Fandom

As a former fanzine writer (remember the three ground-breaking editions of Arketino that were published from my Somerset bedroom between 1994 and 1996? Hmm, thought not), I must admit that I'm loving all these grown-up takes on the fanzine that I'm increasingly coming across. By that I'm not referring to these wretched blogs that people keep writing (I mean, really, it is self-indulgent, and really, as Matt says, there is no outside editorial input, and really, it's on the bloody internet so by default it's geeky), but to the lovely publications I've come across like Matt's Smoke; Pen Pusher; and the, erm, Persephone Quarterley (it's essentially a magazine, OK). If you know some more, please feel free to share.

Writing a fanzine (aged 16-18) was a fabulous outlet for indulging my creativity and getting some free records... as well as 'kind-of' access to musicians (my regular interviewee being Stephen Duffy, who used to be underground and respectable, but lately he's teamed up with RobbieBloodyWilliams and I've since lost all respect for him, SD that is). Hell, I even had an interview with Bernard Butler straight after he left Suede... at a time when even Melody Maker couldn't get an interview with him.

It was in the days before email and the internet, and most things were done through the post or on the phone - being only 16 and living in a tiny village in Somerset, actually meeting anyone who lived further afield than Bristol was never very easy. And typing up bits of paper, photocopying them to size (as we didn't have a computer to fiddle about with it on), and Pritt Sticking them onto the page was great. Sending the pages off to the printers in Sheffield and waiting eagerly for them to return was the stuff that sleepless nights were made of. And even charging people 50p for the priviledge of reading said self-indulgent drivel was satisfying.

But where's the similar satisfaction in a blog (even the word makes me cringe)? (It's at this juncture that I should stress that my main reasons for starting this blog are 1) to give me an outlet to remember that I am capable of stringing a setence together even though my living is current earnt by re-writing other people's shoddy copy, and 2) because I have ideas above my station. Get me, etc.).

In the words of Councillor Duxbury, 'Think on'.