Photocopied and bound in packing tape are the modestly circulated, polysemous booklets known as zines.
At the corner of Loma and Pine Ave, the second of several pre-events took place on Saturday to promote Zine Fest, a festival held in lieu of the ragged yet individualized publications of all things admired.
Zines are self-published, mini magazines often seen in record stores, skate shops and DIY venues that feature text and images with or without a message to relay.
“Zine started in the ‘80s-’90s [era],” Carina Taylor, a volunteer coordinator for Zine Fest and a third year animation major at California State University, Long Beach, said. “It’s a way for kids, adults, teens – people who just have something to say and not necessarily have the means to get the word out there – to just say what they want.”
With this being Long Beach’s first year to claim Zine Fest as it’s own, Taylor has been promoting the event around town, not only to raise awareness for the actual festival, but also to help attendants understand and embrace zine culture.
“A few years ago, I saw a listing for a do-it-yourself event in Riverside and I ended up taking a few bad zines because I was trying it all out,” Elise Bernal, a Pico Rivera native and Long Beach’s Zine Fest coordinator, said. “From that point on, I saw myself dedicating more time to it and most of my zines have been focused on ‘positivity.’”
Vocalist and bassist of punk-post-hardcore band Struckout, Daniel Speer, said that he believes the message of this event is even more important now because brandishing physical medium is necessary in a technology-evolving world.
“[Zine] is sort of an ode to artifacts,” Speer said. “You can have a blog, but there’s something about physical media and cherishing that weird thing you care so much about; maybe it’s not necessary but so many things are fun when you make it necessary.”
By having a series of promotional events leading up to the actual festival, coordinating manager Bernal also believes that it’ll not only help bring out those in recluse of their artistic capabilities but also encourage Long Beach businesses and residents to work together as a community.
The tight-knit feel inside of “Steamy in the City: Creator Studio,” an artist studio, quickly washed away as a diverse range of 20 attendants swarmed the stage and rocked out with each of the band members. Saturday’s line up included local artists Struckout, Tomber Lever, Nahneen Kula and Tough Stuff.
“It was fun in this venue,” Bryon Gillis, an attendant and CSULB alum, said. “Apparently they only used it for making music videos but now they’re trying to expand on that.”
Because most of the events are free, having places like Steamy in the City help to encourage businesses to offer their services and spaces to those who want a place to express themselves.
Speer served as the first term president of CSULB’s Underground Music Society, a club that promotes local music for those that want “to just be and exist,” thinks it’s time for Long Beach to stand on its own.
“Long Beach has this mentality where we’re not ‘LA,’” Speer said. “I feel like people complain a lot when they live in a place. By putting in the effort and time and adding your take on culture and music, it makes it worth it to stick around.”
Zine Fest’s next pre-event is a free bookbinding workshop on April 2 at the Mark Twain library in Long Beach. The main event will be held April 12 at MOLAA from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
