine and a design company called Auxiliary. If you’re ever in Cairns, make sure you drop by and say hello, but also drop by next door to Room1 Contemporary Art which Mofo’s (merchants of fine objects), a t-shirt collective, also based.

Joel approached me recently about the launch of issue number five of Auxiliary as well as a pop up exhibition of Zines. The opening night for Auxiliary Zine #5 - Poster Stylo, is Friday 3rd June - 6.30pm @ c.1907. The exhibition runs from the 31st May till the 4th June.  The exhibition will showcase zines from all over Australia as well as focus on North Queensland.

Contributors for Auxiliary Zine #5 - Poster Stylo so far are: Caroline Mudge, Dave Schwan, Warren Popeler, Joel Goodman and Andrew Paterson.

If you would like to contribute a zine or support in any way. You can reach Joel on joel @ auxiliarycentral.com

Staples + PCC & a special thanks to Nick Berrett for helping me edit this.