*NOTE FROM THE OVERSEEING DUMBARSE, 10/11-11/11:
Welcome to the beautiful disaster called Blood And Glitter. ONLINE!!. We wanted monthly issues, but now we must do seasonal instead. We do apologise to the people featured in the August issue for the late arrival, as they helped start this project, so if you have not checked out A DISCO FOR FERNS or DESCRIED, GO RUN DO SO NOW BEFORE WE TRACK YOU DOWN IN A DARK ALLEY AND.....well, you get the picture hehe.
Anyways, now we can focus on drinking, rampant hedonism, having jam sessions, playing cover versions of Ramones songs, and listening to old music, as well as artists and creative revolutionary people. In this issue we feature words and their personal definitions to the writer, 8 questions with Retro Virus Records Founder Alex Kimball, The Worst Music Dracula Ever Heard, the usual rants and commentary from OZ SNAFU, and a few good tunes that were on constant rotation during the writing of this issue.
Until then send us your bands, music, poetry, art, etc. We are a handwriten DIY zine you can get several copies of for just $1 S$H, and we hope to evolve as time goes on.
As usual, ROCK N ROLL JAM OUT TAKE PHOTOS WRITE TAG PAINT FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO EXPRESS YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Contact us at bloodnglitter44@gmail.com for submissions.
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*Page3-'Questionaire With Alex Kimball From Retro Virus Records'-
1.Q-So, did you start out as a musician, or record label first?
A-Started out as a musician first. The label sort of sprung out of that as a way to get my music, my friends' music, and other music that I loved out there.
2.Q-Advice to those who want to start a label?
A-I bought some self-help book on starting a record label by some hot shot kid. It had some good advice in it, but its promise of being able to start something on a shoe-string budget depends greatly on your definition of shoe-string. Kunaki.com is a really great site that will help you out if you're starting a label or if you're just a band wanting to put out professional looking cds. It costs more per unit than if you went with some big manufacturer, and if you're doing more than 100 at a time, you'll be wasting your money, but it's good to be able to print up no-frills retail quality cds in very small (as few as 1) quantities. Really, unless you're planning on making really cool hand-made art cases, there's no excuse to have cheapo cd-rs when for around $20 you can get a box of 10 professional looking cds that comes with it's own UPC (usually a UPC alone will cost $20).
Still, if you're serious, be prepared to spend some serious money on things like a website, boxes and mailers to mail out stuff, printed materials, etc. It's a learning process, so start small, and be prepared to learn from your mistakes and do better next time. Unless you have thousands of dollars to throw at a release, you're not going to make something "the next big thing", and even then, it's more who you know, who you've met and who'll talk you up than advertising alone.
Track ALL of your expenses. If you're willing to go through the hassle of making yourself a legitimate business (which is probably a good idea if you're serious about having a label), you can save some serious money early on by deducting your setup expenses from your taxes. You can use your tax refund to put out an album.
Also, contracts: you can find boilerplate legal language for contracts out there pretty cheap or free.
3.Q-Favourite bands and influences?
A-It's really hard to nail down a single band or influence. I'm going to go super obscure and say OLoF NiNe. Google it. In fact, really any project that Ian Linter is involved with. His netlabel and experimental music collective are part of what drove me to where I am now.
I really like stuff from the late 70s, almost regardless of genre (except for disco), so my influences are a mix of everything from punk, NWBHM (that's New Wave of British Heavy Metal), Industrial, post-punk, and then some of the gothier stuff as well. In fact I was really excited to have Siiiii, a UK Goth punk band who'd put out some singles, eps and videos back in the 80s, on this latest album.
4.Q-Favourite bands on the RVR label?
A-Well, the STDs are the only band on Retro Virus Records who are currently 'signed' in the traditional sense. Most RVR bands have signed contracts to appear on one-off releases or compilations. One of the coolest, though, was Dakuu, a Japanese No-Wave/Noise/Goth band who put out 5 tracks on a 4 way split last year. As such, it's hard to pick and choose favorites out of the dozens of bands I've worked with. I've also got a real soft spot for Stillborn Diz. They're not everyone's cup of tea, but they put an amazing amount of work into what they do. How many bands do you know have a music video for EVERY song they've ever recorded? Also, Rachael Please is a VERY interesting project that I will be working with to a greater extent in the future.
5.Q-What's the most odd question you can think of, tell us what it is, then answer it for us.
A-"Who is the sexiest chick on RVR?" Dani Vice of Stillborn Diz, hands down.
6.Q-Reccommend to us some authors or poets
A- HP Lovecraft, of course. Also, I kinda dig Garth Nix, though I'll admit there's sort of a moment of fridge-horror when you think about how good this dude is at writing feminist coming of age stories about teenage girls. There are a handful of poets I like... most of 'em have been dead for ages, though. Byron? He's one of the few that I'll pull out and thumb through every now and then.
7Q-.Name of your band and your roll in it?
A-I play bass for the Kill Crazies and occassionally fill in on bass for the STDs. I also play keyboards and bass and do some vocals for Medicide.
8.Q-Now most importantly how do people get in contact with you and get all your RVR goodies?
A-People can find out pretty much anything they need to know about RVR on our website, www.retrovirusrecords.com.
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*Page4-'Special Feature On THE WORST MUSIC DRACULA EVER HEARD, From Retro Virus Records:
B&G-Where did the idea come from, and what bands and featured on it?
Alex Kimball,RVR:
Where did the Worst Music Dracula Ever Heard come from? Well, the idea came when I was doing FYS Vol 2. It took at least two months longer for Stillborn Diz, who are from Moscow, to get their copies than anyone else. A friend and I were joking about the international post, and all of the crazy things that might have happened to their cds. At one point, we joked that somehow it ended up with Dracula. "Vat, eez thees? Thees eez terrible!" "Dracula just pops in Fuck Your Scene Volume 2... and it was the worst music Dracula ever heard...." I guess you had to be there. But we decided that if I ever did a Halloween comp, it should be called the Worst Music Dracula Ever Heard and have a picture of a pissed off Dracula. So, several months after, I said "I'm going to do this", and I hit up Christopher Hastings, the guy who draws Dr. McNinja, to come up with the amazing art you see on the cover based on the short story I wrote. If you want to read the story, it's on the back of the LP. You should buy it. It's got 12 bands on it, from all over the world. US, England, Australia and Russia. Side A is mostly electronic, some industrials and stuff. The opening track that my friend Rob Farris of Finger Painted Death and I did was totally inspired by the Mr. Show sketch on Monster Parties (I'll totally cop to that). Side B is mostly punk and horror rock. All of it is slightly gothy and all very Halloweeny, but I think it's a good album for any time.
Side A:
1. Finger Painted Death - Electro Wolfman
(Feat. Alex Death of The Death Sound)
(Myrtle Beach, SC – http://www.earbleedingtunesprod.com/)
2. Four Dimensional Nightmare - Cells
(Seattle, WA - http://www.4dnightmare.com/)
3. The STDs - Psychomania
(Little Rock, AR – www.retrovirusrecords.com)
4. Rachael Please - In the Arms of a Stranger
(West Plains, MO – www.reverbnation.com/rachaelplease)
5. The Bubble Chamber - Black Lemonade
(Sacramento, CA – www.myspace.com/the_bubblechamber)
6. What Army - Black House Anthem
(Fayetteville, AR – www.reverbnation.com/whatarmyrock)
7. Your Momma's Mouth - Little White Worm
(Batesville, AR - http://soundcloud.com/animal_control)
8. Darkness Visible - Darkness Visible (2010)
(Melbourne, Australia - www.facebook.com/Darkness.Visible.au)
9. Siiiii - Skin
(Sheffield, UK – www.siiiii.co.uk)
10. The Muddlestuds - Atomico Hombre Lobo
(Conway, AR - www.reverbnation.com/themuddlestuds)
11. Stillborn DIZ -My Scarlett, My Betty
(Moscow, RU - www.reverbnation.com/stillborndiz)
12. The Kill Crazies - Black Candle
(Little Rock, AR http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kill-Crazies/183408555005435)
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*Page5-'Soundtrack Of Our Days During This Issue':
Chelsea Porter:
'53rd&3rd', The Ramones
'Matar Dolores', The Screamers
'Ask The Angels', Patti Smith
'Phantom Rider', The Meteors
Andrew Larson:
'122 Hours Fear', The Screamers
'Paint It Black', The Avengers'
'Surfing Dead', The Cramps
'Howling At The Moon', The Ramones