Join Our Club

Well, we are three quarters through the weekend already and what have we to show for it?

In my case a deficit of sleep, as I foolishly didn’t capitalise on my Saturday sleep'in (got woke by the kids at seven, never got back off to sleep, thanks in no part to the urge to pee  furiously), a greater appreciation of Duke Ellington and Count Basie and a huge amount of ambiguous feelings about Benny Goodman, thanks to a great documentary about Swing which was shown on BBC 3 ages ago, which I have only just caught up with tonight after half a bottle of wine, two gins and a rather large whiskey. Scunthorpe.

How about you? Answers on a postcard. The comments facility will cost less.

However, what you guys really want to know is what are the guidelines and rules for getting something in the Vol 2 of “I’m Afraid...” (I hope).  Well, they are fairly simple:

·         We have six A5/zine pages of space for guest material.

·         Two of them are going to go to a guest of our choosing. This is not because we are elitist and/or want to get stuff written by our mates. We just want publish stuff written by people we admire and like and if we continue to churn these zines out it will be a reoccurring thing. That is if they will write something for us. If they don’t, it could be quite embarrassing. I might have to do a Phil Spectator.

·         That leaves four A5/zine pages worth of space which you guys can send in stuff for. What we are looking for is content which is edgy, unsettling, maybe even funny or satirical. The main thing is that it has a similar tone to the stuff that was in Vol  1. For reference, get a copy of Vol 1 of “I’m Afraid...” Buy one or borrow. Preferably buy. Please.

·         We are looking for poetry, short stories, art and even articles/essays, whatever floats your boat and twists our melons.

·         Please keep any contributions short e.g. short stories of no more than 400-500 words.

·         The deadline for contributions will be the 5^th November, so there is plenty of time.

·         All guest contributions should be e-mailed to me at michael.t.hann@googlemail.com.

Now for inspiration.

I am currently writing my first novel (shameless plug alert) and have just drafted the first instalment/story (it’s a collection of five interconnected stories, set in the seedy underworld of the North East). All through the writing of this particular story I couldn’t stop playing Antony and Johnsons, particularly the break through second album, “I am a Bird Now”.

Its themes of romance, doomed loved, personal and sexual transformation have heavily informed this particular piece of work of mine. I hope what I write scrapes its coat tails.

Below is a link to the album in spotify. In my opinion, it is one of best of all time (there are a few niggles, I don't really like the guest led stuff).  If you haven’t listened to it give it a whirl. If you have, when did you last do so? Probably too long.

Antony & The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now

Also, strategically placed below is a link to the video for Antony’s latest EP. Apparently the album is out soon. Expectation hangs heavy in the air in the Hann household.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Xdm5yS6PY

As for the zine, it is very much a bud at the mo, waiting for invigoration.  

Next week we have a meeting to discuss the art and a few surprises. Keep an eye out and we’ll reveal all, on the QT.

In the Beginning...

Hi! Well, this is my first blog.. ever. I am vaguelly nervous, not sure why (wonder how many blogs start off with such pathetic vunerability, making such a cynical and obvious appeal to people's better natures), so I will just get down to business and brass tacks.

If you are reading this then you'll have read the facebook page for the zine (yay!) and if you have done that then you probably want to know more about our plans for the launch for Vol 2.

Well, what we are planning for the next couple of months is as follows, some of which you will already know:

• A performance event at the Python Gallery in Middlesbrough on Friday 10^th December, which will include spoken word and poetry, music and film.
•  Vol 2 of “I’m afraid...” which will be longer and evolve in terms of content and accompanying art. I will also not be flying solo for this zine and will be assisted in the writing duties by Tim Marshall and John Chadwick, both of whom have plays being produced by Writers Block North East and Northern Stage as part of their joint ‘LISTEN@LUNCH’ scheme.
• We will be providing some space within the zine for people to make contributions, which can be anything from poetry, short fiction or art. All we ask is that people keep it edgy, funny and dark (more details will follow).
• We will be putting together pieces of promo film, roughly one or two a month between now and the launch, which we will put on the zine face book page.
• Accompanying the existing facebook page there will be a blog, where we will share drafts of art, stories etc. for the zine and ask for feedback as we go through the process of writing and producing it. We will also share with people what music, films and stories are influencing our work, as we want to make the experience of creating Vol 2 as interactive and as inclusive as possible.
• We will be performing at a bunch of performance and open mic nights running up to the launch in order to promote Vol 1 and spread the word about Vol 2. Dates will be announced on the facebook page.

So, those are our plans. What do you think? Do you think we're mad, or are we playing too safe. Please send us a comment and let us know.

In the next couple of days I'll put some more info on the blog about contributions and what we are after, deadlines etc. as I suspect that is going to be one of the elements people are most interested in. I'll put a posting on the FB page first to let people know to come here for details.

All this exciting stuff has got my adrenaline going and I must admit that there is one particular song I can't get out of my head at the mo.

It's by a band called The Scientists, who I saw at All Tomorrow's Parties a few years ago (I think it was the year that the Yeah Yeah Yeah curated), and the song is called 'Lead Foot'. You can find it on spotify via the following link:

http://open.spotify.com/album/7BwajgFMGtpc9YQNoC6KMG

There is also a video of them performing the song live on youtube and man it is a fxxking stomper. If you like this then do check our their albums on spotify, particularly 'Blood Red River', which has got that bluesy, Suicide riffing vibe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMVhSXKUrBs

Again, drop us a comment, let us know what you think, maybe you've seen them live some time, maybe you're Australian, or know someone who is (in case you were wondering, that's where the band are from).

It's good to talk (again, wonder how many times that has been used in a blog)!