OTTO
The 86 List is among the bands playing at Zine Fest 2006 at Pipeline Café on Friday.
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Turn off the computer
Writers and bands meet at Zine Fest
Noe Bunnell isn't looking for a new audience for her zine Kytzyl these days. She no longer feels the need to share her creations with as many people as possible, and she could not care less about maintaining an edge in subversive zine writing. In Bunnell's world, the DIY attitude has turned into DIY-when-one-has-time.
Zine Fest 2006
Featuring zine writers and bands including Temporary Lovers, Gateway Drug, Upstanding Youth and the 86 List
Place: Pipeline Café, 805 Pohukaina St.
Time: 4 to 9:30 p.m. Friday; lectures at 4:15 p.m.
Tickets: $5
Call: 834-6886
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But does she still back the small local community of zine writers?
Without a doubt.
She will head to Zine Fest 2006, her 10th, to lend support as well as mingle with the bands and talk with other writers about their shared interest.
"When I was in high school, I was really into the music scene," explained Bunnell, a sixth-grade teacher. "I didn't play an instrument. There were a few zines I really liked, and I decided to make one. It was just (about) silly high school interests, band interviews, stupid things. It was just a personal journal."
Bunnell is no longer as involved in the zine scene. She's a little scornful of using a computer to mass-produce her efforts, so if she can put out an issue or two a year -- after putting in her hours at Pearl Ridge Elementary, among other distractions -- she considers herself to be doing well. But she keeps her contacts within the once-underground community of zine makers, and puts thoughts down on paper when she has time.
Like Bunnell, many continue to put out a journal in one form or another, and are willing to share their efforts with other writers or those new to the old world of zines.
Half a dozen zine writers and bands will come together for the 10th annual Zine Fest, including bands such as the rockers Temporary Lovers, hip-hoppers Gateway Drug, ska band Upstanding Youth and punkers 86 List. The celebration of music with an edge and writers with something to say is organized by Otto, the single-named promoter (and 86 List band member) who puts out concerts and events for $5 or less in true punk spirit.
For Bunnell, writing a zine is a chance to share what's on her mind, and it's as much about writing as it is about an art form -- a collection of words and art painstakingly and creatively assembled by an individual who has no intentions other than hoping the material will be read and understood by her peers.
About 200 people turned out for Zine Fest 2005.
"I was really pleased to see that people coming out of the woodwork," Otto said.
The day of the show serves as a deadline, Bunnell said. "You know when you're in school and you don't do anything until it's due? It's kind of the same thing."
While it may be harder to find catalogs of zines these days, Bunnell said: "I like to see interesting and new ones, and the people who stuck with it. Even if (the final results are) dumb, at least people are still doing something. The Internet did kill the zine scene. But at least people are getting away from their computers for a while."