Mitrych [Eh!, Vygrebnaya Yama]
In the sacred library of our college I discovered
an old Komsomol magazine with a translated article
by Donny The Punk: Punk Aestethics from A to Z
which contained detailed information about punk, fanzines, DIY.
After graduation, I have drenched myself in this literature
and learned about the Okorok magazine,
published long ago in Mogilev by Yuri Romanov,
who is considered to be a pioneer
among rock music fanzines in Belarus.
I thought it would be cool to make something like that ourselves.
Besides, in Belarus there were no fanzines as I imagined them -
related to punk hardcore scene.
There was nothing like that in Russia either.
The first issue was published in '94,
it was the end of September,
and on October 16, 1994 I was called up for military service,
so it was a sort of initiation.
Being an orderly room clerk in the army, I had plenty of free time,
the service didn't bother me that much.
That's why I could continue to publish my zine there.
It changed its name: issue #1 was called 'Eh!', like exclamation
and #2 was called 'Vygrebnaja Jama' [Waste Pit].
The first was a cry from the depths,
and the second had a particular concept.
I made all my friends to reveal their hidden works,
so we were raking out all the time.
Tragic circumstances caused death
of the Vygrebnoj Koshmar, the 5th issue. Actually all the prepared materials were lost.
I worked at the office and when I quit,
I failed to take the zine with me,
as well as many other zines I pumped during all long nights there.
While I was almost losing heart, a punk hardcore hydra lifted up its head.
Zines like Stas Poczobut’s Kenguru were appearing,
new zines emerged in Russia, we got acquainted with Polish literature.
I understood it would be reasonable to make something serious
so I started to collect materials for Lefthander.
Because of my slackitude
and maybe for some other reasons I didn't manage to make it all auteur,
but the zine was quite good anyway.
It was packed with translated materials concerning straight edge,
ecological and social problems.
From today perspective it could be considered derisive attempts.
if the 2nd issue had appeared, it would have been much more serious.
I was collecting materials for it but at the same time I had one more passion.
I was professionally involved into performances.
So it was scattering, being both there and in punk scene.
Up to a certain time it was easy.
But at the beginning of 2000s performances grabbed me completely.
And may be for this reason
the significance of this dilemma fell by the wayside.
Besides, a lot of zines were launched
as if every person in the scene was bound in honour to make a zine.
The number of zines went up and the quality went down.
It was impossible to find something new,
parasiting on the scene which was a small sacred cow of those times.
Zines were reprinting each other’s materials with a growing number of mistakes.
Then for certain reason this wave diminished.
Maybe because everybody was through with it.
Or maybe because nobody was satisfied
with the quality but only a few could contrive something new.
Zhenia [Rebro Zhestkosti]
We got into straight edge, soberity, hardcore...
As the first year students of technical universites
we had a course in structural resistance, mechanics.
And this term [upstand] somehow overlapped with the term 'straight edge'.
I think we were a quintessence of everything
that existed at that time but quite capsulazed.
There were no guidances on what to do and how to act.
We just appeared in the right time at the right place,
and it gave some directions to people.
It turned out that with lots of people we were on the same way.
It is not like you made a magazine, gave it to a shop, it is sold out and that's it
For me a big matter was personal feedback,
when you go to a post office to get a letter from Komsomolsk-on-Amur,
some crazy places, or read some cool magazine
and then its editor suddenly writes to you
and you start to carry on a correspondence with him.
It was a good way of communication in the pre-social network times.
You could wait for a month for a letter from Khabarovsk
to reply on some provocative issue.
Such battles could last for half a year.
There are many internet fanzines published in a wonderful PDF format
that you can download and print.
Printed production is difficult to replace because you can touch it.
If it is done well, you'd like to keep it on your shelf and reread.
Here there are some.
For example, Woofah zine form London is about reggae music, grime and dubstep.
It is published by some cool bloggers and interesting people from London.
Specially, Stewart Home who wrote scandalalous books like Blow Job
and Red London took part in one of the issues.
I got enough of standart zines when an editor and distributor.
A magazine kind of 'interview, colomns,
xero and some shit' doesn't interest me anymore.
After Rebro Zhestkosti, when internet came to Belarus
all of us participated in different internet projects and publications, sometimes quite popular.
The project I was involved in is 375crew.org.
It was not just a fanzine but rather a platform for communication, news and art.
It worked out pretty well for its time.
Konik [Don’t Panic]
People wrote me from ends of the earth.
It was a big surpise.
I really had a feeling of something going to happen, though as time showed...
At that time in Minsk a lot of people were making zines –
Mitrich, Dragga, Danik, Nikita, me...
There was an idea not to make zines separately but to unite
and make something like a Belarusian Maximum Rock'n'Roll, a big and serious magazine.
But it didn't move beyond talks.
I said right away it would end up by someone becoming the boss,
demanding and coordinating everybody – only then we would have some result.
To make appointments, like you go here, you go there and you go to the printing-office,
to oblidge people with something – it just clashes with DIY principles.
I had a colleague at work, we called him an artist
but he was an industrial designer at the enterprise.
So I asked him to print some copies of Don't Panic, using his acquaintanceship.
And he went to the girls at the account department.
I was sitting in his office when a girl came in, plopped a package of zines on his desk
and and said: «I thought better of you, Vova».
Sometimes you can see operators with goggled eyes in the copy-centers.
But then gradually you stick to one center because the prices are okay,
and everybody go there – Mysh, Green, Sanych.
That's why we are conceived normally there.
If you need more copies, you just go and make them.
The total number exceeds hunderds, of course.
If I made it regulary, I could become some kind of the MaximumRocknRoll.
Because if you make something on a regular basis,
people get used to it and keep an eye on updates, as a result a big circulation is sold out.
And if you publish one issue once in years, people forget about you
and then max 50 copies are distributed.
The orders come from the Ukranians and Russians, but none from Belarusians, at all.
By the way, today I got a new letter, it seems that a new person appeared,
he never wrote to me before.
You see, and I am railing against Belarusians... you see, this is the whole letter...
like this... you see... but it's already good.
Some years ago three persons from Pruzhany appeared, they ordered something from my distro.
But what's interesting is that they ordered the same items, living in the same house!
Then they became mature, had read enough and strated to make their own zines,
every person had his own.
And in the 2nd issue they already made interviews with each other as with zinemakers.
After that issue only one guy published a newsletter, and that's it.
Yahor [Zayabok]
All people around were busy with something, so I wanted to make something as well.
But as I can neither sing nor play, I decided I could make a zine.
And it turned out that cutting, pasting and interviewing people
is something I could do quite well.
There is a band in the USA called the Millions of Dead Cops.
We wrote a letter to its member Dave Dictor
who is very popular in the States due to his views and speeches.
The English translation was made by Olga Martynenko, a girl from Uruchje.
It is importnat to mention this fact
because nothing would happen without help of many people.
Not really counting on anything, we sent a letter
and a month later we were impressed to get a reply with full answers.
I have a friend Maxim who drew really exciting comixes.
The idea of the black and white cover of the zine was that you could colour it yourself
and have a unique magazine.
As many zines at those times, we were supporting anticopyright ideas.
Any usage, either for your head or for another publication was highly welcomed.
I think internet is in more priority nowadays
because all these music publications are mostly aimed at youngsters.
If you consider the situation with distribution it will be mostly at concerts
the attendants of which are mainly under 25.
And all of them have internet sites or something like that.
Maybe one day with the help of my friends I will do something else.
Never stop, never say this issue is the last one.
Maybe the next one will appear, why not?
Stas, Sasha [zines from Harodnia]
Now there are various shops here
But before it used to be a small distribution where you coud bring your magazines,
cassetes of some bands.
My first zine was called Dura,
we were making it with my friend Sasha Medvedev, it was around '93-94.
Its emergence was influenced by the Soviet rock samizdat of 80s,
like Kontrkultura, the Ulrait magazine.
Besides, some Polish anarchist zines that were available, like Mac Porzadka...
It was decided that along with common culture there is subculture.
That common culture tries to obtrude on some values that in fact are not ours.
To promote our view, our own values
we must have our own publication.
That's how Dura appeared.
After that, the Buntujma newspaper was published at university.
Then we made the only issue of the Pravakatar zine.
It had around 200 copies,
180 of which were confiscated by the police at the concert in the garage.
Some of us were throwing copies on the roof, some where hiding them in the cellar.
As I say, only 20 copies remained out of 200, the whole concert was arrested.
That's popularity!
The magazine was called Brrrr,
the name arised in my head by exidence and stayed there somehow.
It had no deep meaning, it was rather a reflection of my indignation at that time,
maybe because of my age everything was Brrrr!
All in all 4 issues were published, I feel a bit ashamed of some moments,
but in general I think I had a good time, met a lot of people, learnt a lot...
In Grodno there was the Rabochij Gudok zine, without any deep meaning either,
a zine of A4 format with pictures, pure art or rather anti-art.
There was the Kenguru zine, already mentioned by Stas...
And Boria used to make a zine. Yeah, Dezertir was made by Boria.
Recently I was thinking about making a zine, and if what is said is true,
Stas is also going to make a zine,
though not sure whether he will tell you about it.
I had an idea to make an art zine, to draw something,
to make interviews with people who make something...
not necessary on a straight political position.
Not as it used to be before, when a zine without politics was not a zine.
For me it is more pleasurable now to make something visual,
what you'd like to take in hands, to watch.
It doesn't have to be a super-cool printing quiality
but just something nice to your eyes,
because all information you can get from internet.
As for me, the only and the main thing a zine can do now is, like in the past, self-experssion.
Jack, take your place...
It is self-expression and from what we started – every article should be creativity,
every article should have an artistic approach.
This is what can be different from internet because internet is more about news.
Due to self-publishing, people started to exchange letters more actively.
You could receive a zine from other city by post only, there were no other means.
And as the postage-stamps to Russia cost money, the zinesters invented a cool thing.
A guy from the Play Hookey zine introduced it to me:
you should invisibly put a thin tape on a stamp.
And when you receive this envelope you take the stamp off,
put a letter in and send back.
And then a person can send you an answer, not being limited with money –
he washes the stamp off and sends you back.
Some also greased with glue or wax –
everything just to avoid a postmark on it.
Mitrich had a postage stamp that travelled so much...
it came to me hunderds of times.
It could be hardly distingueshed, it turned yellow because of the time spent on the road.
Mitrich used to send me letters in self-made envelopes from the army,
on one of them he even put his own photo.
You know, like this decoration on envelopes,
and there was Mitrich in the military uniform.
Is it true you sent joints to Mitrich to the army?
Not joints but shell-case, it is a bit different...
Ah, whatever.
Ludok [New World]
I also got into it.
As a first step I was following the most stereotypical sets of that time,
I just wanted to make a zine too,
just to have my own zine because everyone was making them.
I think there was nothing original about it but eventually,
after some issues had been published, it became more personal.
They say about the so-called 'zine boom' in Belarus from 2000 to 2004.
Perhaps it makes sense because during these 3-4 years
so many zines were published here as never before.
In reality zines were published everywhere at those times.
was up to the hilt into it, knowing absolutely all the people
who were publishing something,
the network of correspondence was very vast.
I was acquainted with people not even from small towns
but from villages where as I thought max 10 people lived,
out of whom there was one who published his own zine.
Postal communication was so enourmous that I received letters almost every day.
People from all over the world wrote to me,
despite the fact that I didn't know and still don't know any foreign language.
I think the majority of the Belarusian zines
have always been connected with punk hardcore subculture
and politisized in the degree so that not to get beyond the framework of subculture.
And when discussing Belarusian zines, at least at the times of the so-called boom,
you could always hear something like 'oh, here is a classical Belarusian zine
interviews with crust bands and several fiery articles with calls for destroying McDonald’s
or something like that'.
And now I think there are fewer zines
but they are more thought-out.
There are pure political zines, there are punk zines,
but done in a more interesting way than before.
But there are so few of them now that I'd rather not say about some tendencies
or a new wave of Belarusian zines in a particular style.
As I was interested in zines, exchanging and buying them,
had a bunch of zines I would constantly give to other guys to read
to make them inspired and get involved.
Then I decided to establish a small library,
so that people would know there is a library
where you can borrow something to read,
not just some zines at someone's home.
Some time later I got an offer to combine it with the so-called Minsk Anarchist Library
which was about to cease to exist.
After that assosiation it has grown almost twice.
Now it is situated in Minsk, everything is okay with it so far.
Dzheti i Zhybul [Wiaskowyja mohilki]
So, here are some leftovers from creativity... no, not only...
there are the whole issues.
Here are not only sweets but bottle labels as well.
Koscia, calm down! Kastus!
There is even Kryzhachok [local cheap vine].
We will also show an edemic cretin from the book published in '34...
And here is an exophthalmic goitre, kind of the editorial board.
And this is a real paper we found in the street:
«Today I woke up in hang-over, it is a result of what was yesterday.
I will not drink with a friend anymore, I'd rather pour kefir into my mouth».
It is from the times when I was studying at the Philologic Faculty,
we were making it together with my coursemates, who were mainly published there.
I hadn't met Vicia yet.
My coursemates claimed the copyright on the name «Selskoje kladbische» [Village cemetry]
belonged to them,
and no matter how I argued that
this copyright belonged not even to Zhukovsky but to some Gray,
whom Zhukovsky had translated and from whom we had stolen this name.
All in all they did not listen to me
so we decided to translate it one more time, as Zhukovsky did to Gray.
What is Halubaka?
Have no idea, Kastus.
You are finding out a new zine...
It looks like here we got interested in body parts, noses...
He has poems and drawings.
We were thinking of a children issue, even prepared some materials.
He also composed music for the Strekaza movie.
He is a person of many gifts.
We could show that internet has quite limited opportunities.
It can't transmit what you can touch, rub and brush.
By internet you can't also transmit smells.
And we impregnated it with a special essence,
you could use for example.. autumn beer....
yes, you can use beer, thank you Koscia for prompting.
Once we were performing with our editorial crew at a school.
A strict teacher had an eye on us so that we would not say something wrong.
When we gave out one of our issues to students, it got to the teacher as well.
She took me aside and said she saw a pseudonime of one of the authours
Uznik [Prisoner].
'He was imprisoned for something, and you publish him!'
A maniac-pedophile is wondering around school, inviting everyone to visit a sport club...
Dzima, Sasha [FxF]
And this is a local aboriginal....
Let's ask him in the interview what he thinks about lyceum...
Yeah, and what does he know about FxF at all?
FxF is a short name for our magazine and it stands for Football X Flies.
Dima told me I could write about anything I want.
And even about football?
And even about football. Okay, let's do it.
At home I got some ideas in my head
that were logically based on the amazing publication called Navinki.
Everything was in an ironical key:
we qiuped about football and everything happening in our sport.
Dima laughted at it and said it was great and exclusive.
We used to send notes to each other,
I sent him some article
and then he sent it back with his corrections and comments.
Our classmate helped us as well... Yeah, there was a third authour, Lesha Stepanel.
He was obsessed with foodtball,
and when I wrote about music,
in his exemplar (as he was kinda participant) he crossed out the music
he hated everything not connected to football.
And there we used to go to the Belsauzdruk kiosk
to derive some inspiration from the PressBall newspaper.
All the ridic news, all the stastics were from there,
like when Belarus lost with a score 32:00 in some field hockey or tennis.
And now a moment of saddness.
Why did everything fall to pieces?
Let us tell you why everything went into such a state.
When you do something, you want something back,
because in any activity you put your energy, forces.
Everything was cool when we were making the first three issues.
We got many letters, people wrote to us
what was good and what was not, offered to be friends, there was a good action.
And then you make an issue and nobody writes to you, no letters at all!
For me this was the main reason to stop making a zine, because you have no feedback.
So why to continue?
In internet you can also post your reviews, columnes and thoughs.
It's not necessary to use paper for that.
And I personally think that if you make something good for yourself,
it's not so bad anyway as there is internal growth.
Because really, there is no feedback,
the reality hasn't changed because of the fact you sang a song,
made a zine or other cultural activity – nothing has happened.
We should move on with DIY, we should build houses... well, in quates.
Big efforts are to be accomplished, big projects are to be implemented.
It's good to make 2-page zines but it's necessary to go further.
You are asking me this and I can say...
Nothing.
Yes, nothing. Several years ago I somehow lost interest in zines, both in making and reading.
Because all of them are so boring, they write about the same.
You read a review and don't understand anything,
so many fancy words like refrains, singalongs, chuga-chuga guitar.
And you think: okay, I'll never hear this band nor will understand it...
it has become such a sectarianism I am far removed from.
Now I'd rather read a book.
What would you like, young people?
Vegetarian sandwiches, please.
Everything is with meat only.
That's how he shoot me down - what a life!
And what do you want? Meat is a source of force and energy.
Makhno [No Lie, I Love Zombie]
They call me Makhno. I started to make zines long time ago.
First, there was a punk/hardcore zine No Lie.
I used to live in another city, Brest.
There were no zines there and I decided to change the situation.
Now many things in it seem naive to me,
but there were good interviews with interesting bands from Europe and the USA.
The articles about my city were naive, like 'there are no bands and no zines in our city'.
Just like everywhere else, I think.
The drawings were graphic and primitive.
They were connected to satan, hell, apocalypsis.
There is a struggle between individuals in the society,
I wanted to show the ugliness of society, wars and so on.
This zine was influenced by horror movies,
thrashy scare pics and by other arists connected to apocolyptic art.
For example, Zdzislaw Peksinksi, a polish artist. He was murdered, by the way.
Here are his drawings, graphics. You could notice some influence.
(talking about #2) Here it is kind of collages, this is drawing in pastel,
these are stories by some guy, very crazy ones.
To be honest, the second cut-n-paste issue I made I even threw away
because no one was interested in it.
One 77-style punk from Vitebsk made a zine that looked like I Love Zombie,
with the same primitive style of drawing.
He wrote that my zine had influenced on him. So there was some resonance.
Well, Mysh has recently published the 6th issue of his zine after a long break.
And this Japanese zine is a gift.
Totally crazy, hieroglyphs only – impossible to understand, just to look at pictures.
And this is a zine by Sanych,
and here is himself in person, drinking champaigne on the cover.
Now you often face with the fact zines are not interesting to many people.
Probably, internet swallowed up everything.
Sanych [Defect In Industry]
By post. There was a zine, not even a zine but a magazine, Kuliok.
Have you heard about it?
It had an advertisement from Konik about some paper zine.
I didn't even now what a zine was,
I just read it was dedicated to punk/hardcore, so I decided to order.
I sent him 1,000 rubles, and got my order only 2 monthes later
because he was on holiday for a month.
Meanwhile I sent him two more letters: 'I send you 1,000 but you keep silence'.
He was very sorry and sent me as a bonus lots of flyers
and the Avtonom magazine.
The package was really thick. I opened it and appeared in a new world.
And in a week I got an idea to make a zine...
We made the first issue of the Defect in Industry together with Dima Sukhoy.
After we finished I was drawn to the color.
I even made one interview there, with the Acetilen guitarist who served together with me.
He was fighting against fagins who discriminated him.
He would just come up to them at night and bet them up with a cudgel.
These are the scissors of my Granny Sonya.
She had probably left them as a heritage for me to make zines, to continue the tradition.
She was cutting, sewing and knitting socks for me,
and now I cut and paste zines with them.
When you see a finished layout you have a great feeling of something done, not lost.
The first issues are often pretty grotty because they are made from the first impressions,
a person has not realized his/her style yet.
In Belarus and Russia most zines had only 2 issues, then many gave up.
But those who have survived, started to make good zines.
Now I am dragged out. I want to make but, shit, no fire in the ass.
Ruslan [Rebel Desire]
My life was spoilt by zines that existed at the beginning of 2000s, there were lots of them.
Navinki newspaper had a tip-on «Chornyja Navinki» [Black Navinki]
with a list of all more or less remarkable zines in Belarus.
I came to a concert, saw those zines with my own eyes and that's it.
Some of them more, some of them less but they all had influence on me.
If you read Rebel Desire, you'd notice it has its main concept.
Its own view on punk-rock, on politics, on politics in punk-rock.
I've always had an idea to write in a magazine.
I don't remember how it came up to me but the fact is that it came true.
I assure you there will be the 3rd , the 4th and the 5th issue.
There are no particular plans yet but I know they will be very different.
When analyzing my thoughts today
and comparing them with what was in the 1st and 2nd issues,
I'd say it will be a bit another zine, another view, another writings.
Zines are changing like the people who make them.
People who were young at those days and who make something now – they are different.
Because they have grown up, they write in a different manner.
You can't compare Rebel Desire with Don't Panic or Zayabok of those days.
For example, in the Rebel Desire collective there are some people
who made zines at the beginning of the first Belarusian zine wave.
Well, not the first but from the beginning of 2000s.
I don't like when there is a collective of very different authors who are on different waves,
with their own interests and sometimes even contrary opnions.
They are published as one zine but it's a mixed bag of goodies.
I like when a zine has its own wave.
In other words, if it is a punk zine then the authors should be punks, not just random people.
There was a band, Contra la Contra.
When they wanted to make album covers,
all printing offices in Grodno were afraid and refused to print them.
And when now, 8 years later I come to the official printing offices to make a big colour circulation
and show them a magazine they are also afraid and refuse me.
I pay $1,000 and I want a magazine.
A director calls me and says it's too dangerous, don't come to us anymore.
I say look, it's not dangerous, explain him everything.
He looks through the magazine and says:
you give $500 more and tomorrow morning take it by car.
What I say is that the situation with printing radical left literature in Belarus
hasn't changed for the last 7 years.
Lena, Sasha [Tryznas*Kefiras]
This is perhaps the most precious in the zine-making,
when all materials are ready and the proccess of cutting out starts,
constantly losing part of texts, drawing something..
I'd say the most crititics we got after the 4th issue
which was maximum extranged from the classical DIY punk topics,
many articles were dedicated to critical cartography and so on.
I think this issue was, mildly speaking, not accepted and perceived
even by those who know us and have read the previous issues.
But what caught me most of all is a word 'hippy'.
Because I don't positionate myself like that,
It's really annoying when somebody tries to call me like that because I am not a hippy!
And maybe partly because of that
the content of the 5th issue got a bit more severe,
so that nobody would label us as hippies.
And also we are often said to be a feminist zine or a grrlz zine...Because we are girls.
Well, of course there are some feminist issues there..
It doesn't mean we say we are not feminists.. We are feminists...
But our zine is not a feminist one.
Well, in Belarus it's not such a big issue because not so many zines left.
But as I heard in Poland the zine scene is devided into a grrls' and guys'.
People think that if a zine is made by girls there will be articles on 'girls topics'
which are not interesting for normal hardcore guys.
We also received critics because of languge.
Yes, this is also an important point as the zine is bilingual, in Russian and Belarusian.
Skandal from My Riot Inward zine wrote in his review:
the zine is as always cool, though I wasn't able to read half of it.
If zines from Ukraine are in Ukranian, I have no problems in reading it.
As well as in Polish, I also try to read in Czeck.
Yes, if you want, you can understand all these Slavic languages, I think.
After all, it's not Lithuanian...
The Belarusian zine scene was the most active from 2000 to 2003.
At that time internet access was very limited,
and when some years ago I read all the 'legendary Belarusian zines',
was really shocked by its primitivity.
Now it doesn't make sense to write on such level
because this kind of information is easy to find.
Only if a person is really excited about these things at the moment
and s/he wants to share it...
When people say they can't say anything interesting by means of zines,
I wander which means are more appropriate for you then?
If you all gone to internet,
what are you doing except for the messages on the wall in Vkontakte (like a Facebook).
I am not even talking about internet zines because I prefer paper ones,
but with the help of internet a lot of projects could be implemented,
based on open source, ideas of non-hierarchical society, collectivity...
A lot of things could be done in internet
but the fact is almost nobody does anything,
neither on paper nor in internet.