9.49°C When I was younger, I used to order fanzines from the back of Melody Maker and NME. I’d send off my postal orders and wait for them to turn up. Homegrown and photocopied, it was always potluck in terms of content quality. When I contributed a couple of articles to this year’s Colchester Free Festival programme, the editor Jonathan Dadds said he would be heading down the zine route for his next project, following his successful 7Bit Arcade blog.
On Saturday, 19th September, the said zine hit the streets, and it’s really good and well worth grabbing a copy. The traditional zine is back! I asked Jon Dadds to tell us more…
You may (with a little bit of luck!) have seen a new little music zine dotted around town in the last week, or mentioned by some local bands on Facebook. Paper Champion is the name, and we recently released our first issue – a Colchester Free Festival special – the first in a new monthly zine focusing on Colchester’s genuinely excellent music scene. It’s full of reviews and previews, and in future issues we’re looking to add interviews, regular features, and more.
The whole idea came about around three months ago. My previous project, 7BitArcade, was winding down, and I was looking for something new to sink my teeth into. On a local level, considering the quantity of excellent bands around here, I felt like something was missing and decided to start something to fill the gap. After four years of running a fairly hectic website, I was reluctant to launch another online site. Besides, there are so many music sites around now, it felt right to do something a bit different.
My interest in making zines was sparked around two years ago while planning for The Great Escape in Brighton. Myself and a couple of other writers put together a zine for the Alt Escape which was very well received. I originally planned to launch Paper Champion for Colchester Free Festival, but after discussing the idea with the organisers I became much more involved and ended up creating the official festival zine – an opportunity I’m incredibly thankful for.
From an editorial point of view, I much prefer how a zine comes together to running a blog or website. Everything has to be ready for a deadline, and more thought goes into how the articles flow. I think how it’s consumed is important too. We spend so much time looking at our phones and laptops – and I’m probably more guilty than most – that while online material is easy to access, it’s nice to have something physical to flick through and read. It’s printed in limited numbers as well, so hopefully, as it grows, there’ll be a bit of a buzz around each release.
Finally, the plan is to host a monthly live night for each issue. I’ve wanted to start promoting shows locally for a while, and this feels like the best way to do it. There’s tremendous local talent who can always do with more showcases, and there are also mid-level national and international acts – including a band from the USA for our January launch – that I’d love to introduce to people in Colchester. Hopefully, people will come along, check out some excellent music and grab a copy of the zine.
Paper Champion Issue 1 is available now from Three Wise Monkeys, Colchester Arts Centre, Firstsite, Queen Street Brewery, Best Days Vintage, The Soundhouse and Purple Dog while stocks last.
They’re currently looking for writers – contact paperchampionzine@gmail.com if you’re interested. Bands can submit music and shows to the same address for consideration.
