The Coven.
I have asked Taylor Smith the guy behind The Coven zine to send me stuff to use on the site. You know to offer different views on this thing. I mean having different views is one of the cool things about skateboarding. If we all saw it the same way then the skate shop debates would get real boring. So here it is.
The cool thing about zines is that you can make them however you want. You can make them full color on glossy paper or black and white on computer paper. You can make a zine full of art or photos or writing. You can interview people, write about your local music scene, review records or movies, or you can do a zine full of your poetry. There are no set guidelines to making a zine. Personally I gravitate more towards the zines full of creepy artwork and cut and paste graphics and punk/metal zines. But I will take any zine that comes my way. I have lots of zines in my collection that are not ones that I would normally seek out, but they’ve made their way into my hands and I’ve enjoyed every one of them. i just love zines and get stoked whenever I get new ones. When I set out to make the Coven I wanted it to be full of creepy artwork and cool skateboarding. I had a specific aesthetic in mind and just went with it. I also wanted to give some shine to my friends and put them into the Coven to show their talents off. I would love to see more zines made locally, I encourage anyone reading this to try their hand at one. It is a great outlet if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on a project. You can make them in small quantities and on computer paper. A zine doesn’t have to be some high budget publication, but it can be if that’s what you want to make. Since I assume that most people who are reading this are skateboarders, here are a few zines worth checking out.
The Larb-Skateboarding and visual vomit from Sam Hitz. You can order copies at www.thelarb.com
Lowcard Mag-High in quality and quantity. This is a great monthly publication. www.lowcardmag.com
Typical Culture-A skate zine from San Diego. He also has a great skate video out called The Hype Train. www.typicalculture.com
Skate Jawn-Another monthly zine. Full of great skateboarding photos and interviews. www.skatejawn.com
How Dare You-A gritty and grimy zine affiliated with Anti Hero. www.howdareyouzine.blogspot.com
Nightwatch Studios-This one isn’t a skateboarding zine, but I believe it is essential for anyone interested in zines. This one is full of incredible artwork from multiple artists. Each issue has a theme and every zine is killer. www.nightwatchstudios.com
I know I missed a bunch of good ones that are probably worth noting, but there’s so many out there it’s hard to remember them all. All the zines mentioned above have Instagram as well if you’re into that. And since I brought it up, the Coven has an Instagram, which you can find @theCovenZine. Give it a follow for more updates.
We are having a little party for the next issue. Find the details here
