Mid March 2024 TheZineUK is ten years old. Since Mid March 2023 we have pondered… “2018, Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years Time?”… So how was it for you to the end of December 2023, and what’s next for you?

Wait. WHAT THE… A DIY, multi-media creative documentary of alternative rock on the grassroots circuit - lived as lifestyle. On Line. On Land. On a roll…

Contributors, Cast, Cats & Crew: Many Stars!
Editor: Dizzy Spell, Events/Diary: Caffy St Luce.

2014-2017 Season 1:

Starting Something. Our 2021 cast and crew have come a long way. Diary Picture Slideshow 1: “The Road To The Music People Party” on YouTube.

Thumbnail from the above, is below:

(November 2017 at This Feeling, Taylor Hetherston with writer, promoter, witch, Astrologer; Monefa Walker (who became a released classical music recording artist in 2020 on Anita Maj’s Lil Minx Records) and photographer/visual artist and friend; Sandy K. Moz.

In the background, Cornish rock n roll band, The Velvet Hands (who headlined our social the year before, post school) are meeting with TF Zone leader, Mikey Jonns),

This once excellent grassroots venue, Camden Monarch, (where our #MusicPeopleParty was held Decembers 2018+2019) is no longer blessed with gigs. The Velvet Hands opened the first Music People Party at The Hawley Arms in Camden when Katie Owen DJ’d and Music Women (Heather Minx, Rachel Brown and our own Dizzy Spell) hosted. The band started 2018 at This Feeling’s “Big In” show where Katie Owen conducted her first filmed (by Electric Owls) interview, with them, for TheZineUK.

2018 onwards - Season 2: Zeenagers.

Rise of the #NewerWave - the rock / electro / pop / art punk musicians and interdependent allies invest passion in DIY plants. Uniqulture goes beyond backgrounds and seeds a consistently proven #FertileEnvironment

All despite the hisstablishment’s hostile environment of Brexshit-deranged corruption. We live through moments.

Escapisms from “Plague Island” / “Normal Island”, we love to see the Britain/Ireland (world map dots) talent pipeline bloom.

The friends in our pages, on and off stages, have weathered and created storms with profiles and hits still rising. We embrace the artists stories as their threads weave a tapestry and simultaneously new favourites new faves are found and/or recommended. It’s a situationist tale.

Season 2 inspires something different for Season 3 (mid March 2024 onwards).

As ever, it’s an inclusive invitation to add positivity. Earthlings need to know that the good WILL out!

On hands research began at the British Music Embassy (SXSW, Austin, Texas), Mid March 2023 - nine years after TheZineUK was first uploaded.

Further Reading

From teens to legendary pensioners, zeenagers are Generation Tremorist (i.e., all ages exchanging new ideas and knowledge with experience and “was there” anecdotes). We stage events, create, perform, blog, dream and socialise or shyly observe. 

“Something Must Grow” (Patrick Jones)

Kinetic Kismetic stories of exciting talent and innovation under radar. Austerity skint, gentrification and #CostOfGreedCrisis inflicted. If you want to pay somebody who loves what they do well, we can hopefully recommend a creative, a performer, a consultant. So much talent, fresh ideas and experience are ways of life, here.

What #TheZineUK lacks in £ we make up for in hope and adventures. Thank you so much all that support with mentions, guest list, feedback, hugs, access, cases of booze and long putting-the-world-to-rights conversations. We truly appreciate it. Even the smallest acknowledgement of what grassroots endeavours are capable of.

Nowadays it’s more a case of sharing news than introductory articles and interviews. We’re skeleton staff and guest contributors since lockdown but there are so many milestones and moments happening for artists who have come into this tale, early doors, that we’re celebrating not being able to keep up!!!

None of that payola fake passion bolloocks though. Some of the events that we relentlessly plug, we can’t actually afford to attend. That’s not the point. It’s the cyberspace age where we can see clips and pictures and share the next chapters of this tale.

The talent that inspires our (working class females of tory-hated heritage - yay!) is growing in reputation and achievements. We might be on to something…

Issuu did the crapitalist thing of making our previously uploaded pdf picture books unreadable unless we pay. We have no funding or advertisements, so don’t want to charge people as we can’t fund a writing and photographing team to deliver consistent high quality… BUT we did screenshot loads of the pages so they will form the basis of the Expo, still.

As 2021 started, we’d kept note of our photographer talents. There have been many more since, thank you, for instance, Rhona Murphy has since added to our blessings, but this below is a snapshot image of recommendations for the expo.

Back Story

Pre Brexshit, the scene was set for newer and bigger adventures through poetry, fashion, design, visuals, theatre, technology, film, literature and ideas mixing with seminal music star turns at ArtBeat Amersham Arms events where regulars travel monthly (with Bowie-esque teen queen Dizzy Spell - from various locations, to New Cross). It lights fuses.

TheZineUK was born in the “backstage bar” (thank you, venue manager, musician Andy Palmer) through ideas exchanged at these music socials.

Experienced Entertainment Industry professionals, who had gone underground for kicks, harnessed this potential. Making Rocklands (i.e. S.E.London postcodes) a reality – an impromptu photo session at Fordham Park’s inaugural Party In The Park with teen band The Otherside, behind the scenes snaps at TryLife TV filming (Georgia of Floodliners became half of Nova Twins), a fashion shoot with Rhiannon The Nightmare (RTN Makes Music) in Little Nan’s Bar at The Bunker in Deptford and New Cross Inn, behind the scenes at Soccer Six Fest in the 02) + interviews with rock bands CuT (by Dizzy Spell) via Andy Ross and Mourning Birds (by Caffy St Luce) via a tweet from a Bird, Bill, I kid you not! = Chapter 1.

Photographer Rupert Hitchcox (now part of the team with our friends, Joyzine) had 15 minutes to get a low lit shot which graced the Chapter 1 picture book cover uploaded mid March 2014. We’re not “the music press”, this is a free style, instinctive way of choosing and doing things driven by sixth sense instinct.

TheZineUK launched January 2014

The year began with punk and poetry on Tin Pan Alley. We called it a “roadshow” of uniqulture. (We only had two dates!)

The calibre of our first event earned an official stage at the Camden Crawl finale that mid-Summer’s day and night when the festival head, Lisa Paulon, caught the show. Situationism, that’s how we roll.

We host/co-promote inclusive gatherings, where the aces n faces of the alt/arts underground share ideas, tips and hugs.

It’s aimless or is there an aim?

More of a dream… We seek to connect marketable, personable and engaging musical and fashion talent with recognition and hopefully employment.

Our modus operandi for this collective is to create a hybrid agency of potential with an edge, inspired by excitements pertinent to the audio/visual industries and our contributors.

By 2023, an increasing proof of dreams achieved.. Onwards.

Unique Selling Points? We’re outside looking out.

#TheZineUK fuses bands and brands (musical equipment, clothing, accessories, musical equipment footwear, tech, politics and lifestyle). Threads include Flare Audio, TryLife.TV, Underground Shoes and even Google HQ.

Through our travelling circus, editorial and co- promotion we soundtrack design and vision towards new possibilities. Our live music events are installations as board meetings to new futures. We are performance art experiments.

Documented since 2014-2016 in chapters. Over ambitious ideas (including successful 2015 and 2016 Expos) without boundaries. Then a year after Brexit re-broke Broken Britain… we rebelled, with FUN.

By 2019, we are a stand alone documentation of beautifully soundtracked creativity blessed with kindness.

Who?

Diversity in our DNA. We come from every background / orientation, genre, generation, gender and other generalisations. Uniqulture is like multi culture, but without any labels other than human. Unique Culture.

A musical magical mystery tour of pictures, words and friendship has proved a useful algorithm of ‘Ones To Watch’, as talent weaves this tale. We are Live Music Event Promoters to spiritual and actual stars.

“Worried you’ll miss the next big thing in sound? They’re probably here.”  @LdnAtLarge previews one of TheZineUK’s artbeat music socials.

​Team? We are eternally grateful to the talents (some established, some up and coming) that share our vision. The Zine UK is an ongoing digital and analogue promotion of their work. They raise the bar of this cut n paste project.

​Degeneration, Degentrification, Declassification.

We are often behind the scenes and connected to various aspects of industry and arts as employment.

Rebellious Joy is not only escapism from the dystopia of “Normal Island”, it is also hands on market research proving that DIY is a professional business investment for getting results. The future’s key sector to invest in. (Oh, and what a soundtrack we have if you’re not already publishing the newer wave stars).

Rock Chic!

#StageStyle – A roller coaster of exhibition and entertainment driving a movement where DIY catwalks on stage and street alike.

ArtfulFest and Music Tourist Board fuse with TheZineUK documentary during October 2023. Never has Peacemas been more necessary. The world changes, yet again and we are neither violent or silent.

From the Events Department x New Cross Scene (2003) to New Cross, SEEN…

The Artful Party - We wage civilisation via a gathering of good souls from the power of the arts. Our friends Bugeye, Colossus, Feral Five, Jean Genie’s Massive Hugs, Sonja The Blur Fairy, Joyzine, God Is In The TV and Amersham Arms are joined by Hurtling and (playing their London finale gig) Fonda 500. The music industrious are out in force with love - Anita Maj, Keira Anee Photography, Kick Out The Jams, John Kennedy of Radio X, Brian James Photography, 122 Music Management, Don Blandford Photography, T.A.R.G.O. Music Management, Rory Lyons (King Kurt musician, 1990s Manics tour manager and local legend) are in the mix. The night is MAGICK.

It’s a basis for an Expo of 2018 onwards cast, crew, charismatic adventures.

By now we are as upcycled as our clothing and as surreal as life in a climate emergency during an ongoing pandemic with threats of World War 3 while the rich consistently steal everything from the poor to create a slave class in time for the 1930s Planet Fash Centenary.

The greedy sadfux have so little soul that they still need to steal songs for their events while they steal arts from the working class education and access. Political? Us? Whatever.

….We have no choice but to be resourceful! 

Zeenagers Expo
Mid March 2024 onwards