Substitution Fanzine

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Substitution Fanzine

Early 90's fanzine focused on underground LA music scene: industrial, goth, experimental noise rock ENJOY!

Substitution Fanzine was created by Anji Bee after the demise of her earlier hard core 'zine, Positive Influence. While Anji was the editor-in-chief, the first two issues were co-edited by Sam Pederson, and the second two issues were co-edited by Justin Johnsen, plus there were a host of guest contributors for interviews, articles, reviews, photography, art, and graphics. Huge thanks and appreciat

ion goes out to all of these kind and enthusiastic artists for their help in making the zine a success and for keeping me motivated!!!! Substitution was produced via letterpress printing in black and white at the 2 print shops Bee worked at during those years. They are composed of a mixture of old school cut & paste and desktop computer layouts. Anji used an archaic turquoise Sears brand manual typewriter to type out the articles, then reduced the text using Xerox machines at work. Many of the backgrounds and graphics were taken from clip art books at the print shop, while others were found in library books or other sources. She also used Letraset scratch off fonts and elements for layouts. The 4th issue was typeset on an early Macintosh computer and used a primitive hand scanner for the photography input. Anji's basic design style still shines through the modern technology, though. The zines focused on the underground LA music scene of the early 1990's including industrial, gothic, noise rock, art rock, alternative rock, and more. The content includes band interviews -- written primarily in Q & A format -- show reviews, music reviews, fanzine reviews, photos, and art, plus columns and opinion pieces -- often with a socio-politcal bent -- some poetry, fiction, and ads. The first issue came with a cassette of music by the featured bands. Bands interviews included: Ethyl Meatplow, Freebass, Frontline Assembly, Geko, Duh, This Ascension, Henry Rollins, Consolidated, Kod IV, Babyland, Pressurehed, Sativa Luv Box, Eleven Shadows, Sonic Youth, Red Temple Spirits, Stereotaxic Device, Fourwaycross, Distorted Pony and Michael B. and Damion Romero (both of Slug fame), talking about their radio show, Psychotechnics. Interviews were conducted primarily in person, often at gigs, and recorded to Anji's hand held tape recorder. PERSONAL NOTE FROM ANJI:

Apologies in advance for the sporadic quality of writing, particularly the reviews… I spent so much time translating cassettes, typing up content, creating page layouts and organizing everything that I often did not have the energy or time to do really well written reviews or op ed pieces. Additionally, I was really lax about crediting reviews, sometimes even hiding behind "we" in my descriptions. I was also pretty lax about listing photo credits and can no longer remember which photos may have been taken by either Sam or Justin using my camera. Its just lucky that I kept copies of the zines all of these years! I still have many of the original photos and plan to scan and add them all in over time, so you have plenty to look forward to! Additionally, I have a collection of cassettes from this time period, including the original issue's 4-song music tape, some interviews, and live shows. I think I'm gonna need an intern for this project…

But hey, I always did fanzines out of a pure, intense, love of the music and artists, which is why I'm digging all this stuff out to share with you today. It gives me great pleasure to reconnect with some of these amazing people online after so much time, and to bring their art to fans new and old.

19/10/2023

Funny to see that this Ben Is Dead benefit "Experimental Industrial Noise Extravaganza" flyer was mailed out to my old Positive Influence Fanzine. From the outside it may seem an odd transition to make, genre wise, but honestly there were connecting threads both musically and philosophically. Speaking of which I love how the sole descriptor of Stereotaxic Device is "animal rights." Just look at that band lineup! Classic.

03/04/2023

Does anyone remember the epic shows put on by The Society of the Phoenix? It's a really wild part of the 90's rave scene that I never hear anyone talk about. Too bad I didn't take a camera with me to this show.

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90’s LA Undergound Music Fanzine

Substitution Fanzine was created by Anji Bee after the demise of her earlier hardcore punk 'zine, Positive Influence. While Anji was the editor-in-chief, the first two issues were co-edited by Sam Pederson, and the second two issues were co-edited by Justin Johnsen, plus there were a host of guest contributors for interviews, articles, reviews, photography, art, and graphics. Huge thanks and appreciation goes out to all of these kind and enthusiastic artists for their help in making the zine a success and for keeping me motivated!!!! Substitution was produced via letterpress printing in black and white at the 2 print shops Bee worked at during those years. They are composed of a mixture of old school cut & paste and desktop computer layouts. Anji used an archaic turquoise Sears brand manual typewriter to type out the articles, then reduced the text using Xerox machines at work. Many of the backgrounds and graphics were taken from clip art books at the print shop, while others were found in library books or other sources. She also used Letraset scratch off fonts and elements for layouts. The 4th issue was typeset on an early Macintosh computer and used a primitive hand scanner for the photography input. Anji's basic design style still shines through the modern technology, though. The zines focused on the underground LA music scene of the early 1990's including industrial, gothic, noise rock, art rock, alternative rock, and more. The content includes band interviews -- written primarily in Q & A format -- show reviews, music reviews, fanzine reviews, photos, and art, plus columns and opinion pieces -- often with a socio-politcal bent -- some poetry, fiction, and ads. The first issue came with a cassette of music by the featured bands. Bands interviews included: Ethyl Meatplow, Freebass, Frontline Assembly, Geko, Duh, This Ascension, Henry Rollins, Consolidated, Kod IV, Babyland, Pressurehed, Sativa Luv Box, Eleven Shadows, Sonic Youth, Red Temple Spirits, Stereotaxic Device, Fourwaycross, Distorted Pony and Michael B. and Damion Romero (both of Slug fame), talking about their radio show, Psychotechnics. Interviews were conducted primarily in person, often at gigs, and recorded to Anji's hand held tape recorder. PERSONAL NOTE FROM ANJI: Apologies in advance for the sporadic quality of writing, particularly the reviews… I spent so much time translating cassettes, typing up content, creating page layouts and organizing everything that I often did not have the energy or time to do really well written reviews or op ed pieces. Additionally, I was really lax about crediting reviews, sometimes even hiding behind "we" in my descriptions. I was also pretty lax about listing photo credits and can no longer remember which photos may have been taken by either Sam or Justin using my camera. We’re all pretty lucky that I even kept copies of the zines all of these years, TBH. I still have many of the original photos and plan to scan and post them over time, so you have plenty to look forward to! Additionally, I have a collection of cassettes from this time period, including the original issue's 4-song music tape, some interviews, and live shows. So maybe I’ll digitize some audio to share, as well. I think I'm gonna need an intern for this project… But hey, I always did fanzines out of a pure, intense, love of the music and artists, which is why I'm digging all this stuff out to share with you today. It gives me great pleasure to reconnect with some of these amazing people online after so much time, and to bring their art to fans new and old. ENJOY!