Obviously we know there are more great zines out there other than Lights Go Out, one of these is A Short Fanzine About Rocking. Now 27 issues young we caught up with the man behind this 80m page monster of a zine, Nick and had a quick chat with him, here’s how it went down…
Hi Nick, So I know what you do and stuff, but can you give our readers a brief intro on yourself please….
Hey dude, thanks for asking me to do this, I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been interviewed, I’m used to being the one asking the questions! I’m Nick, I’m old and I write A Short Fanzine About Rocking and have done since 2001.
ASFAR seems to be going from strength to strength all the time with Issue 27 recently come out, when can we expect the next issue?
Who knows?! I always set a date and then it always slips by a month or so. But I’m hoping to put issue 28 out at some point in September, not sure exactly when though!
Back in the early issues, did you still have it printed like it is now? Or were early issues photocopied?
The first two issues were straight-up cut’n’paste affairs, which were then photocopied in UMIST Student’s Union up in Manchester. I then graduated to putting the whole thing together on Publisher, but still using a photocopier, before moving it on to a print shop in the same student’s union a few years later. For the last three years it’s been printed by the awesome guys at Footprint’s in Leeds.
When did the first issue come out and what was in it?
The first issue came out in July 2001, at the same time as I finished uni (wow, I do feel old now), and featured interviews with Hell Is For Heroes (good), Vacant Stare (metal) and The Junket (no, me neither), plus some random ramblings and me going on about how much I loved The Movielife.
Do you still have a copy of every issue you’ve put out?
I sure do, in a folder that’s pretty much full to bursting point.
What made you decide to start ASFAR in the first place and what zines inspired you?
In 2001 I still harboured dreams of becoming a real-life music journalist, having not realised that I was never going to be ‘cool’ enough to write for NME etc. and as such I thought writing a zine would be a good way to combine my love of writing (I did a Politics and History degree so writing was pretty much all I did in uni) with my love of music. I don’t really think I was inspired or influenced by any zines to be honest, I had bought a few from Piccadilly Records in Manchester, but a lot of my zine knowledge was based around football rather than music zines, cause those were the first ones I read.
Where did the name come from and has every issue been called ASFAR?
The zine name was supposed to be a cunning play on the title of the 1988 film ‘A Short Film About Killing’. According to IMDB it’s ‘one of the best film of the last 20 years’. I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s pretty cool, and it seemed like a clever idea to base the zine name on it. I’m not sure it was a clever idea to be honest, but its stuck, and every issue has been called ASFAR.
What has been your proudest moment from ASFAR?
Every time I finish an issue I feel pretty damn proud, especially now I have so much else going on in my life – day-job/impending wedding/freelance stuff/social life etc. – which makes pulling it together something of a struggle. The fact that the last issue – number 26 – sold out also made me feel really proud, though now I feel under pressure to make sure the current issue does just as well!
How about that one interview that you are most chuffed with?
I’ve literally done so many it’s hard to pick one out, but I was totally star-struck both times I interviewed Deftones – even though it was over the phone rather than face-to-face, talking to a band who I’ve liked pretty much forever was just a little bit awe-inspiring. Interviewing Pat from Have Heart (twice) and Dan Yemin (Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, Paint It Black) are probably the most ‘interesting’ chats I’ve had, simply cause they have so much to say but are totally unassuming guys.
Do you tend to do many interviews via e-mail at all?
I do a few that way, probably a third of the interviews in each issue are conducted via e-mail. It’s a lot more straight-forward and quicker to do than face-to-face or phone interviews, cause you don’t have to type up the conversation, but I do like the fact that doing them face-to-face or over the phone allows you to expand on points the interviewee makes and delve a bit deeper.
We do a fair bit via e-mail and one of our biggest let downs is when bands want the questions and then never send them back. What are your lowest moments with the zine?
I’ve not really had that problem much – maybe cause I constantly hassle bands so much they send answers back just to get rid of me!! Lowest moments are just the fact that it really is stressful worrying whether I’m going to make the money back to cover costs, cause I can barely afford to live in this stupidly expensive city anyway. Luckily I’ve got some regular advertisers whose involvement helps to make it a bit more affordable, and have helped to persuade me that doing a print zine is still viable, even with kids seemingly not knowing what one is and with me having pretty much next to no time to write it.
Is there any one band you’d love to be able to interview in the pages of ASFAR?
I’ve been lucky enough to interview pretty much every band I really love at one point or another over the years, but I’d definitely like the chance to interview Deftones face-to-face at some point – even if it’d probably make me go all weak at the knees – and it’s been too long since I chatted to NYHC legends Sick Of It All and Madball. They’re meant to be touring over here together in October, so maybe I’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone on that one!
I’m guessing ASFAR Manor is a bit like LGO Towers, piles of CD’s everywhere waiting for review, when is best time for you to make time to review stuff?
I do have an ever-growing pile of stuff to review, though I’ve managed to tuck it away in the corner cause our flat is so small we’d be falling over it if I didn’t! I never have enough time to review everything, but luckily there are always enthusiastic people who are up for taking a few off my hands and giving them a write-up and if it wasn’t for my ever-growing team of contributors I really would be screwed – thanks guys!
I know you recently got engaged, congratulations, is your fiancée super supportive of your zine work? Now we expect you to be 100% honest with us!
Thanks, I finally feel like a real-life adult! She is definitely supportive, though she also doesn’t want me to be losing loads of money on each issue. Luckily it’s doing OK right now, so the pressure’s off somewhat! But yeah, she puts up with a lot of stressing on my part about when I’m going to write it and how many copies I’m going to sell, as well as having had to listen to some pretty god-awful CDs when I’m reviewing them in the front room, so Jen rules!
You deal mostly in hardcore bands, so which bands are really doing it for you right now?
That’s true, my music tastes seem to be getting less, not more, diverse, as I get older! I’m all about UK bands at the moment, cause there really is some awesome stuff out there at the moment. To name but a few – Never Again, Breaking Point, Basement, Brutality Will Prevail, Crossbreaker, Wiretap, Ark of the Covenant, Ironclad, No Reality, Hang The Bastard, Bays – all amazing, and all British. It almost makes me come over all patriotic. I’m also really enjoying the new The Ghost Inside record, and the latest Blacklisted CD is awesome.
Do you feel there is a strong scene right now within hardcore?
Yeah, the UK scene seems really strong at the moment – as I alluded to above – even if there are moans about turn-outs and kids occasionally acting like dicks at shows. But those are pretty much constant issues that I don’t think are going to go away, so, compared to say two or three years ago, I’d say the scene’s really good.
I know you’ve also put some shows on in Kingston, how have you been enjoying being a promoter?
Well I’ve actually done shows on and off since 2003, when I put on gigs up in Manchester, then I did a dozen or so gigs in Kingston in 2008-09 with my buddy Steve, as Mosh Or Die.
Then he moved away but I’ve only done one show on my own since then, which was in May this year. It was fun to do, but, as always, I lost a bit of money. It’s a toughie, cause Kingston doesn’t really seem to have much of a hardcore scene, but the venue (The Fighting Cocks) is such a good one, and the people who do turn out are so enthusiastic that I do want to persist. I just don’t really have the time or money to do it much! Still I will try to do another show later this year, so watch this space…
I saw you at the London Zine Symposium earlier this year, did you have a good time there and were there any new zines you picked up worth checking out?
It was a bit of a flying visit to be honest, cause I was on my way off to watch Dirty Money’s last show at the Underworld. I did pick up the Gadgie book, and a zine produced by Luke from the band Never Again, both well worth checking out, but I was a bit lame and should’ve bought a lot more – sorry!
Which zines around right now would be on top of your reading pile?
Lights Go Out, of course! Haha, but seriously, I really do enjoy reading your zine, and also the Norwich triumvirate – Mild Peril, Kill Your Own and What Would Henry Rollins Do? – which are all ace. I still occasionally pick up Maximum Rock’n’Roll, but I don’t think I actually enjoy reading it anymore…
Have you played in a band at all?
Nope, I have no musical ability whatsoever, writing about bands is as close as I can get to being in one!
The internet seems to have a huge part to play these days, I know ASFAR has a few online homes, where can people check the zine out?
Well the Myspace address, which has a full list of stockists etc and what’s in each issue is www.myspace.com/ashortfanzineaboutrocking. You can get the new issue – and back issues – directly off me for just £1.50 a copy by going to http://ashortfanzineaboutrocking.bigcartel.com
Also, do you sell online lots or go for the old school way of pestering people at gigs?
The Big Cartel has helped me increase the amount I sell online, and I also sell quite a few through the handful of real-life shops and distros that stock it. I’m pretty shy in terms of hassling people at gigs, though I will try to flog it to anyone I vaguely know if I see them at a gig, especially if I’ve had a beer or two to give me a touch of Dutch courage!
How about trading zines? Is this something you’re involved in?
I love trading zines, so if you have a zine and want to trade, please get in touch!
What words of advice would you offer to people reading this who are thinking about starting up a zine?
Do it! Print zines are awesome, and people do still read them! Just don’t expect to make any money….and do expect to get a bit stressed about the whole thing. Still, finishing an issue and getting the finished copies printed gives you a real positive buzz, so it’s great fun.
And finally, you’re a Shrewsbury Town fan, how do you reckon your boys will do in the coming season and any players we should be keeping an eye on?
I am indeed a Shrewsbury Town fan, home and away for 18 years now, and I’m feeling strangely positive about the new season, with the return of ‘Shrewsbury legend’ Graham Turner as manager. I’d be happy if we scraped into the play-offs last day of the season, even though having seen us lose at Wembley two out of the last three seasons, I should be a bit more cautious about taking the play-off route. I’m just really excited about the footie season full stop, and can’t wait to begin trekking to some of the UK’s finest dumps to watch us lose away (I’m looking at you, Barnet, Gillingham and Macclesfield). Decent players are few and far between, but our young striker Tom Bradshaw definitely has something about him, and our Dutch winger Benjamin van den Broek looked good last year. We shall see…
Thanks to Nick for chatting with us.
July 2010.
Now go check out a copy of ASFAR!
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