Zines: Punk to Present

With titles such as Discount Witches, Social Dis-Ease, and Screaming Monkeys, zines set out to attract attention. The scope of content within zines is striking too. Music zines, anarcho-feminist zines, fanzines (and anti-fanzines), punk-hardcore-anarchist zines, perzines, bread-pun zines, prompt zines and even phobia zines: they’re all covered in Zines: Punk to Present.

Author Bryce Galloway is a self-described middle-aged post-punker and zinester, a Pākehā Wellington academic, and a singer-songwriter. He wanted this book to go beyond describing what a zine is, and instead look into the many facets of zine-making in Aotearoa from the early 1980s onwards. Many of the original zine-makers are no longer young. Galloway was keen to capture the memories of these “ageing punks” while they were still around and willing to share their stories.

                The time is right for an oral history of this kind before anyone else expires. 

Galloway acknowledges that trying to cover all the zine activity in Aotearoa over almost five decades would be an impossible task. His criteria for choosing who to interview included the longevity of their zine practice and their early involvement with a distribution outlet or zinefest. Decade by decade he explores the social and cultural history of zines and the zine movement in Aotearoa. He introduces each chapter with a short overview of key events and influences of the era.

Galloway committed to documenting diverse experiences, although finding people to interview was not always easy. Several he approached did not want to take part, and some enquiries reached a dead end. Eventually, he interviewed 50 people, most of them face-to-face.

Readers are  invited to dive into each chapter prepared to “flit from voice to voice” as they read each anecdote. There’s an almost stream of consciousness approach to the narrative.

                Let each chapter paint an impression of a certain time and set of experiences.

Numerous people speak about their involvement with zines, although with only a few exceptions their accounts run alongside each other rather than unfolding as conversations. Galloway’s voice as the interviewer is absent from the transcripts, yet it’s clear that his questions prompted interesting discussions. The people he interviewed – “men, women and non-binary individuals” – had plenty to contribute during their 90‑minute conversations with Galloway. Their bios reveal the wide range of lifestyles and experiences represented. Some contributors appear only once in the book, others many times. An extensive index directs readers to the page/s where specific individuals share their stories.

There are great tales and compelling insights throughout the book. Topics covered include mentors and motivations, the intersection between comics and zines, zine-making processes and tools, distribution strategies (both planned and haphazard), and how networks within zine communities were – and are – developed and maintained.

Regions such as New Plymouth and Greymouth once had thriving punk scenes, and at least half a dozen punk-related bands came out of Paeroa. Galloway describes how “the politics of punk” continues to inform the zine scene in Aotearoa, much as it did when the first zines emerged.

Zines helped young punks build an identity that ran counter to the conservatism of their parents, their government, and society at large. [Bryce Galloway]

[The idea was to present] something that didn’t look like The Listener; if you’ve got quite radical content, you need quite a radical presentation to match it, coupled with the whole DIY punk ethic. [Simon Cottle]

The first chapter covers the 1980s and will, says Galloway, “make those who can remember the eighties feel as though they’ve been alive for a very long time”. It includes photos of people protesting against the 1981 Springbok tour, stern-looking men delivering petitions against homosexual law reform to Parliament, and Roger Douglas introducing Rogernomics.  

It took a village to make a zine. Parents often played a central role, typing up content, or letting their offspring  use the office photocopier to run off issues. Support was also offered by teachers, lecturers and librarians who shared skills and resources. A good-natured pharmacist allowed small print runs on the pharmacy’s photocopier at no cost. One bold group of zinesters arranged trial loans of photocopiers so that they could print 500 copies at a time – and then return the machines.

Some of the first Aotearoa zine-makers had technical skills, others were making it up as they went along. Content was created from their own material as well as other people’s images, usually used without permission. Then – as now – there was a strong “do it yourself” culture. Laying out a zine was slow, hands‑on work.

The headings are all rendered in Sharpie [pen] and a ruler, typewriter, stencil, and then – lah-dee-dah – got a bit of Letraset going. [Simon Cottle]

We had to measure, cut, type … with every typing error we’d have to glue a letter over the mistake. … It was like twelfth-century monk behaviour. …in the southerly with a balaclava on I’d be cutting out these things and then gluing them individually …  You’d end up with glue on your hands and the f***ing thing would be blowing away in the wind. [Richard Langston]

The book offers a glimpse into the technological past where many of the first zines were cranked out on Gestetners and Banda machines. Advances in technology have expanded the ways in which zines can be created and published, although some are still printed on the sly at work. Galloway makes it clear that much of what underpins zine-making has stayed constant over time. In particular, the commitment to accessibility and inclusivity enables a broad spectrum of personal and political  points of view to be expressed. Deadlines and print runs are still likely to be flexible. Experimentation is encouraged.

… zines are now wide open for whatever aesthetics and non-discriminatory content … the maker wants to explore. If it’s short-run and self-published, it’s a zine. [Bryce Galloway]

I see zines … as a way for individuals to reclaim themselves, their community, their art, culture and history, filling the void that has been left by marginalisation, by discrimination. [Marijke van Schaardenburg]

Galloway also documents the growth and popularity of zinefests, now run up and down the country. There are few barriers to participation as the cost of booking  a stall is typically negligible. Participants come from many different backgrounds and represent many different perspectives. Several people Galloway interviewed stress the importance of zinefest committees and communities being ethnically diverse.

…having more people of colour or tangata whenua or tauiwi in positions where they get to make decisions is really important for the changing of these spaces. [essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Puukeko)]

Some zines are made anonymously or under a pseudonym. Galloway captures the vulnerability of sharing a zine with the public. Will it strike a chord?

…you’re left thinking ‘What is this person thinking?’ as they’re going through the zine. That’s why I like it  when people laugh. It’s like, ‘Oh, okay, there’s something there that’s resonated’. [essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Puukeko)]

One [of my cat zines] is called Good Kitty, Bad Kitty and it’s just cat collages: the good cats have eyes and I black the bad cats’ eyes out with pen…  I remember a woman at zinefest saying ‘Oh my god! This is my humour right here!’  [Murtle Chickpea, aka Sam Dew]

The book has hundreds of images. Most are pages from different zines, although there are photos too. It’s likely that Galloway included lots of visuals to illustrate the breadth and variety of zines. Yet because many pages have multiple images, the text in some images is very small and readers may struggle to read it. Overall, however, the distinctive look and feel of each zine featured comes across well.

Slip off the dust jacket to reveal the second eye-catching cover beneath it, designed by Greg Simpson.

Despite the vast amount of information, entertainment and other distractions now available online, zines and zine-making have thrived. Resources and skills are shared at zinefests, during the occasional zine workshop tour, at schools and at public libraries. Galloway and the people he spoke with – young and old, newcomers and those with a long connection to the zine world – emphasise that there’s a space and a place for everyone within zine communities.

                You find your scene and you find your zine. [Richard Langston]

Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks

Massey University Press