I will use this blog as a space to post up reviews from my 'zine WITCH KUNT. The reason I am doing this is because I often get requests for back issues. For me it is quite gratifying to know there is interest there but it is simply not cost effective for me to go back and reprint old issues. Initial printings of the 'zine have ranged from 30-40 copies, sometimes less, sometimes more. For me to do this project in the first place has come at considerable expense to me. Those of us who dwell in the D.I.Y. world understand the expense that comes with our respective labors of love. I have been co-conspirator of BARFING DAGGER RE-RECORDINGS as well as head honcho of BURNT SOUND OFFERINGS, which also comes at considerable expense. To do all of these differing projects one should know that sometimes in order to make them happen I have to trade away meals, put off a bill for another 2 weeks, or overdraw my bank account. This is the life of an independent artist, publisher, label head, tons of work and costs, all for minimal monetary rewards.
There was a time where I had gotten disillusioned with the whole process, writing reviews, editing, cutting, pasting, posting, mailing, burning discs, working on artwork, making sleeves, etc. It seemed as if the work involved was not worth it. Interest seemed to wane as tons of other artists were doing zines, making noise, running labels. I felt as if there was no way to find a small niche of my own to service even the tiniest of clienteles. In frustration, I walked away from all of it, the zine, the label, the recordings and in the meantime I worked on poetry and other musical outlets. To be an artist is frustrating to say the very least.
So why come back? The simple answer would be because I missed it. I felt that by taking time away I could get excited about noise and experimental music again. So I opened up the witch kunt gmail and responded to long forgotten emails. As stated previously, I had gotten a lot of requests for back issues. While I considered some options in how to make this happen, I felt that this would be a great way to serve the noise and experimental music scenes, as well as get fired up to do more.
What you will see here is a vast array of reviews written by myself and all of them appeared in issues 3 through 7 of WITCH KUNT. I normally keep track of all the old 'zine related materials in my laptop but unfortunately the materials from issues 1 and 2 have been lost. However, I have kept the master copies of the 'zines which I used at the print shop. Soon enough I will sit down and re-type them and post them here. While issue 8 is a couple of months away, I will not post any reviews of future issues here until they are all sold out. When physical copies are all sold out, I will then post the reviews here for those interested parties who did not order an issue in time. However, in the meantime there should be plenty here for you to read, several hundred reviews to be precise. Bear in mind that many of the releases I reviewed may no longer be available, but that should not prevent you from seeking them out since half the fun of art is trying to find it all. It should also not hinder you from supporting the artists and labels out there still doing great things and the new ones that are invigorating the underground.
Cheers,
Gene Fucking Symptoms
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