December 22, 2011
Mahathir Rawskins
thanks kabayan !
Konspira Zine
How are you bro? U from the Philippines? Cheers!
Mahathir Rawskins
fine , no i'm malaysian
Konspira Zine
oh, all right! hehe hows the scene there? hope all is well bro. cheers
Mahathir Rawskins
here is ok . well known many bands born in malaysia expectly in KL likes skunkfit, soul savior , subculture , Pulling T, Carbon 14 and a lot more. Zine also spreads in here (in temerloh) likes MOSH zine , slumber zine , Homesick #2 and i'm I do Lovegrass zine with my friend in my locally scene.
Mahathir Rawskins
Are you don't want to interview Lovegrass zine ? or you want me to write something about LG zine
Mahathir Rawskins
ok here up !
When did you launch your zine?What inspired you to do so?
The first issue was in January 2008. I'd been reading various zines for a couple of years before that. Some of my favorites were Girlymag, MOSH zine from Kuala Lumpur and many other personal zines too numerous to mention. This was back when almost every zine had the obligatory entreaty to "do your own zine if you like mine" somewhere in it. In the last couple of years I think zine editors have realized that encouraging everybody to do a zine wasn't such a great idea—there's been a flood of weak zines lately. Anyway, partly in response to the editors' entreaties and partly from the realization that "Hey, I could do better than this one," I finally decided to do one. At first I feared my writing wouldn't hold people's interest, so I got as many folks to participate as I could. That was a mistake.
Why publish a zine?
There are only a few valid reasons to publish the foremost being to be read. I want someone to look at my thoughts on paper. I'm not as concerned with whether they agree or not, just that they're read it. That helps me deal with losing a lot of money on the zine readers who take the time to hear what I have to say are doing me a favor, so any money lost is a payment for that service. Also, I envisioned it as a bit of a "sugar-coated pill." I obviously want to affect people's opinions about important socio-political issues, but I don't want to be overwhelmingly didactic about it, so hidden behind all the humor and satire there is not a definite political strain. Creating something that transcends capitalism is a revolutionary act. That's why I don't care too much for zines trying to get bigger and bigger. If they succeed, all they've achieved is creating another consumer good.
What can you tell us about the selection you provided for "The Book of Zines"?
All one should really know is that it is a true story. I have no patience for fiction.
What's your favorite part of doing a zine?
Probably sitting down with tape, gluestick, scissors and my big boxes of stolen clip art and putting the zine together. It takes a long time but I enjoy it. Reading the first finished, stapled, and folded zine is a big charge too. I also really dig thoughtful letters from readers and other zine editors.
Any general tips for aspiring zinesters?
Time for Father Zine to bore the kids with preaching.
(1) First off, don't do it for money. Embrace the fact that you will lose money or just barely break even. If you somehow (yeah, right) start to make a profit from it, you are doing something wrong. Lower the price, make it longer, whatever. Don't fall into the bullshit capitalist rationalization more do where you "put all the profits back into the zine" buying computers, scanners, quitting your day job.
(2) Don't try to get bigger and bigger constantly. You may get what you wish for .I've seen a lot of zines get crushed by the logistics of a giant circulation. It just isn't any fun for them anymore when it starts to resemble a job. Deliberately strive to keep your subscription list small. I consider mine like an extended family.
(3) Don't let technology squeeze the individuality out of your zine. No matter how cool and original you think that font is, it isn't; we've seen it two million times. If you're not putting pen to paper at some point, you're doing it wrong. Do your own drawings, write some headlines or even articles. I think forcing yourself to actually cut and paste with scissors and glue forces you to think m ore about the design; it makes your zine more crafted and original. If you zine looks like someone else's, you've missed the point in doing a zine. It should be as individual as you are.
In my other life, I'm an:
Workers (chemical), musician, and receptionist at a social work agency and im apart of religion human kinds.
p/s : if you well known please inform me. ok . tq
