Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Digital is ephemeral, print is permanent
Ugly Things fanzine poised to rock into year 35
Mike Stax: "We are creating a permanent historical record that our readers can keep and read over and over again.”
“The ’80s was a nadir: hair metal, New Romantic synth-pop, Foreigner, Hall & Oates, Men at Work — it was horrible,” says Mike Stax about the inspiration behind launching his ’60s music mag Ugly Things in 1983.
Past Event
The Loons Halloween Dance Party
- Saturday, October 28, 2017, 8 p.m.
- Mission Brewery, 1441 L Street, San Diego
- 21+
“I started the fanzine to share my passion for bands like the Pretty Things, the Seeds, the Music Machine, and Q65. To me those bands were offering something real, authentic, and unfiltered that I wasn’t hearing in any of the mainstream music of the time.”
Stax’s first issue 34 years ago was a mere 30 pages. His most recent, which came out in August, was 154 pages, but it wasn’t the mag’s greatest girth. “For a while they were as big as 224 pages — more like a book...or phone directory.”
Stax says putting out the biannual fanzine and fronting the Loons (which he founded) are two creative outlets that work hand-in-hand. “For example, we’ve collaborated musically with some of the bands I’ve covered in the magazine, such as Glenn Campbell of the Misunderstood, who played on a couple of our tracks and has joined us for live shows here and in England.”
The Loons with Glenn Campbell at the Casbah, 2013 (Pictured: Glenn Campbell, Carl Rusk, Mike Stax, Anja Diabolik)
Despite Ugly Things’ legion of fans, it hasn’t been easy keeping the zine alive through the years. But Stax claims his readership appreciates the print format’s long shelf life. “Digital media is so ephemeral: it’s here for a short while and then gone in the click of a mouse or a swipe of your device. We are creating a permanent historical record that our readers can keep and read over and over again.”
With Ugly's 35th anniversary around the corner, Stax waxes nostalgic over some of its most memorable moments, such as the story of Craig Smith, a talented songwriter/musician who had a promising career ahead of him until he was sidelined by drugs, mental illness, and homelessness — but Stax says he is most looking forward to the future story he has yet to tell.
“At its heart, Ugly Things is still very much, and very proudly, a rock-and-roll fanzine. We’re driven by passion, not by commerce.... I know we could attract more lucrative advertisers if we changed our format and wrote puff pieces about the latest flavor-of-the-month bands. But that’s not what Ugly Things is about, and it never will be.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Digital is ephemeral, print is permanent
Ugly Things fanzine poised to rock into year 35
Digital is ephemeral, print is permanent
Ugly Things fanzine poised to rock into year 35
Mike Stax: "We are creating a permanent historical record that our readers can keep and read over and over again.”
“The ’80s was a nadir: hair metal, New Romantic synth-pop, Foreigner, Hall & Oates, Men at Work — it was horrible,” says Mike Stax about the inspiration behind launching his ’60s music mag Ugly Things in 1983.
Past Event
The Loons Halloween Dance Party
- Saturday, October 28, 2017, 8 p.m.
- Mission Brewery, 1441 L Street, San Diego
- 21+
“I started the fanzine to share my passion for bands like the Pretty Things, the Seeds, the Music Machine, and Q65. To me those bands were offering something real, authentic, and unfiltered that I wasn’t hearing in any of the mainstream music of the time.”
Stax’s first issue 34 years ago was a mere 30 pages. His most recent, which came out in August, was 154 pages, but it wasn’t the mag’s greatest girth. “For a while they were as big as 224 pages — more like a book...or phone directory.”
Stax says putting out the biannual fanzine and fronting the Loons (which he founded) are two creative outlets that work hand-in-hand. “For example, we’ve collaborated musically with some of the bands I’ve covered in the magazine, such as Glenn Campbell of the Misunderstood, who played on a couple of our tracks and has joined us for live shows here and in England.”
The Loons with Glenn Campbell at the Casbah, 2013 (Pictured: Glenn Campbell, Carl Rusk, Mike Stax, Anja Diabolik)
Despite Ugly Things’ legion of fans, it hasn’t been easy keeping the zine alive through the years. But Stax claims his readership appreciates the print format’s long shelf life. “Digital media is so ephemeral: it’s here for a short while and then gone in the click of a mouse or a swipe of your device. We are creating a permanent historical record that our readers can keep and read over and over again.”
With Ugly's 35th anniversary around the corner, Stax waxes nostalgic over some of its most memorable moments, such as the story of Craig Smith, a talented songwriter/musician who had a promising career ahead of him until he was sidelined by drugs, mental illness, and homelessness — but Stax says he is most looking forward to the future story he has yet to tell.
“At its heart, Ugly Things is still very much, and very proudly, a rock-and-roll fanzine. We’re driven by passion, not by commerce.... I know we could attract more lucrative advertisers if we changed our format and wrote puff pieces about the latest flavor-of-the-month bands. But that’s not what Ugly Things is about, and it never will be.”
Comments