My family in London got a bit bored of not sharing their advanced knowledge and culture with whom-ever is willing to listen, read and be enriched music-wise. So they put their heads together (by that I mean a collective combination of many together, but one in particular) and formed a ‘Zine’ which yours truly contributes to. Well when I say contribute I mostly get drunk, act a fool then from what my mind can regurgitate from my memory I proceed to write down and they are family so they encourage my creativity.
Fran and Farouk
The name of this zine is called ‘PUB.lication’ but to keep it simple ‘PUB‘. It basically covers music of the past, present and future.I decided to pick the brains of the two creators.
Name? Who are you?
Francesca – I’m 25 years old, my favourite colour is green, my favourite food is cheese and I want to be a zinester when I grow up.
Farouk – 92 in a week’s time and a sucker for anything visually stimulating.
What record (or records) is/are stuck in your head right now?
Francesca: I’ve had The Cure on Spotify for the last few hours so that’s quite stuck right now. But the one song I can guarantee will stick in my head at even the slightest mention of it is the Vengabus song. I’m damned for the rest of the day now…
Farouk – This constantly varies but for some reason Grace Jones and Jimi Hendrix are on rotation in my office. I sure wanna go to Electric Ladyland.
What is your favourite new music genre?
Francesca – Freak-folk, electro-soul and post-classical. Especially when you put a donk on it!
Farouk – I thought I had it stamped but I am on a constant quest for beats, rhymes and life.
Where were you 24 hours ago?
Francesca – Either having lunch with Farouk or looking at cassettes in a charity shop.
Farouk – Arguing with Francesca and getting pissed.
Who or what is tingling your loins at the moment?
Francesca – She-male porn. Too much info?
Farouk – PUB.lication graphics – staying focused meeeen!
Standard after-party bopping-home munch?
Francesca – Anything from a shop with the words ‘golden’, ‘chicken’, ‘fried’ and ‘express’ in its name.
Farouk – Judy’s Divine (24 hrs West Indian kitchen on Coldharbour Lane)
What’s in your pockets right now?
Francesca – I’m wandering around the house in leggings completely inappropriate for the outside world. They have no pockets, just holes in awkward places.
Farouk – Wow! Have more change than I thought, NICE!!
Who was the main character in your most frequent re-occurring nightmare?
Francesca – Death. But then I wake up and laugh in his face.
Farouk – I don’t dream
How do you like you eggs in the morning?
Francesca – I’m avoiding eggs; I used to love them all types of runny. Then I had food poisoning. I only learn things the hard way.
Farouk – Fried well! I told her so!
Superpowers: Fly or Invisibility?
Francesca – Teleportation. Flying and invisibility look like hard work.
Farouk – Fly
What have you thought about way too much this week?
Francesca – Moths. Don’t ask.
Farouk – Sex. That’s every week.
Name 3 people whose public execution you would gladly attend right now?
Francesca – Peace and love man! I don’t want to go to any executions.
Farouk – I’m with Fran.
Who are PUB.lication?
Francesca, the Editor in Chief and Farouk, the Art Director. How about that for aggrandized job titles? And we better mention Ray (Raymond Okoi-Obuli) because he’s getting the website sorted out for us and we need to keep him sweet.
PUB.lication is actually the first project under the PUB umbrella, we’re part of a larger creative collective.
Click in Image to Download 1st Issue
Okay enough play lets get down to the real shit, what is PUB.lication about?
Music. But we don’t discriminate – it can be any genre, from anywhere and anytime. The only rule is that it has to fit into the allocated theme for the month.
I like getting friends and family involved so that it becomes a bit of a discussion. For example, with our first and current issue, the theme is ‘The 1st Time’, so I asked lots of people what their first concert was, their first CD, and for all the 80’s babies, their first cassette etc… I even asked my Dad, who went all out telling me about his first 45’s and 78’s – I could only fit so many in but when the website is up and running everyone’s answers should be up there in full.
Why did you decide to go for an all music zine?
Because I could happily talk about music for hours and hours but also with limited space and pages, it’s better to stay focused.
Music journalism is an art form when it’s done well. Like Lester Bangs – he was a great fucking writer who used to have proper conversations with his readers, play with language and really use his imagination. I aspire to even just a small part of his genius.
The first issue came out a week and half ago and there will be a new one every month.
Where can you get hard copies and where can you be found on the Internet?
We only print 200 copies, which we mostly distribute around London in record stores, pubs and other places we think they might be appreciated. It’s all done on quality-recycled paper and we use these traditional printers in Farringdon who have a proper press. If there is any demand for it we might make some of these original copies available over the net.
Our own website is under construction but there are on-line versions at Myspace, Facebook, Issuu and an independent social network called We Make Zines. The first issue has only recently been launched and is up in many record stores in Soho and Rounder Records in Brighton town. Be sure to promise and pick on up.
Here is what you might find
